The Lab

The Lab Time Rift is a Time Rift in A Hat in Time, found in the part of Hat Kid's Ship room of the same name. This Time Rift is found in the Lab, and is renamed to match in the Windows version of the game. It was originally located inside the Mail Room and was named Mail Room Time Rift, but was transferred to the Lab due to the Mail Room being re-purposed in the Modding Update.

The Level

Though the level itself can be accessed midway through the game, it's closest comparison to the other Time Rifts lies in the final one of Curly Tail Trail, due to the abundance of active hazards and having a minimal focus on pure platforming challenge. Since it is required to access the Lab prior, the Dweller Mask is required to completing and accessing the level, though it is not required in the level itself.

Though the gimmick of having a main focus on enemies has been altered by using Pushy Crows in place of the Lazy Paw Gang, a lot of the same difficulties will be experienced due to the Crow's natural tendency to knock players far from themselves, effectively being a hybrid of Goats and Crows given the intended effects for each. This also allows for a much easier time in comparison to the previously mentioned Curly Tail Trail however, as each Pushy Crow is vulnerable to attack and can be countered by homing attacks and with the long reach of the umbrella, especially when facing Crows that can't progress over thin platforms.

As the level begins, the player is greeted with two Pushy Crows with a sizable amount of room to see their effects with the chance of not being damaged at the same time. Past that is a staircase that sets the player to travel it upwards against two floors of Crows. Performing an attack when reaching these floors will likely start a homing attack, taking out the lone bird or one of the two birds of the floor. At the top, three more Crows on gears show up, requiring the player to enter the teeth of the gears and ride them upwards to the next floor and onto the sole checkpoint of the whole Rift.

Here, the Time Piece is in sight, past the guard of eight individual Pushy Crows, each at the base of a "+" cross with its center filled with a cylinder. To defeat them easily, doing a single homing attack on the first Crow and then swiping at all the other crows from the safety of the adjacent peg of the cross will lead to an easier time than rushing it. Since the crosses have a small lip fit for walking across as the player but not for the Crows to move across themselves, they can be used as an area to line up a good attack to the targeted bird. From here after getting past the guards, the Time Piece is open for collection.

Trivia

• Along with its change in location in the ship and name, the placement of the Lab Rift caused the displacement of the Completionist's Hat to be shifted to the right of the room rather than on the floor beneath the new rift location.

Time Rifts
Chapter 1: Mafia Town	Sewers • Bazaar • Mafia of Cooks
Chapter 2: Battle of the Birds	The Owl Express • The Moon • Dead Bird Studio
Chapter 3: Subcon Forest	Pipe • Village • Sleepy Subcon
Chapter 4: Alpine Skyline	Twilight Bell • Curly Tail Trail • Alpine Skyline
Hat Kid's Spaceship	Gallery • The Lab • Tour (DLC)
Chapter 6 (DLC): Arctic Cruise	Balcony • Deep Sea
Chapter 7 (DLC): Nyakuza Metro	Rumbi Factory
Community Rifts: Death Wish	Rhythm Jump Studio • Twilight Travels • The Mountain Rift