Quick Review: Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora

When your previous job doesn’t work out, career redirection is a-okay.

We're here to investigate! P.S. Your guard
on ground floor is a jerk.

Made by Glass Bottom Games and released on February 20th, 2015 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora is a sequel to their previous game, Jones on Fire, reviewed here last year. We have a complete shift in genre, the total opposite of the endless runner the previous entry was. We follow Emma Jones again, and after the Firestorm that she rescued so many cats from, society has retrieved a semblance of normalcy. Even if it meant rebuilding over the charred remains of the previous world. Since firefighting isn’t so necessary now, Jones became a private investigator, helped by the fedora-wearing cat Francine (Franky).

We have here an odd combo of genres. At first, we could think this game is a platformer, due to how Jones plays; but it's more of a Metroidvania. We also have an aspect of an adventure game, as we interrogate suspects, pick up clues, and present those clues to relevant people. Our first investigation involves the robbery of a will at the Ossified Egg. Tied to this is the discovery of a dead body at the Slice of Pi eatery. Then there’s the mystery of Franky’s past, which she’s not interested in sharing.

Nifty platforming, but there's a lot of places where Franky
struggles to follow Jones around.

Jones wields her weapon of choice, the “Wobbly MK 2/3”, which adapts to weird ammo. None of her bullets can kill, but all come with special effects. The starter ones can just destroy stuff like boxes. Then, as we progress, we find: Bubbles that reveal hidden things; bullets that turn this gun into a grapple hook; fire bullets that destroy some items and light up areas; knockback rounds, which can push heavy items or send Jones upwards; and gumdrops that explode when lit up (don’t ask).

This thing comes in bullet form now? I'm struggling to
"grapple" with the concept.

This dungeon, even lower than the underground, is packed
with nuclear toxic vines that trap you in place.
That's good, I was feeling too safe from radiation lately.

We visit three “dungeons” with platforming puzzles to solve and discover these weapons, allowing Jones and Franky to explore more areas. The dungeons can be tricky to explore; several rooms force you to use your tools to the maximum. Our goal is still to figure out the means, motive and opportunity of each crime, which allows us to ask our Chief for search warrants to get into places we can’t enter otherwise (or can, if we figure out an alternate path), or arrest warrants once we’ve figured out the culprits.

It's also a good idea to read the clues you've found, as
they update as you find information.

Featuring box-shaped people and both cats and rodents that talk a lot (and love to snark), the tone of the game is somewhere between classic noir and referential, parodic self-awareness. Lots of comedic moments. Either way, expect unexpected twists. I’ll fully admit that I wasn’t feeling much at first, but the plot eventually won me over. There’s a decent amount of challenge here, and in true Metroidvania fashion, we need to revisit past areas to find more secrets and get the best ending; but also, the multiple endings all have achievements attached to them, encouraging one to replay the game to get the others.

The camera angles I discuss in the next paragraph. Goes from
a 2D moving one axis, to 2D moving another axis. The idea,
while fine, leads to risks of getting stuck as the camera
won't work anymore if you activate some specific stuff
while in that view.

That big-ass castle in the Dump? I tried everything. You
can't go in it. Come on, you put something that large in a
significant area of the game, and there's no way to enter?
We also never find the perfect gift for our girlfriend working
at Slice of Pi, nor can we ever discover the Chief's
true name. Pieces are missing!!

I don’t have a lot of critiques to make, really; due to its odd 2D side-scrolling system applied to a 3D layout, venturing the world is confusing at first, in part as it achieves such a thing by playing with camera angles. It takes some getting used to. Once or twice, I activated something mid-camera swap, got stuck, and had to close the game from Steam and resume from a save point (which are bathrooms). Not the only glitch, but others were just minor stuff. You can manually reload the gun on a screen that opens when you press R, which also allows you to switch between ammo – but in that case, you also need to reload the gun yourself, which gets tedious at the end when you swap regularly between the various types of ammo to solve puzzles. You can also hold down R to reload instantly, but there’s still no quick way to swap between ammo types. There’s a bit of leniency in difficulty as there are ways to get advice as to where to go next, when stuck. To top it off, there are plot threads still unsolvable due to hopes of these elements being added later, which hasn’t been done.

Overall, a decent idea and combo of genres, I had a good time, but it’s very much unpolished and could have spent a bit more time being tested and improved. Still, it’s fine, so if you’re looking for something unusual, it might be up your alley.

Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora is available on Steam for 14.99$ USD.