When you first gain access to the main hub area Mouse: PI For Hirewhere your office is located, you also get access to several other features. This area contains an ammo and missing collectibles shop, a weapon upgrade workshop, and a bar where you can enjoy a nice game of baseball cards.
Baseball Cards is exactly what it sounds like. It's baseball, but played with a deck of playing cards instead of the traditional ball, bat and glove. This means that while the gameplay is different, the overall concept remains the same. A batter's goal is to score home runs and a pitcher's goal is to throw the ball and prevent the batter from scoring, but it's harder than it sounds.
How to play baseball cards
If you have ever tried to play baseball cards, then you know that it is simple in theory but difficult in practice. Your opponent, who is always the same mouse, has a somewhat improved deck that can be nearly impossible to beat until you get some new cards yourself. This means that you also need to fully understand your goals throughout the game, as they change throughout the game.
You won't win any chips for the draw. Chips are only awarded when you win a match.
First, you will always start the baseball card game as a batternot Jug. You play five rounds as a batsman, then switch and play five rounds as a bowler for a total of 10 rounds. Each turn as a batter gives you a chance to score home runs, while each turn as a pitcher allows you to stop the opposition from scoring.
Unlike traditional baseball, there are only two innings in baseball cards. So you will only have one swing at bat and one swing at pitching, then the game is over. in addition “striking out” will have no effect on the game except your score. All ten rounds, five each, are always played to the full.
This order is important because it means you will always know how many points your opponent can get before you either draw or lose. For example, if you score 5 points during your turn, you know that your opponent can score 4 points and still win. However, if you've scored one point during your turn, then you know you can't let your opponent score any points to win.
How to get more cards
If you want to build your deck, which is highly recommended, before you start wasting money in the game, you'll want to complete missions and find Baseball Card collectibles. They exist usually two or three per missionand once you find them, they will be added to your deck.
If you miss them during a mission, you can buy them from the shop in town after the mission, but you'll have to pay for them that waywhile finding them during the mission will get you this card for free.
The the shop owner also sells boost cards for both Batter and Pitcher, but they are quite expensive and frankly not necessary. You'd rather save your money on lost collectibles and play Baseball Cards. You can buy one or two if you're having trouble, but the player cards you find during missions should have high enough base stats.
How to Score Home Runs
At bat, your goal will be to score home runs. If you're not familiar with baseball, that's pretty much what it means not only do you need to hit the leadoff pitch, but you also need to let your players, or in this case the Cards, handle it down the field and back to home base. Once a player passes all three bases and returns home, it will count as one point.
Any players remaining on the field at the end of your five rounds will be eliminated when a new shift starts, meaning you won't get points for them.
As for how you actually achieve this, it depends on both the card you lay down and the card your opponent lays down. You won't see each other's cards until you both select themso the only way to guarantee a win is to play the best option. Whether batting or pitching, you will have three different types of cards to pay attention tothe explanation of which you can see in the table below:
|
Card type |
Explanation |
|---|---|
|
Dough |
These are your batting players. They will have two numbers on them. The top number is for Power Swing and the bottom number is for Speed Boost. Power Swing determines whether you hit the ball, while Speed Boost determines how far the Batter flies. |
|
Power Swing |
This is an additional amount that will be added to your Batter's Power Swing number. You can only play one of these per turn, and you cannot play a Power Swing card and a Speed Boost card in the same turn. |
|
Speed up |
This is an additional amount that will be added to your Batter's speed boost number. You can only play one of them in one turn, and you cannot play a Speed Boost card and a Power Swing card in the same turn. |
|
Jugs |
These are your pitching players. They will have two numbers on them. The top number is for Pitch Focus and the bottom number is for Fielding Play. Pitch Focus determines whether you cause the Batter to strike out, while Fielding Play allows you to slow down the Batter after a successful hit. |
|
Pitch Focus |
This is an additional amount that will be added to your Pitcher's Pitch Focus number. You can only play one of these per turn, and you cannot play a Pitch Focus card and a Fielding Play card in the same turn. |
|
Fielding Play |
This is an additional amount that will be added to your Pitcher's Fielding Play number. You can only play one of these per turn, and you cannot play a Fielding Play card and a Pitch Focus card in the same turn. |
with those in mind you will be able to play one Batter and one optional boost card per turn. If you're confident in your Batter's base stats, you don't need to play the boost card, but I'd recommend it anyway, since your opponent has incredibly high pitching stats and you draw more cards each turn.
In order to successfully hit the ball, your Power Swing number must be higher than your opponent's Pitch Focus. If these numbers are the same, a draw will determine who wins the roll. However, if your Power Swing is 3 points higher than your opponent's Pitch Focus, you automatically hit a home runand therefore it can be beneficial to increase your score as high as possible.
If you don't beat the Pitch Focus number, then you strike out that roundand everyone's cards will be discarded. If you get a hit, your Batter will move the number of bases listed on the bottom number, which is your speed, plus any speed boost you gave them.
That said, the pitcher also has a way of slowing you down. When you hit, the pitcher's infield play will be subtracted from your speed before you move. This number applies to everything on the field, so any runners you already have on base will also be affected by that round's Fielding Play value.
If the Fielding Play is high enough, it can even lead to your Batter getting stranded on home base. Unfortunately, this also appears to be a glitch, as if this happens the card will block the view of your hand on the next turn.
So, To have the highest chance of hitting Home Runs, you need to prioritize relatively high batting power in each round. Speed is important, but it won't matter if you can't even hit the ball. Most low speed batters tend to have a higher Power Swing, while high speed Batters tend to have a lower Power Swing.
That means you should ideally give Batters with 8+ base Power Swing to increase their Speed and Batters with 2+ Speed to increase their Power Swing. Your opponent may have several pitchers still out-hitting you, but with a base 8 or 9, your chances of getting a hit or a strikeout are pretty high.
How to stop a batter from scoring
On the Pitching side, things aren't nearly as complicated. Similar to batting, you will have three different types of cards at your disposal. One is your caster card and two are your optional boost cards. Your main goal is to prevent your opponent from scoring any points, or at least less points than you scored.
To achieve this, you will want to play the bowler with the highest possible pitch. Even if you can't stop them from hitting, you'll still hopefully be close enough that they won't be able to hit a Home Run with their initial hit. If your base Pitch Focus stat is higher than 8, you should prioritize boosting your Fielding Playespecially if there are already Runners on the field.
Once you reach a certain point, you also get the option to ban cards from the match. This allows you to prevent yourself and your opponent from using a particular card, but it can also help you avoid cards you don't want to draw. This means you can't block any card you don't personally have, so keep that in mind.
Even if your opponent doesn't hit, runners on the field will still move by stealing bases equal to their Speed number, minus any Fielding Play number for that turn, making it important to prioritize some level of Fielding Play value with active Runners.
It's also important to note that if they score a Home Run, everyone on the field will go home, regardless of their speed, so you absolutely do not want to throw out a pitcher with a Pitch Focus lower than 6 without some sort of boost, and even that can be risky.
Bottom line, it's much easier to stop your opponent than to score points yourself, so be careful and play your best cards, and you should be fine if you can even score two or three points on your turn at bat.
What's inside the Prize D-Spenser?
Besides the satisfaction of winning, there is only one in-game reward for winning baseball card matches. Unfortunately, it requires winning 20 matches, not just one, but you need 30 to unlock the achievement associated with the Baseball Cards minigameso you'll probably finish it by now.
Once you win 20 matches you will have 20 tokens to use on Prize D-spenser in the corner of the bar. Depositing your tokens will open it and you will be rewarded with the X1 D-Mousifier, a powerful Ray Gun this is definitely worth adding to your arsenal. This will also unlock the “Everyone Loves Raygun” achievement.
Mouse: PI For Hire – Achievement/Trophy Guide
Mouse: PI For Hire is full of achievements/trophies that require you to put yourself in the role of a detective and sniff out hidden collectibles.
