Field guide · nine games compared

Rubber hose and 1930s cartoon FPS games, and what to play after MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

By Whale Development Studios, the studio behind Iron Curtain Call. Published 5 November 2026. Every date, price, platform and demo below was checked on the US Steam store on 5 November 2026; the sources are listed at the end.

Iron Curtain Call in first person: a white rubber hose cartoon glove lands a WALLOP! punch on a golden robot in a theatre, the Care Package rocket launcher in the other hand — Iron Curtain Call, chapter 12, Curtain Call. A real gameplay frame; the comic word is the game’s own.

The short answer

Two shooters wear the 1930s cartoon head to toe.

If you want a 1930s rubber hose cartoon that you play as a first person shooter, there are two to know: MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, out since April 2026 for $29.99, and Iron Curtain Call, whose free demo is on Steam now ahead of the full game on 11 March 2027.

Cuphead is the landmark of the style, but it is a 2D run and gun seen from the side, not a shooter seen through your own eyes. Bendy and the Ink Machine takes the same era’s cartoons into first person as a horror game. If noir or a retro period is what drew you in, Fallen Aces and BioShock are the next stops; if it is speed, DOOM Eternal, ULTRAKILL and MULLET MADJACK are the fast end of the same shelf.

Of all nine, three had a free demo on Steam on 5 November 2026: Iron Curtain Call, ULTRAKILL and MULLET MADJACK.

At a glance

All nine, side by side.

Checked on the US Steam store on 5 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars before any sale; Steam sets its own prices in other countries.
Game	What it is	The look	The hook	Free demo on Steam	US price	Out
Iron Curtain CallOur game	First person shooter, single player campaign	1930s rubber hose cartoon with ink lines, in an alternate 1965	Punch robots for health, open them for ammo, burn them for armor; parry pink attacks	Yes, free: Mission 1, about 15 to 20 minutes	Not priced yet	11 March 2027Free demo since 28 October 2026
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire	First person shooter with a detective story	Black and white, hand drawn rubber hose animation inspired by 1930s cartoons	Constant movement, cartoon weapons and power ups, more than 20 noir levels	No	$29.99	16 April 2026
Cuphead	2D run and gun built around boss fights	Hand drawn 1930s cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, original jazz	Parry anything pink to charge super attacks; two players on one screen	No	$19.99	29 September 2017
Bendy and the Ink Machine	First person survival horror with puzzles	A cartoon studio of the 1920s to 1940s gone wrong, in ink	Puzzles and tasks first; an axe, a pipe or a plunger when you must fight	No	$19.99	27 April 2017
Fallen Aces	First person action in crime noir	Comic book noir that plays like a shooter from the 90s	Two fists and whatever is lying around: knives, pipes, frying pans, Tommy guns	No	$14.99	14 June 2024Early Access
BioShock Remastered	First person shooter with powers and a story	An Art Deco city under the sea, in 1960	Guns plus plasmids, genetic powers that change how you fight	No	$19.99	15 September 2016First released in 2007
DOOM Eternal	First person shooter	Hell’s armies invade Earth	Glory kills for health, the chainsaw for ammo, the flamethrower for armor	No	$29.99	19 March 2020
ULTRAKILL	First person shooter	Retro graphics like early PlayStation games	Heal by getting close and soaking up blood, or by parrying; a style meter grades you	Yes, free	$29.99	3 September 2020Early Access
MULLET MADJACK	First person shooter with roguelite runs	Classic 1980s and 1990s anime	Ten seconds to live, and every kill buys more time	Yes, free	$19.99	15 May 2024

The games

One by one, who each is for.

Each entry says who the game is for, what it is and how it differs from Iron Curtain Call. The facts under each come from its Steam page on 5 November 2026.

Iron Curtain Call

Our game

Play it if you want a 1930s cartoon you can play as a fast shooter, and you want to try it for free first.

It is 1965, year three of World War III. Humanity ran out of soldiers, so the war is fought by wind up tin robots run by the Supreme Chancellor, a customer service machine that was handed a country. You are Corporal Punishment, a silent soldier delivered to the front like cargo, and Colonel Panic is on the radio: “I’d send backup, but you are the backup.”

The fighting is close and loud. A Knuckle Sandwich punch gives you health, the Can Opener cracks a robot open for ammo and the Hot Take shoulder flamethrower feeds your armor. Pink attacks can be parried, an Encore super waits for the big finish, and you double jump, air dash and grapple through the arenas with weapons like the Diplomat shotgun, the Typewriter and the Care Package. Robots burst into bolts, springs and scrap; there is no blood.

Next to MOUSE: P.I. For Hire it is in color, drawn with ink lines over 3D, and it is a satire of war and bureaucracy rather than a detective story. The free demo is Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton: about 15 to 20 minutes, ending with the first boss, Major Disaster.

Developer and publisher: Whale Development Studios
Out: 11 March 2027
Free demo out: 28 October 2026
On Steam: Windows and macOS (demo on Windows, macOS and Linux)
US list price: Not priced yet
Demo: Yes, free

Play the free demo Play 60 seconds in your browser, no download

Iron Curtain Call gameplay on a carnival midway: the Party Line, a telephone that fires, blows up a crowd of tin robots under the comic words DISCONNECTED! and CONFERENCE CALL!, with the health, armor and weapon HUD — Chapter 4, Landslide: the Party Line on the midway, HUD and all.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

Play it if you loved the black and white look of early 1930s cartoons and want a full detective campaign.

Fumi Games’ shooter casts you as Jack Pepper, voiced by Troy Baker: a war hero turned private eye in Mouseburg, a town of mice styled on 1930s New York. Everything is drawn by hand, frame by frame, in black and white rubber hose animation, and it moves to a big band jazz score. Steam lists more than 20 noir levels, cases to solve and collectibles to find.

It is the closest match in look. It had no demo on Steam on 5 November 2026, so if you want to try a 1930s cartoon shooter before you pay, Iron Curtain Call’s demo is the free way in.

Developer: Fumi Games
Publisher: PlaySide
Released: 16 April 2026
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $29.99
Demo: None on Steam

Cuphead

Play it if you want the purest 1930s cartoon look in any game and you love boss fights.

Studio MDHR made Cuphead the way 1930s studios made cartoons: traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds and original jazz recordings. It is a side view run and gun built around boss fights, with a famous parry: slap anything marked pink to charge your super attacks. Two players can play together on one screen.

Cuphead is not a first person shooter, which is why players search for a “Cuphead style FPS”. Iron Curtain Call lets you parry pink attacks too, in first person.

Developer and publisher: Studio MDHR
Released: 29 September 2017
On Steam: Windows and macOS
US list price: $19.99
Demo: None on Steam

Bendy and the Ink Machine

Play it if you want the 1930s cartoon studio in first person and you like horror more than shooting.

Joey Drew Studios set a first person horror game inside an old animation studio, where the retired animator Henry Stein finds the studio’s cartoon characters brought to life in ink. You solve puzzles and complete tasks to move on, and fight with what you find: an axe, a pipe, a plunger. Reviewers compared its look to the Steamboat Willie era of Disney’s cartoons.

It is the 1930s look in first person, without the shooting.

Developer and publisher: Joey Drew Studios
Released: 27 April 2017
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $19.99
Demo: None on Steam

Fallen Aces

Play it if noir is what you are after, and you would rather settle a fight with your fists.

Trey Powell and Jason Bond’s crime noir game looks like it came right out of the comics and plays like a shooter from the 90s. The guardians of Switchblade City are being taken down one by one, and it is up to one man with two fists to find out why. The world is your weapon: knives, pipes, bats, trash cans, frying pans, nail guns and Tommy guns. It is in Early Access.

Its noir is comic book color rather than 1930s animation.

Developers: Trey Powell and Jason Bond
Publisher: New Blood Interactive
Entered Early Access: 14 June 2024
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $14.99
Demo: None on Steam

BioShock Remastered

Play it if a retro period and a story with ideas are what pulled you toward these games.

In 1960 a plane goes down in the Atlantic and Jack finds Rapture, an Art Deco city built under the sea as a utopia and now falling apart. You fight its mutated and mechanical citizens with guns and plasmids, genetic powers that change what you can do. BioShock first came out in 2007; the Remastered edition is the one sold on Steam for Windows and macOS.

Not a cartoon, but a retro setting and a utopia gone wrong make it a good companion to Iron Curtain Call’s alternate 1965.

Developers: 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel and Feral Interactive (Mac)
Publisher: 2K and Feral Interactive (Mac)
Released: 15 September 2016
On Steam: Windows and macOS
US list price: $19.99
Demo: None on Steam

DOOM Eternal

Play it if you want the template for fighting up close to stay alive.

id Software built DOOM Eternal on resources you take from demons at close range: a glory kill restores health, the chainsaw makes demons drop ammo and the flamethrower refills armor. The Doom Slayer double jumps, dashes in any direction and climbs walls, and the Super Shotgun’s grappling hook pulls you into the fight.

Iron Curtain Call’s loop works the same way in a 1930s cartoon: the Knuckle Sandwich for health, the Can Opener for ammo, the Hot Take for armor. Our second guide compares the fast shooters in more depth.

Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Released: 19 March 2020
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $29.99
Demo: None on Steam

ULTRAKILL

Play it if you want speed, style ranks and a game that rewards aggression.

Arsi “Hakita” Patala’s shooter mixes modern movement, in the vein of Titanfall and DOOM Eternal, with ideas from action games like Devil May Cry: a style meter rates every fight. You heal by getting close and soaking up enemies’ blood, or by parrying their attacks. Its graphics recall early PlayStation games. It is in Early Access and has a free demo on Steam.

Developer: Arsi "Hakita" Patala
Publisher: New Blood Interactive
Entered Early Access: 3 September 2020
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $29.99
Demo: Yes, free

MULLET MADJACK

Play it if you want a shooter that never lets you stand still.

HAMMER95’s shooter is drawn from classic 1980s and 1990s anime. You have ten seconds to live and every kill adds more, so each floor is a sprint; soda cans and finishing moves buy time too. Steam also lists a Classic Mode with no timer, an endless mode and more than 50 power ups. It has a free demo on Steam.

Developer: HAMMER95
Publisher: Epopeia Games
Released: 15 May 2024
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $19.99
Demo: Yes, free

The style

What makes a game rubber hose?

Rubber hose animation was the first style the American animation industry standardized, in the 1920s. Its mark is the limbs: arms, and sometimes legs, drawn as flowing curves with no elbows or knees, so everything bends like a rubber hose. Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop are the best known examples. The style fell out of fashion by the late 1930s and has had a revival since the early 2010s; Cuphead, released in 2017, is built on it.

In a first person shooter the style lives in your own hands: white cartoon gloves in front of the camera, limbs that stretch and bounce, and comic sound effects that land with every punch. That is the thread between MOUSE: P.I. For Hire and Iron Curtain Call, even though one is a black and white detective story and the other a full color war satire.

Faster

If speed is what you want

Some players come to these games for the look and stay for the pace. If that is you, our second guide compares the fast end: games like ULTRAKILL, DOOM Eternal and MULLET MADJACK, where melee, parrying and getting close are how you stay alive.

Or skip the reading: play 60 seconds of Iron Curtain Call in your browser, no download.

Questions

Questions players ask

Is there a rubber hose FPS with a free demo?

Yes. Iron Curtain Call has a free demo on Steam: Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton, about 15 to 20 minutes, ending with the boss Major Disaster. MOUSE: P.I. For Hire had no demo on Steam when we checked on 5 November 2026.

Is Cuphead a first person shooter?

No. Cuphead is a 2D run and gun seen from the side. The first person shooters with its 1930s cartoon look are MOUSE: P.I. For Hire and Iron Curtain Call; Bendy and the Ink Machine has the look in first person as a horror game.

What games are like Cuphead?

For the same 1930s cartoon look in first person: MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, and Iron Curtain Call, which has a free demo. For horror in that style, Bendy and the Ink Machine. For noir, Fallen Aces; for a retro story shooter, BioShock.

What should I play after MOUSE: P.I. For Hire?

For the same 1930s cartoon look in a fast shooter, Iron Curtain Call: in color, set in an alternate 1965, with a free demo. For more noir, Fallen Aces. For a retro story shooter, BioShock.

What is rubber hose animation?

The first standard style of American animation, from the 1920s: arms and legs drawn as flowing curves without elbows or knees. Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop are the classic examples.

Does Iron Curtain Call run on Mac?

Yes. On 5 November 2026 Steam listed Windows and macOS for the game, and Windows, macOS and Linux for the free demo.

When does Iron Curtain Call come out?

On 11 March 2027, on Steam. The free demo has been out since 28 October 2026.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these pages, read on 5 November 2026. Prices and dates change; the store page always has the final word.

Iron Curtain Call, Steam store page
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, Steam store page
Cuphead, Steam store page
Bendy and the Ink Machine, Steam store page
Fallen Aces, Steam store page
BioShock Remastered, Steam store page
DOOM Eternal, Steam store page
ULTRAKILL, Steam store page
MULLET MADJACK, Steam store page
Rubber hose animation, Wikipedia
Mouse: P.I. for Hire, Wikipedia
Cuphead, Wikipedia
Bendy and the Ink Machine, Wikipedia
BioShock, Wikipedia
Doom Eternal, Wikipedia
Ultrakill, Wikipedia
Mullet MadJack, Wikipedia

World War III now has a free trial.

Mission 1 of Iron Curtain Call is free on Steam. Play it, and if the war wins you over, wishlist the full war: it arrives on 11 March 2027.

Play the free demo Wishlist on Steam Play 60 seconds in your browser, no download