A Hat in Time has a new trailer, and a 2017 release date

When Gears for Breakfast's A Hat in Time was first revealed several years ago, the idea of a new cartoony 3D platformer seemed delightfully out-of-step with modern gaming trends, and while that's still true to an extent, the goggly-eyed Yooka-Laylee has warmed the world up to the idea. A Hat in Time is a little different, with a considerably smaller budget but maybe a bit more ambition, and an aesthetic that reminds me of Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine rather than Banjo Kazooie.

I hadn't heard much about the game for a good long while, but here's a new trailer that confirms that Gears for Breakfast's GameCube-style platformer is very much alive. Not only that, but it'll be out next year.

You play as an umbrella-wielding girl named Hat Kid, who's trying to gather fuel for her spaceship (as you do). She'll do this by exploring a selection of large 3D worlds, either alone or in (local or online) co-op, pleasingly. There will also be modding support, courtesy of the Steam Workshop. The above trailer shows off chapter 3 of the game, which appears to involve birds, trains, a penguin DJ and a colourful city environment.

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.