A Hat in Time

A Hat in Time is a platform game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The gameplay style has been described by several editors to be similar to Nintendo 64 platformers such as Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie.[11][12] The player travels between four open levels (along with 2 extra levels via downloadable content), which can be freely explored without time limits. The player can collect various items, solve puzzles, and use either an umbrella or a baseball bat to combat enemies. The primary objective is to collect Time Pieces, 56 of which can be found in the game, which unlock additional levels as more are collected.[13] After being defeated, the enemies drop "Pons", currency that can be used to unlock additional challenges and purchase badges that increase Hat Kid's abilities.[14] The player can collect Yarn Balls in each level, which can be stitched into new hats to wear. Each hat grants Hat Kid a different ability, such as a faster sprint or brewing explosive potions. Other collectibles include "Relics", which can be used to unlock "Time Rift" bonus levels, and "Rift Tokens", which can be exchanged at a machine for bonus materials such as music remixes and additional cosmetics. Initial actions taken earlier in the game have an effect on later levels, as the main character revisits each area several times before the game is finished.[7]

A Hat in Time follows Hat Kid, a little alien girl wearing a top hat trying to return to her home world via spaceship. While on her journey, she passes over a planet, and a member of the planet's Mafia comes to collect a toll for the Mafia Town government. When Hat Kid refuses to pay, the Mafia man busts the spaceship door open, causing Hat Kid and all of her "Time Pieces", magical hourglasses that power her ship, to fall to the planet below as well as other planets. Hat Kid lands in Mafia Town and meets Mustache Girl, a local troublemaker who hates "bad guys". Mustache Girl agrees to look for the missing Time Pieces in exchange for Hat Kid's help fighting the Mafia, and the two defeat the Mafia Boss. When Mustache Girl realizes the Time Pieces can rewind time, she wants to use them to become a crime-fighting time traveler, but Hat Kid refuses, as she is aware that messing with time is dangerous. Angered by this refusal, Mustache Girl declares the two enemies and sets off to find the Time Pieces on her own.

Hat Kid ventures across the planet looking for Time Pieces, encountering and befriending many foes that included two rival bird directors DJ Grooves and the Conductor competing for a movie award in a movie studio called Dead Bird Studio and a group of mountain villagers called Nomads infected by a dangerous plague, ultimately befriending them all. Hat Kid also outwits a malevolent spirit called the Snatcher into becoming her best friend after he temporarily stole her soul, tricked her into doing his dirty work in Subcon Forest, and attempted to murder Hat Kid. The game's DLCs have Hat Kid searching for Time Pieces while working in an ocean liner called the Arctic Cruise owned by the Walrus Captain and under the employ of the Nyakuza crime boss called the Empress in an underground city called Nyakuza Metro, the latter ending with Hat Kid being forced to flee the city after a bounty was placed on her head. Mustache Girl exploits Hat Kid's absence to break into her ship and steals the collected Time Pieces, using them to turn the planet into a fiery inferno where her word is law. Hat Kid confronts her, but Mustache Girl uses the Time Pieces to open a time rift and make herself all-powerful!

The enemies Hat Kid has fought come to her aid in battle, some sacrificing themselves so that Hat Kid can use their dropped Heart Pons (the healing collectible) to power herself up. Hat Kid finally defeats Mustache Girl and uses the Time Pieces to reset the timeline, restoring the planet to normal and reviving all those who were lost. The player can then choose whether Hat Kid should hand over a Time Piece to Mustache Girl (so she can defeat the Mafia and free her town from their control as was her desire in the beginning of the game) or not. Though her former foes are sad to see her leave, Hat Kid restores the Time Pieces to her vault and resumes her voyage home. In a post-credits scene, Hat Kid is shown sleeping in bed surrounded by toys resembling the other characters.[16][17]

The initial idea for A Hat in Time was started by director Jonas Kærlev, who graduated with a master's degree in computer science at Aalborg University in Denmark. He launched the project as an answer to his feeling of an ongoing shortage of 3D platformers, specifically developed by Nintendo. Some inspirations include Psychonauts, Spyro the Dragon and Banjo-Kazooie. In an interview with Polygon, Kærlev revealed that he and Gears for Breakfast initially did not expect the Kickstarter success A Hat in Time eventually received. Kærlev thought that there would be little demand for the game due to Donkey Kong 64's effects on the genre, which he perceived as overwhelming the player with too much collecting.[18] Development for the game started in August 2012 and was planned for a Q2 2013 release but was significantly delayed. At the start of development, Kærlev was the sole developer of the game but over time the development grew into Gears for Breakfast, a team spanning four countries and entirely volunteer-based.[7][18] Through the Kickstarter campaign the game surpassed the initial goal of $30,000 with a final total of $296,360.[19] In July 2013, it was announced that the game had been greenlit for release via Steam.[20] The soundtrack was mostly composed by Pascal Michael Stiefel, with several guest composers such as Grant Kirkhope contributing additional tracks to the game.

A port of the game for Nintendo's Wii U console was in the developer's minds ever since the Kickstarter's announcement, considering that the game is heavily inspired by Nintendo-published platformers, but actual development did not materialize. Upon various requests for it to be ported for the Nintendo Switch, Gears For Breakfast initially claimed on Twitter that such a port will not happen, which was met with mixed reactions.[21][22] However, during Gamescom in August 2018, a Nintendo Switch port was confirmed and it was later released on October 18, 2019.[23][24] The two DLCs released for PC were also ported to the Switch version at a later date.

A Hat in Time received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, aside from the Xbox One version receiving "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[34]

Chris Carter from Destructoid gave the game an 8.5 out of 10, calling it an "impressive effort with a few noticeable problems holding it back."[38] PC Gamer's Dominic Tarason rated the game 86/100 saying, "Some scuff-marks aside, A Hat in Time is a creative, playful, and polished tribute to a genre that doesn't get nearly enough love on PC."[45] In the Game Informer review, Kyle Hilliard stated the "dated PlayStation 2 era" graphics are the game's weakest element, but praised the gameplay, sound design and music, awarding the game 8 out of 10.[40]

• Official website