Mr. Sun's Hatbox

Posted:  Apr 29, 2023
SDHQ BUILD SCORE: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
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Review

Mr. Sun's Hatbox was provided by Raw Fury for review. Thank you!

Mr. Sun's package has been stolen and it is up to you to retrieve it from the mischievous Mr. Moon and his goons. Set up your base of operations underneath Mr. Sun's Hatbox and put together a team to retrieve what is rightfully his. Go on randomized missions and utilize an assortment of weapons and hats to take down everyone standing in your way. In between missions, you will build up your base of operations, adding in new parts to modify and train your captured staff, get new items, research passive buffs, and augment weapons to be more powerful. You will get that package back no matter the cost!

Mr. Sun's Hatbox took me completely by surprise as a game I never knew I wanted, but it turned into one of the most addicting experiences I couldn't put down. Combining base building with stealth and the ability to capture items/people from MGS5, captured units having different positive and negative quirks and a level system for each that could get rid of negative ones, add positive ones, or increase health, and sprinkle it all with a progression system where you lose what you're carrying if you die and can take captured hats/weapons with you and you have this game. It's like it took the best aspects from XCOM, MGS5, Darkest Dungeon, and Escape from Tarkov and put it in a 2D roguelite environment.

To say I love this game is a bit of an understatement. I got so heavily invested into completing missions to build up my characters and make the best one I possibly can that, for awhile, I wasn't moving the story forward. It was crushing whenever I had gotten one of my staff clean of all negative quirks and a high level...and then I throw an item at an enemy to stun them, but I have the deadly throw perk and it hits them and ricochets back at me and kills me. But I wasn't deterred! I converted a captured person to my side and brought them up to the same level...but then they died when the body of one of the enemies randomly exploded. Oh what fun.

The base components range from passive buffs you can research to labs to actually pay and get rid of perks your staff can have. You can also assign them to certain stations to buff what they can do further. The missions you can do are randomized, with different objectives, and give out a variety of rewards like items, hats, money, and more captured people to use! There is permadeath, so if you die in the mission, that character is permanently dead, but it adds to the charm of the game overall. There is even local coop! This is not a game you want to pass on, it is an addicting experience that I couldn't stop playing. And it was such a blast to play on the Steam Deck!

Mr. Sun's Hatbox - Best on Deck

There really isn't much more to say about this gem of a game other than it runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck. WIth a 60 FPS lock, you can expect around an 8W battery drain for 5 hours of battery and I didn't notice a single drop at all.

The game also supports 16:10 resolutions, so the entire screen will be utilized, as well as full controller support and cloud saves! There really isn't much else to say about this game other than it just works extremely well and I felt no hitches or anything that would ruin the experience.

Conclusion

Mr. Sun's Hatbox is a fantastic game that has kept me engaged with its great mix of gameplay elements to create an addicting experience I couldn't stop playing. The loop of randomized missions, capturing items and staff, leveling them up, it works so well. And for $15, this is a game I would not pass on. And with how perfect it runs on Steam Deck, there is no reason to sleep on this one!

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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SDHQ's Build Score Breakdown

Mr. Sun's Hatbox is a fantastic 2D roguelite game with an amazing mix of gameplay elements that work perfectly together. And with no changes needed for the Steam Deck, this is an easy Best on Deck game that I can happily recommend!

Build Score

Performance: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
VISUALS: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
Stability: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
Controls: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
Battery: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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$14.99
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