Humor is a complicated thing. Most people would not see humor as being especially complicated, because it seems like something so simple, so easy, but when it comes to video games, humor can be a difficult thing to implement. One of the major issues with humor in video games is that video games are inherently built on repetitive systems. Most games have a central gameplay loop that is enjoyable, so you get used to it and enjoy it, and this is a good thing, but humor doesn’t do all that well when it comes to repetition.

Repetition is the death knell of humor. When you hear a joke over and over again, it ceases to be funny. So, when a game like Mr. Sun's Hatbox comes along in which practically every aspect of the central gameplay loop is based around slapstick humor, there is a danger of it becoming stale. It certainly could become stale more easily than many of the more narrative-oriented comedy games because games of that nature are less repetitious.

The central narrative within Mr. Sun's Hatbox is quite a funny thing, but the comedy bleeds into every aspect of the gameplay to the point where it can be rather silly, but it also works for what it’s trying to do. In addition, the humorous aspects of the central gameplay within this game are not just for laughs, but rather form an integral role in the game’s action approach. In fact, you could probably compare the general humor-based gameplay to something like one of the Worms games. The gameplay is nothing like one of those games, but the tone is rather similar.

So, let’s get to what the gameplay actually is then, and why it adopts this humorous approach. In terms of basic elements, Mr. Sun's Hatbox is a 2D stealth and action platformer. The stealth is very simplistic and easily circumvented, but it does still play a part in the overall experience. The idea is that you go on a series of procedurally-generated missions in which you have some kind of a task, but in the process of completing that task, you need to sneak and kill your way through the enemies in your path.

The basic gameplay has you moving through these pixel art 2D spaces as you sneak through, picking up items and weapons along the way while shooting, hitting, stabbing, and clubbing enemies who dare to cross your path. You can pick up weapons that enemies drop, throw certain items to take down enemies, knock enemies out, and then slit their throats while they lay there stunned for a while, and you can fall from a higher position and jump on an enemy’s head, Mario Bros. style.

Along the way, you’ll need to deal with various environmental hazards like cameras, gas, and whoopie cushions. Yes, whoopie cushions. This is where you can see some of the humorous aspects in action. Whoopie cushions, for those unaware, are the small balloon things that you blow up and then hide on someone’s chair so that when they sit down, it sounds like they farted. It’s immature, but it’s also a classic kids’ prank toy. In Mr. Sun's Hatbox, it serves as a hazard because when you jump on it, it makes a fart noise that then attracts enemies.

This is why it was said that Mr. Sun's Hatbox makes use of humor within its gameplay. Some of these humorous parts of the game will likely not even seem like jokes after a while as you simply see them in purely mechanical terms. It’s one of the dangers of adding comedy to your game. It’s funny the first time you use a whoopie cushion to attract guards to a location and then stomp on all their heads, but the tenth time tends to be less funny.

Another of these humorous components, because murdering enemies with axes and guns tend to be rather ordinary game stuff rather than anything funny, is the hat system. You can use a variety of hats in the game. These hats have perks of some kind. There could be hats that protect you from damage, hurt those who jump on your head, or serve as reflective surfaces for laser attacks. The hats are a silly but mechanically integral part of the gameplay experience.

These hats can also be found and strategically used when entering a mission. You may have a spiky hat in your storeroom, so you bring it with you and get an instant mechanical advantage as soon as you start a mission. These kinds of advantages can also be incredibly useful to you because Mr. Sun's Hatbox is not the kind of comedy game that pulls its punches with you.

Mr. Sun's Hatbox is not a particularly easy game. It may be trying to be funny, but you also die fairly quickly and whenever a character dies, they’re dead forever. You see, one of the central things about this game is that it’s not just a series of comedy-oriented action platforming levels where you kill the bad guys while fulfilling a mission of some sort, instead, it’s a game that follows along from base-oriented games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Each of these missions in Mr. Sun's Hatbox is in service to the development and growth of your base. This is why the comparison to something like XCOM is apt. You go on these procedurally-generated missions to find items, acquire currency, and recruit new people into your operation. The missions from which you send your people are fairly standard.

The missions might involve needing to kill everyone in a location, kidnap a specific person, or find a certain number of a specific item, like rubber ducks or something. Once again, the humor makes its way into the game in rather slapstick ways. You need to retrieve three whoopie cushions in this level because whoopie cushions are, for some reason, necessary to the survival of the base. So, you get to your mission, traverse your way through several floors full of enemies, and retrieve your three whoopie cushions.

Much like other games of this variety, your people can die in the field, but another addition was made that is more in line with something like Darkest Dungeon. Each of your useable characters has an array of perks. Some of these are negative perks and some of them are positive. As your little characters grow and develop and gain levels, they will gain some perks, lose some of the bad ones, and become stronger and more capable overall.

This is very XCOM in overall execution. You will grow a handful of characters into your main badass elite force and then whenever one of them dies it’s like you’ve lost someone irreplaceable. It’s a good trick for a game like this to pull, but while this kind of positive and negative perk system is reminiscent of something like Darkest Dungeon, Mr. Sun's Hatbox has excised the sad parts of it.

The negative perks tend not to be things like having panic attacks or alcoholism, instead, they have quirky negatives like occasionally freaking out when a specific thing happens, having a longer knockdown when someone hits them, or blinking a lot. That last one is actually very irritating and entails the whole screen doing a blinking effect every few seconds. To juxtapose these negatives, you also have positive ones like a character being able to handle getting shot or instantly killing enemies when throwing something.

You need to factor these into play whenever you enter a mission. For instance, if one of your characters has the perk where they kill anyone they pick up, as you can pick up and carry around your knocked-out enemies, then that isn’t going to work very well for kidnapping. This doesn’t mean any character is locked off from certain missions though, they just become a little more complicated if you use certain characters.

One of the systems in Mr. Sun's Hatbox that contributes to the base-building mechanic is the ability for your characters to steal things from a level. You can take things with you to the exit or you can use a balloon system to steal things. This is similar to the balloon system from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. You steal things and bring them back to your base so that they can be used. You can even steal unconscious enemies and turn them to your side so that they become new playable characters.

All of this contributes to the base-building mechanic. It is reminiscent of something like XCOM or even Fallout Shelter, but it isn’t particularly complex. You can construct new rooms that allow you to do things like upgrade your characters, buy and sell certain items, stow any prisoners away for re-education, or find a place to heal between missions. It’s fairly standard stuff, and the gold you acquire in-game allows you to further develop things.

There are also central missions that, when you’ve completed a number of them, you can do a special narrative mission that entails stealing an item that then helps you progress. You develop new structures as you progress that give you access to even more things and so you become more powerful as you play. This is pretty ordinary stuff and it’s implemented well, but it also isn’t particularly new in any regard. Mr. Sun's Hatbox is not the most original game in its overall execution, but it does have enough going for it that you should have a good time regardless of all that.

Every time you go out on a mission, you can choose between a central mission that advances the plot or a series of side objectives. To further contribute to replayability, you can also search for certain daily challenges, such as finding a certain number of items within a specific real-time day period. This should keep those who want a more procedurally-generated and potentially long-term game to play.

Okay, but now that we know the main gameplay mechanics and the base-building system, what is the game actually about? Why is it called Mr. Sun's Hatbox? Well, that’s rather simple. The game opens with you as a delivery company that is dropping off a box, but some bad guys steal it. So, you hunt them down as part of your recovery service for the courier company, against the wishes of the Mr. Sun you’re doing this all for, and you then build your base under his house.

Whenever you complete one of the narrative missions, you get to see a new interaction between Mr. Sun, who doesn’t really care about the thing that got stolen, and the courier as the courier promises that he’ll retrieve the box soon. There are a lot of cute little humorous sections within these cutscenes, and it’s good for a few laughs. It’s essentially a parody of these kinds of games while also being a fairly decent version of these games.

It copies the central mechanics but uses them well and it should give you a good few hours of gameplay, but just don’t expect the humor to be a brilliant component of the game as it progresses. It is certainly a fun experience though, and it’s easy to recommend Mr. Sun's Hatbox to those who enjoy roguelike action platformers with base-building mechanics.

There is also a co-op mode, but it was not played as part of this review, but playing a game like this with a friend will probably result in far more laughs than if you’re playing it by yourself. It should be a good time for all involved if you decide to do that. So, if you want a game with some fun enough mechanics that are also full of silly moments, then Mr. Sun's Hatbox is for you. However, if you get a bit annoyed by repetitious humor, then it may not be for you.
 

Justin van Huyssteen (@LC_Lupus)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed