Rectangles

Rectangles
Hat Kid standing on the starting platform in Rectangles
Chapter:	Mafia Town (cut)
Mission Type:	Time Rift

Rectangles, or secretlevel_rectangles, was a Time Rift cut from Mafia Town. The level was initially accessible by entering Mafia Town's Seaside Spaghetti, and jumping into the picture behind the counter. The level was only found in early 2013 review builds of the game, although the trigger to enter it existed in later builds that predate the Alpha release, leading to a crash if the player were to attempt to enter the painting. There is some evidence to suggest that Rectangles may have been one of the first if not the first Time Rift ever created for the game, as it was initially shown off in a 2013 video titled "Obstacle Course."

The Level

The level begins with a platforming puzzle involving several rotating blocks, with which the player would have had to time their jumping in order to reach a wall kicking platform, where in which they would then need to wall kick up to the top in order to press a button that would lower a tilting platform with a Mafia Goon at the end of it. Once past this platform, the player would then have been presented with the timepiece on top of a spinning round platform.

It is also worth mentioning that the playable version uses a button with a mafia face on it, while the version found in the Obstacle Course video uses a barrel model that is squished when stepped on. As well as this, a purple, transparent Hat Kid exists at the start of the playable version of the level to offer the player a time trial race.

Removal

There is no direct word as to why Rectangles was removed, although the level's gameplay speaks for itself for the most part. If the player fell or failed to jump on the platforms in time, they would be forced wait until the rotating platforms would finally sync up again. The sudden rotating platform near the end of the level with the Mafia Goon on the end also led to players oftentimes falling off due to its unexpected nature.

Legacy

Although the level was removed from the final game, as well as the Alpha and Beta builds, gameplay elements first experimented in it are found in the final game, such as the rectangular platforms that rotate lengthwise and the wall kicking platform. It is also possible that the beginning portion of the rift was recycled for the Bazaar Time Rift (referred to as secretlevel_demo_03 in the Alpha and Beta builds of the game) as the placement of the level relative to the moon seen in the background is similar, and a number of similar platforms (the first rotating block, some of the still platforms) are in relatively similar spots on the level.

Gallery

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  Starting Area from the Obstacle Course video

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  Starting Area from the playable build. Note the time trial Staff Ghost. Attempting to challenge the ghost resulted in an error due to the lack of a demo being included in the build.

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  The wall kicking platform

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  The "button" from the Obstacle Course video

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  The button, now using an actual button model, from the playable build

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  The tilting platform and mafia goon at the end of the level

Trivia

• The entrance to the level, through a painting, is a reference to Super Mario 64.
• The level has since been ported to A Hat in Time and is available on the Steam Workshop.