In March of 2013, Gears for Breakfast launched Kickstarter project to fund their 3D indie platformer game. Over 9,000 backers came together to pledge almost $300,000 for the game and exceeded well past its original $30,000 goal. After much promise and delay, on October 5th, 2017, A Hat in Time finally hit digital shelves to overwhelming positivity, with the game garnering over 90% positive reviews on steam, as well as being the 3rd best selling game globally on launch date.
A Hat in Time has the player take control of Hat Girl, a young adventurer, who must get home by collecting hourglass-shaped fuel for her space ship. At the same time, however, Hat Girl must fight against the evil of Mustache Girl to not only obtain the fuel for her ship, but to also save the world. Along the way, the player will find badges to upgrade their magic hat, and use Hat Girl’s trusty umbrella to defeat any evil standing in their way. Players will jump, fight, glide, and slide through five different worlds spread across four chapters.
The indie platformer combines the elements of past platformers and adventure games, such as Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Psychonauts, to make the ultimate action-adventure-platforming experience. Its art direction even takes inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
A Hat in Time will also follow up on its Kickstarter strech-goals by rolling out free content updates through its life. At some point post-release, an online Co-op mode will be implemented for all players to enjoy, and later down the road, two additional worlds will be available for download via DLC. In addition, Steam users will have the ability to create and download levels, challenges, worlds, and other game modifications through the Steam Workshop.
A Hat in Time is available for purchase on Steam for Windows and Mac OS for $30, or $35 for the game and digital soundtrack bundle, and is also available for download on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.