Complete guide to the mini-game “Baseball Cards” in Mouse: P.I. For Hire

When you first gain access to the central hub in Mouse: P.I. For Hire, where your office is located, other opportunities will also become available to you. This area features a shop where you can buy ammo and missing collectibles, a workshop for upgrading your gun, and a bar where you can play “Baseball Cards.”

“Baseball Cards” is exactly what it sounds like. It’s baseball, but instead of a traditional ball, bat, and glove, a deck of playing cards is used. This means that while the way the game is played is different, the overall concept remains the same. The goal of the batter is to score home runs, and the goal of the pitcher is to throw the ball and prevent the batter from scoring, but in practice, it’s more complicated than it seems.

How to Play “Baseball Cards”

If you’ve already tried playing “Baseball Cards,” you know that in theory, it’s simple, but in practice, it’s difficult. Your opponent, who is always the same mouse, has a pretty powerful deck that is almost impossible to beat until you get new cards yourself. Additionally, you need to fully understand your goals during the game, as they change in the middle of the match.

You won’t get any tokens for a draw. Tokens are only awarded for winning a match.

First, you always start the “Baseball Cards” game as the Batter, not the Pitcher. You will play five rounds as the Batter, then switch, and play five rounds as the Pitcher, for a total of 10 rounds. Each round as the batter gives you a chance to score home runs, and each round as the pitcher allows you to prevent the opponent from scoring.

Unlike traditional baseball, there are only two innings in “Baseball Cards”. This means you will only have one at-bat and one pitching turn, after which the game will end. Also, a “strikeout” will have no effect on the game other than your score.

All ten rounds, five on each side, are always played out in full.

This order is important because it means you will always know how many points your opponent can score before you play a tie or lose. For example, if you scored 5 points during your turn, you know that your opponent can score 4 points, and you will still win. However, if you scored only one point, you understand that you cannot allow your opponent to score any points to win.

How to Get More Cards

To build your deck, which is highly recommended before spending money on the game, you should complete tasks and find collectible “Baseball Cards”. There are usually two or three per task, and after discovery, they are added to your deck.

If you missed them during the mission, you can buy them in the in-game store after completing it, but in this case, you will have to pay for them, whereas finding them during the task gives you the card for free.

The store owner also sells booster cards for both the Batter and the Pitcher, but they are relatively expensive and, honestly, not necessary. It’s better to save money for missing collectibles and the “Baseball Cards” game itself. You can buy one or two if you’re really struggling, but the base characteristics of the cards found during tasks are usually sufficient.

How to Score Home Runs

When you’re at bat, your goal is to score home runs. If you’re not familiar with baseball, this means you need to not only hit the initial pitch but also get your players (in this case, cards) around all the bases and back home. As soon as a player goes through all three bases and returns home, it counts as one point.

All players left on the field at the end of your five rounds will be reset with the start of the new inning, which means you won’t get points for them.

As for how to achieve this, it all depends on the card you play and the card your opponent plays. You won’t be able to see each other’s cards until you both make your choice, so the only way to guarantee a win is to play your best option. Whether you’re batting or pitching, you need to pay attention to three different types of cards, which are described in the table below:

There are six basic types of cards in the game, each with its own role. Here’s a brief description:

Batters are your players on offense. The card shows two numbers: the top one is for Power Hit, and the bottom one is for Speed. Power Hit determines whether you’ll hit the ball, and Speed determines how far the Batter will run.
Power Hit is a booster card that adds a bonus to the Power Hit number of your Batter. You can only play one such card per round, and you cannot use Power Hit and Speed booster cards at the same time.
Speed is a booster card that adds a bonus to the Speed number of your Batter. You can only play one such card per round, and you cannot use Speed and Power Hit booster cards at the same time.
Pitchers are your players on defense. The card shows two numbers: the top one is for Pitching Focus, and the bottom one is for Fielding. Pitching Focus determines whether you’ll strike out the Batter, and Fielding allows you to slow down the Batter after a successful hit.
Pitching Focus is a booster card that adds a bonus to the Pitching Focus number of your Pitcher. You can only play one such card per round, and you cannot use Pitching Focus and Fielding booster cards at the same time.
Fielding is a booster card that adds a bonus to the Fielding number of your Pitcher. You can only play one such card per round, and you cannot use Fielding and Pitching Focus booster cards at the same time.

Given this, per round, you can play one Batter card and one additional booster card. If you’re confident in your Batter’s base characteristics, you can do without a booster, but I still recommend using one, because your opponent has incredibly high pitching stats, and you’ll be drawing new cards every round.

To successfully hit the ball, your Power Hit number must be higher than your opponent’s Pitching Focus number. If the numbers are equal, the winner is determined by chance. However, if your Power Hit is 3 points higher than your opponent’s Pitching Focus, you will automatically score a home run, so sometimes it’s beneficial to maximize your Power Hit.

If you don’t exceed your opponent’s Pitching Focus, you’ll get a strikeout in that round, and all cards will be reset. If the hit is successful, your Batter will move the number of bases indicated by the bottom number (Speed), plus any bonus from the Speed booster card.

However, the Pitcher also has a way to slow you down. After a successful hit, the Pitcher’s Fielding number is subtracted from your Speed before the move begins. This rule applies to all players on the field, so any runners already on base will also be affected by the Fielding value in that round.

If the Fielding is high enough, it can even lead to your Batter staying on the home base. Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug here: if this happens, the card may overlap your hand in the next round.

So, to maximize your chances of scoring home runs, you should prioritize a relatively high Power Hit in every turn. Speed is important, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t even hit the ball.

Most Batters with low Speed usually have a high Power Hit, while Batters with high Speed often have a lower Power Hit.

This means that ideally, a Batter with a base Power Hit of 8+ should get a Speed boost, and a Batter with a base Speed of 2+ should get a Power Hit boost. Your opponent may have Pitchers that will still outplay your Batter, but with a base value of 8 or 9, your chances of a successful hit or a draw are quite high.

How to Prevent the Batter from Scoring

From the pitching side, it’s not that complicated. As with batting, you’ll have three different types of cards to play. One is the Pitcher card, and the other two are optional boosters. Your main goal here is to prevent the opponent from scoring points or, at the very least, score fewer points than you.

To do this, you should play a Pitcher with the highest possible Pitching Focus. Even if you can’t prevent them from hitting, you’ll hopefully be close enough that they won’t be able to score a home run on the first hit. If your base Pitching Focus exceeds 8, it’s worth prioritizing Fielding, especially if there are already runners on base.

Upon reaching a certain level, you’ll also get the opportunity to ban cards in the match. This allows you and your opponent to not use a specific card and helps avoid unwanted cards in your hand. However, you cannot ban cards that you don’t have yourself.

Even if the opponent doesn’t hit the ball, runners on the field will still move, stealing bases by the amount equal to their Speed, minus the Fielding value for that round. That’s why it’s essential to maintain a certain level of Fielding when there are runners on base.

It’s also important to remember that if the opponent scores a home run, all their players on the field will automatically return to the home base, regardless of their Speed. Therefore, it’s highly undesirable to put up a Pitcher with a Pitching Focus below 6 without any booster, and even that can be risky.

Overall, preventing the opponent from scoring is much easier than scoring yourself. Pay close attention to the game, play your best cards, and you’ll be fine if you manage to score at least two or three points during your turn at bat.

What’s Inside the Prize Machine?

Besides the moral satisfaction of winning, there’s only one in-game reward for winning “Baseball Cards”. Unfortunately, to get it, you need to win 20 matches, not just one. To unlock the achievement related to this mini-game, you need 30 wins, so you’ll likely still be aiming for that.

After 20 wins, you’ll have 20 tokens that you can use in the prize machine standing in the corner of the bar. By inserting the tokens, you’ll get X1 D-Mousifier — a powerful ray gun