A Hat in Time – Death Wish: Mafia Town Guide

Welcome to my guide, thank you for checking it out. It’s my first one, so please do not hesitate to comment suggestions or the like below.

I know there’s several out there already, but I feel like I could be able to give my own little spin on things (plus I could always use an excuse to ramble about Death Wish). This series of guides will house all 38 + 2 secret Death Wishes, I hope to get at least one done per week.

Each Death Wish will be grouped by chapters (so Mafia Town, Dead Bird Studios, etc) and will feature information of:

• Alterations from the vanilla game mission
• The 3 objectives that must be completed
• General advice of what to keep in mind before you start, and recommended loadout… If a boss mission, then the boss attack patterns, tells, and HP
• The nitty gritty explanations of how to win each objective
• A video from my YouTube channel that showcases the mission for the visual learner

Looking for another chapter of Death Wishes?

• Battle of the Birds Death Wishes
• Subcon Forest Death Wishes
• Alpine Skyline Death Wishes (Done, Proofing)
• The Finale, Arctic Cruise, and Nyakuza Death Wishes (Done, Proofing)
• Candles + Secret Death Wishes (Soon)

Note that this guide assumes you are NOT using Peace and Tranquility mode. You are free to if you wish, as it will make the death wish easier.

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Aquire 3 Snatcher Coins

The Compass Badge sold by the Mafia Boss inside Chapter 2’s shiproom will tell you where the coins are with a purple arrow. I’d recommend doing this mission on the act ‘Vault Codes in the Wind”

• Snatcher Coin 1 of 3: Take the cannon back up to the Mafia Casino island where you fought Mafia Boss. You will now be allowed to climb the building. Do this by climbing a gold statue on the ground then jumping to either of the front shades, then jump on the statue base on the wall and finally jump again onto the roof. The coin is at the center of the roof
• Snatcher Coin 2 of 3: Located at the very top of the giant belltower where Mustache Girl stood in Act 1. You can fall to this from the Mafia Casino or by going to the gerder construction zone and jumping to the very top where the hat yarn was and jumping to the belltower from there
• Snatcher Coin 3 of 3: Located in the waterway underneath the under-constructilm tower where the Badge Salseman is (it’s neighbored by a pool)

• Locations of nozzles have been shuffled to new locations.
• Water tubs are now spread across the mission to cool Hat Kid down when she gets too hot
• Hat Kid will now begin to take gradual damage from being too hot after a period of time without dipping in water tubs that reset the timer

• Clear the level without being burned
• Do not dip into a water tub more than twice

There are 6 faucets you need to turn off as well as 3 sources of water you may use to cool yourself off. The location of all of them are marked on your map, but I’d advice taking one or two runs to learn of any obstructions in the way of each. It takes roughly 80 seconds for Hat Kid to take damage from overheating, you will know you’re about to take damage when you hear a beeping sound and your screen has a thick wavey border. Anything that is on fire, if it makes contact with you, will count as Hat Kid overheating. Conversely, No other source of water besides the buckets and the pool will cool Hat Kid down, so do not worry about running into the waterway.

Faucets are disabled after 2 well-timed hits (wait about 1 second after the first hit), or you can just button mash 4 hits and be done with it. Learning when you’ve made the final hit to disable it will greatly help you beat the objectives as you can get a 1-2 second head start to the next faucet or water bucket while the other shuts off.

It’s relatively simple to do both at once, so I will assume this is your goal.

You have a very lenient 80 seconds to take down 6 faucets and you may dunk yourself in water twice. Furthermore, the cannon that shoots you to the top for the Time Piece also acts as a cooling agent but does NOT count against you. A reminder that anything on fire, be it the lava, fish, or whatnot, will count as Hat Kid overheating and fail the objectives, and that no other source of water besides the buckets and the pool will cool Hat Kid down

My recommendation is to do a water dip every 2 faucets, 3 if you feel confident in your speed.

My pathing is to make your way to the lighthouse (north-west from starting position) and take down the 1st faucet along that path, then the lighthouse faucet. Dip into a water bucket, then make way to where you obtained your very first time piece and disable that faucet and the one in the nearby tower. Ignore the pool and hit the faucet where the slides used to be. Then run back to the construction site to sit in that water bucket, then make your way to the docks near the belltower and turn off that faucet. Quickly use the nearby jumprope to rush to the cannon, and you’re golden.

A timer is added to score the player.

Clear the mission in 1:35 and 1:20 or less.

Have the sprint cap equipped right away. The hat alone will more or less guarantee you the objectives so long as you’re constantly moving.

Recognize the fastest route right away. You will spawn near the docks and near you is an ice platform that will send all the way up to the Mafia Goon. There is a puddle right next to him, use that to scare him. Afterwards, just rely on your sprint hat to quickly make it up. Shouldnt be a terrible challenge.

There is one major shortcut you can take, though it is not required, but it does help. On the orange MAFIA flag in the first area, it is possible to time a jump at the last moment from the top right corner (facing it from your initial position) in order to be able to air-dash-cancel into the leftward floating wooden platform. This will require some practice but is good for saving time. It is not required though, just highly recommended to save time.

Video:

• You are no longer chasing the Mafia Goon, instead you must brave a gauntlet of platforming and enemies under a timer.
• UFOs, Racoons, and Mafia are now littered across the place and will aggressively attack you
• Missles will now appear near the time piece

• Smash all 7 UFOs
• Reach the Time Piece in less than 65 (1:05) seconds

Sprint Hat is a must for this mission. Try to use it at all times, though I advise against the motorcycle as it is harder to steer.

• Smash All 7 UFOs: Simple enough, simply go around the arena smashing the UFOs as you see them. I recommend dealing with them via homing attack as it gives you the most movement and i-frames. Most are on your way to the objective. The first area before the cannon will have 3 UFOs, one on the first platform near the 3 pipes, one where the mafia guy used to stand before the MAFIA flag, and one after. Once you’re shot from the cannon, take the rightward path to nab the other UFO. Continue onward and climb the metal platforms for the 5th, and the final two will be waiting for you near the time piece with a gauntlet of missles coming after you.
• Beat in less than 65 (1:05) seconds: This one will require you to use every shortcut you can find in order to make it through. Ignore all enemies you see, just run past everything. Always use the sprint hat power. Be sure to keep momentum in mind, and air-dash into balloons in order to get a nice momentum boost, as well as jumping off mafia heads after the wrecking ball section.
  • Shortcut #1 – On the orange MAFIA flag in the first area, it is possible to time a jump at the last moment from the top right corner (facing it from your initial position) in order to be able to air-dash-cancel into the leftward floating wooden platform. This will require some practice but is good for saving time. It is not required though, just highly recommended to save time.
  • Shortcut #2 – The wires near and below the time piece do not count as a death zone. Therefore, instead of risking a jump from the wires that are level with the time piece, allow yourself to fall down onto them and jump right back up into the time piece.

Video:

A Jump counter now appears for the player

Complete the mission in just 11 / 7 jumps

The No Bonk Badge will help you here. Double jumping counts as 2 jumps, but a “jump” from a dash cancel does not count as a jump! Forget the jump button exists and learn that there are other ways to gaining height. The Ice Hat in general is great for this. Take advantage of Hat Kid’s ability to auto-climb walls when she lands on them the right way.

Start similar to how you did “She Speedran,” but be sure you are not jumping on your way to the ice block in the docks. Use the ice hat and you’ll be launched to the top. When you make your way to the Mafia Goom, dash-cancel to the building as this will not consume a jump, and trigger the event by scaring him.

With sprint hat, use one jump then an air-dash to make it to the next platform where you’ll scare him.

This is where it gets a tiny bit tricky. You will need to utilize the height gained from instantly cancelling the usage of the ice hat followed by a dash. Facing the pipes, stand in the center of their diameter and ice-cancel then immediately air-dash into it, Hat Kid should climb up them. Repeat this again for the next pipe if you didnt make it up to it, and again to climb the platform near the pipes.

With sprint hat, consume a 2nd jump + air dash to make it to the next platform, and a 3rd + air-dash to the one after that just before the flag.

Ice-cancel + air dash to the mafia flag, then quip the sprint hat and you must utilize the previously mentioned flag shortcut… which is : On the orange MAFIA flag in the first area, it is possible to time a jump at the last moment from the top right corner (facing it from your initial position) in order to be able to air-dash-cancel into the leftward floating wooden platform. This will require some practice. Afterwards, simply do one last jump (this should be your 5th) and wait for the mafia to arrive and talk to him. Finally, ice-cancel and dash into the time piece above him.

A counter wtih a red 300 pon counter will appear on you now, with once you’ve collected 300 pons you will instantly die. Every pon collected will decrease the red counter by 1 and add to the regular counter by 1, although the regular counter will subtract by 1 every couple seconds.

• Make the pon counter reach 100
• Don’t pick up more than 200 Pons overall
• Don’t break any crates or barrels for pons

Take the time to memorize the big pon spots throughout the level, as they do not change in this mode. Safes, saving citizens, pon balls, do not count against the “crates or barrels” objective. Sprint hat and magnet badge is a must.

Notable big pon spots:

• The red safe near the beginning of the level where you spawn
• The old man in the docks being bullied by 2 mafia
• The docks near the lighthouse have a decent amount of pons
• The pon ball near the circus where the barrel battle takes place has a bunch
• The pon ball you break in order to make the staircase appear is another good source
• The blue safe after the appearing staircase also has a lot.
• After the safe if you continue to where the very first time piece was and run past it, there is another small abundance of pons.

Seeing a path in action is honestly the best way to help you with this mission:

You are now drastically timed, given just 30 seconds to collect a vault code before death. Collecting one will reset the timer to 30. The vault codes will also have huge movement patterns, though you can constantly track them via a dotted white line.

• Do not use the Time Stop hat
• Defeat 10 Mafia

Sprint Hat is a godsend. I’d recommend it over the Time Stop hat unless you really need the time. This level is going to take you a few attempts to memorize the location and pattern of the codes and the mafia goons. I’d recommend doing it in order of: “Docks -> Lighthouse -> Black Tent -> Waterfall”, as i’ve found this generally allows the codes to essentially walk into you if you are fast enough. The timer does not stop until you open the safe, and picking up a code will reset the timer to exactly 30 no matter how much leftover time you had left.

• Do not use the Time Stop hat – Simple enough if you are only gunning for this objective. Ignore the mafia goons at all costs and just sprint to each vault code in my recommended order of “Docks -> Lighthouse -> Black Tent -> Waterfall”. Do NOT forget about the blue auto-move-up hookshot near the bullied old man at the docks!
• Defeat 10 Mafia – Take a run or two to memorize all Mafia locations if you have not already. Utilize the Time Stop hat whenever possible. You can easily kill one just after you spawn by dropping down immediately to where the group of birds are. Drop further down into the location of the first time piece to easily kill another 3 mafia (the one near the safe dies in 1 hit). At this point, you should be at (4/10) and I’d recommend only killing 2 mafia per vault code from here on just to be safe (this works when going for both bonuses). After the Lighthouse vault, kill the 2 mafia standing near the blue bridge in the docks, maybe the third if you’re feeling confident with time. The two bullying the old man after the black tent is another easy catch, as well as the two are near the blue bridge above the waterfall vault code.

Mafia Boss will generally move faster, and so will his attacks. Sandbags will constantly rain down on you.

• Don’t miss a single opportunity to hit him (when he’s blue)
• Win with one-hit hero badge equipped (take no damge)

Brewing Hat is a savior for both objectives as you can hit him from a pretty far distance, making the fight generally shorter as he has no chance to not be hit. Utilize Time Stop whenever he is not vulnerable, especially for when he begins using Ultra/Megacharge, though be wary of when he will become vulnerable (listed below) and switch back to Brewing Hat to deal with him. Mafia Boss will occasionally spawn Health Orbs for you to heal with.

Assume he can use every move as they’re introduced across all phases unless I state otherwise, or unless it gets an upgrade.

• Phase 1 (5 HP)
  • Spin Dash – Mafia Boss will utilize a faster spin attack. He is invulnerable during this until he has made 3 rotations, increasing in speed each time. Double jump above him until he’s blue. This extends to 4, then 5, as the fight progresses. The tell is he will quickly wind back and let out a yell as if he’s lifting something.
  • Super/Megacharge Lv.1 – He will also use supercharge that now spawns a ground shockwave every time, and a bouncing shockwave every other time. Do not panic, jump with very slight back and forth movement should be fine. He is vulnerable after 8 total shocks have happened. The tell is he will jump to one side of the arena (usually opposite of where he is) and immediately wind back, yelling “supercharge”
  • Goon Attack Lv.1 – After 2 hits, he will begin raining sandbags in your proximity for the rest of the fight except for certain moves, so be wary of what’s above you. He will also begin spawning 1 mafia goon when he sits in the audience as well as sandbags. To best avoid these goons and the sandbags, it’s advised to double jump as the goons run toward you, and dash as soon as the first set of sandbags begin to fall, then cancel your dash once you’re underneath where a sandbag previously was so you dont get hit by the next set The tell is he will jump into the stands.
• Phase 2 (4 HP)
  • Weapon Throw – Mafia Boss will jump back into the background and more quickly boomerang his weapons. He is not vulnerable until the 3rd though, and this lengthens to a 4th, 5th, as the fight progresses. He always jumps to your current position so move the moment he jumps. The tell is he will jump into the background.
  • Goon Attack lv.2 – is whistle will now spawn 3 mafia goons, and he will jump to your position after he is done. Avoidance is the same as it was previously
• Phase 3 (8 HP) – The longest and most tiring phase that will test your endurance.
  • Mafia Ball – His mafia ball is faster, though it will never stop until you hit it. If you need to, consider it a rest period as it will never time out the “miss your cue” objective. The tell is he will yell “Mafia Ball” after having jumped to one corner (usually the right corner)
  • Super/Megacharge Lv.2 – His ultracharge gets an upgrade, as after he does 8, he will fly to the other side of the arena and use MEGACHARGE, a red-colored faster variation. I’d recommend time stop during this, and try to air-dash through 2 shockwaves at a time. After 8 waves, he will be vulnerable.

• Don’t miss a single opportunity to hit him (when he’s blue) – Brewing Hat usage will ensure you never miss an opportunity. Remember that he is always vulnerable after every attack he does besides when he summons goons. The Mafia Ball will never time out your cue to attack
• Win with one-hit hero badge equipped – You had better have learned the ins-and-outs of his tells by now. This is largely where Time Stop hat comes in handy in case you panic, though the Ice Hat works too but I consider it a little risky. The super/ultracharge move is likely to be your biggest hurdle here, so get comfortable on the timing of it (once again, try to jump over 2 megacharges at a time if you can unless you use timestop hat)Video:
  

• You are now timed to beat the mission in 150 seconds
• You have 3 lives to win, otherwise you will be locked out of the mission for 5 minutes
• There are new pons to collect, and enemies are more aggressive/numerous

• Escape the Mafia of Cooks Time Rift
• Collect all Rift Pons (the crowns)
• Collect the Time Piece with 30 seconds remaining

Always have the Sprint Hat and Magnet Badge equipped!!! Learn the layout of the rift and pon positions!
Enemies will try to throw you off in the final room by throwing cans that will stun you if they hit you.
It is tight to do both challenges at once, so unless you want the extra challenge I would recommend going for one at a time, preferably the “All Pons” one first so that you then know what you may be able to cut down on. There are 23 pons in the rift but only 17 are required. .

(the order I list them is the recommended grab order):
If you are to skip out on pons for the 30 seconds remaining objective, I recommend a full clear of Room 2 and Room 3 (Pons #1-11), 1 pon (Prefer Pon #15 or 16) from Room 5, and 5 from Room 6 (Pons #18-22)

• Room 1 – No pons
• Room 2 (5 pons, 3 total to progress) –
  • 1. upon entering the room, immediately go to your right for a pon
  • 2. Head back to the portal to the next level to see another pon on a pile of meat
  • 3. Make your way to the small building and jump to the lamppost pon
  • 4. Fall straight down from the lamppost pon and pick up the pon resting on the pipe near the wall of the house
  • 5. Return to where you began the room but head toward the pile of barrels for the pon
• Room 3 (6 pons, 4 total to progress) –
  • 6. There is a pon to the northeast from entering, underneath the water tower.
  • 7. Another directly behind the left from entering building,
  • 8. Head toward the portal to the next level, jump on the fish rack nearby, and jump to the top of the lamppost. The magnet should grab it for you.
  • 9. Make you way to the tall red house and defeat the mafia goon at the top
  • 10. On that same building, drop directly down thee wall facing the ship to grab another
  • 11. Head back to the center pile of meat and defeat the mafia goon.
• Room 4 – No pons
• Room 5 (6 pons, 5 total to progress) –
  • 12. Directly to your northeast from beginning the room
  • 13. Directly left upon picking up the above pon
  • 14. On the polar opposite side of the circle where you grabbed the above pon
  • 15. On top of the tallest tree on the circle
  • 16. Hanging in the middle of the next circular platform with the portal to the next level
  • 17. Directly behind the building where the portal to the next level is
• Room 6 (6 pons, 5 total to progress) –
  • 18. Immediately jump on the yellow umbrella in front of you for one pon
  • 19. Immediately upon grabbing the above pon, turn southeast and dash to the golden statue for another pon
  • 20. Dash toward the tree next to the statue for another pon
  • 21. To the right after picking up the above pon under the octopus logo on the building
  • 22. On the polar opposite side of the building from when you grabbed the above pon
  • 23. After grabbing the above pon, move to the 4th and final building top you havent gone on yet and rush to the exit

The Time Piece orb takes 4 hits to break.