Subcon Forest is the third Chapter of A Hat in Time, being a spooky stretch of woods that Hat Kid must traverse and brave through to collect her lost Time Pieces, all while trying to deal with The Snatcher, a mischievous and self-proclaimed owner of the forest whom has taken and held hostage Hat Kid's soul.
History[]
"A SPOILER? On MY Owl Express?" |
According to many sources throughout Subcon Forest, as well as the Storybooks provided by the both the Sleepy Subcon Time Rift and Seal the Deal DLC, it is said that the rulers of this place were a Prince and Princess who were in love with each other, they were in control of a small town home to many citizens.
But, one day the Princess walked in on the Prince with a florist, and this broke her heart. She ran away crying, and shortly after it is revealed the Prince was buying a bouquet for his lover. After trying to confront the Princess, the Prince was sent to the dungeon as what is thought to be darkness consumed the Princess. In the dungeon, the Prince starts to take the form of Snatcher.
After the confrontation and transformation of Queen Vanessa, the town is frozen over and the residents lives taken. Their spirits would take on the form of the mask-wearing Dwellers, where some would remain this way. Others would be contracted with Snatcher after he had fully transformed, binding their souls into small stuffed dolls now known as Snatcher's Minions.
Layout[]
Subcon Forest is a large area, initially blocked off by the fiery walls of the Fire Spirits residing around the forest. For the most part, there are several key locations to be found, surrounded by large tracts of lands which house optional puzzles in order to collect more Yarn or Relics.
The Forest[]
As its name implies, Subcon Forest dedicates a lot of its level to a large and sprawling forest, with many puzzles and paths to choose from, especially when platforming through the upper layer of trees with various hook shot locations and leafy platforms.
Within the outskirts of the forest is also an abandoned village, which houses a Time Rift.
Augmented[]
Behind Snatcher's home is a strange portion of the forest, having many oddities and anomalies held inside it that are not found anywhere else in the forest. Opened houses with frozen furniture, a massive hour glass which is stopped in time and its various pieces floating, and several objects expanded to large sizes. It can be presumed that this would be the area dedicated to a cut character, Moon Jumper.
Burning[]
A large portion of the forest to the left of Snatcher's home has been overtaken many ravenous flame, leaving the ground here blackened and the trees charred, with some of the fire still actively burning some of the vegetation. A large house is found near the center of this section of forest, itself burnt and holding a Relic at the top.
Swamp[]
The swamp is rightwards of Snatcher's home, made up of a large boggy area which provides sparse platforming at the bottom layer and much more advanced platforms at the top. Inside here is a large well used to enter the Caves.
Snatcher's Home[]
In the center of the forest, as well as near the start of Hat Kid's entrance point, Snatcher's Home is a massive tree that he resides in, complete with some basic furniture like an empty closet, grandfather clock, a table and large chair with accompanying ottoman.
The house itself also provides a tricky platforming section, by following the Pons up the main spiky root from the bottom of the tree upward, the player can find a string of platforms, mushrooms and Snatcher's Minions to guide them further up the tree. The top ends with a massive cyan glowing mushroom that does not bounce, holding a reward and an achievement for getting on top of it.
After the player has completed Your Contract has Expired, Snatcher can be found in his home, sitting in the chair reading a book on how to kill kids, telling Hat Kid off for not following the guidelines in his contract to keep her out of the forest.
Village[]
Subcon Village is the dwelling place of the spooky, mask-wearing Dwellers of Subcon Forest, populated by many of them and several other faceless creatures inside the tree-stump houses. A large river is found in the heart of the village, though it does not flow until Hat Kid unclogs the well in The Subcon Well, and will flow for every act onwards.
During the Toilet of Doom opening, the village is altered to have its Dweller inhabitants panicking, as several large pipes burst from the ground and unleash large streams of purple and yellow gases into the air, all caused presumably by the Toilet of Doom itself.
Caves[]
Below the village is a series of caves, where glowing mushrooms and strange crystals grow. A network of pipes carries purple water through the caves. Giant white cherries can be found here, and can be activated and turned into bombs by bringing them near certain totems. The caves are also home to bats with glowing red patches on their bodies.
Manor[]
Queen Vanessa lives in her spooky old manor. This building has three floors and a basement, which is flooded partially and in a state of disrepair. On the second floor, there is a picture that slowly fills in, first with Hat Kid's head without a face, and then with a creepy stitched face. The final floor is an attic in which the Time Piece is located with a Relic above. The attic also contains a mural on the back wall which resembles the Moon Jumper. Throughout the whole mansion, frozen creatures can be found, including Mafia Goons, Science Owls, Subcon Dwellers, and someone who looks like The Conductor from the Owl Express, alongside many cut character models which make cameos.
Arena[]
At the back of the Village, there is a large chasm which can be traversed over with hookshot propellers which appear only in Act 3. After reaching the other side, a large circular arena is presented to the player, with some minor goodies outside the arena if searched for.
The arena houses two different boss battles depending on which Act is selected, either being the Toilet of Doom or Snatcher, where they will both battle Hat Kid in this arena.
In the center of the arena is a small pot of green ooze, which can damage Hat Kid if she steps in it. Above it is a hookshot spot, allowing Hat Kid to swing over it during the Toilet of Doom fight to pop bubbles or damage the Toilet outright.
Acts[]
These are the acts included in this chapter. To see all these pages, please check the Chapter 3 Acts page!
Image | Episode Name | Summary |
---|---|---|
Act 1: Contractual Obligations |
Sign your first contract with The Snatcher and do his bidding. | |
Act 2: The Subcon Well |
Clean up the Subcon Well. | |
Act 3: Toilet of Doom |
"Clean" up the Subcon Toilet. | |
Act 4: Queen Vanessa's Manor |
Sneak into the Manor and get to the attic. | |
Act 5: Mail Delivery Service |
Deliver packages to the Snatcher's servants. | |
Act 6: Your Contract has Expired |
Defeat the Snatcher. |
Time Rift Locations[]
Name | Image | Act | Location | Appears when |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pipe | Any | In a giant sewer pool near the Burning Forest, leftward of Snatcher's punch station and the bridge to Queen Vanessa's Manor. | After cleaning The Subcon Well and getting the Time Piece from it. | |
Village | Any | In the Subcon Courtyard. It's at the highest point there, so you'll need to homing attack spiders to get up to a platform that can get to it. | After getting the Time Piece from Queen Vanessa's Manor | |
Sleepy Subcon | Any | In the time frozen ice pillar in the Subcon Ruins. | After completing the Relic "Mockery of Off-Planet Life" |
Enemies[]
- Headless Statues
- Spiders
- Queen Vanessa
- Toilet of Doom
Characters[]
Collectables[]
Check here for a list of all collectables.
Note: There are 12 Relics in the base game game, and when all of them have been collected, all other treasures listed as "Relic" will give a Rift Token instead.
The Snatcher's Home and Subcon Village
The Subcon Swamp (Behind the Red Barrier)
The Burning Forest and Courtyard (Behind the Blue Barrier)
The Ruins (Behind the Green Barrier)
Item | NO. | Image | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Dweller Yarn | #9 |
Between the courtyard and the time frozen ruins is a frozen mushroom with a dweller starring at it. Take the nearby berry to destory the ice and jump up to a branch. Now look for the two lantrens leading towards a yarn. Hookshot them to get it. | |
Brewing Yarn | #2 |
Between the courtyard and the time frozen ruins is a frozen mushroom with a dweller starring at it. Take the nearby berry to destory the ice and jump up to a branch. Now look for the phantom branches and use the Dweller's Mask to platform over them to reach the yarn. | |
Rift Token | #5 | Inside a shack between the courtyard and time frozen ruins. Use the Dweller's Mask to get inside. | |
Dweller Yarn | #10 |
In the green area near the Snatcher's home is a blue phantom tree stump. Use the Dweller's Mask to get inside to get the yarn. Require: Dweller's Mask. | |
Sprint Yarn | #3 |
After entering the ruined area from the Snatcher's house (take the path with "danger" and "beware" signs), turn right. Soon you'll find some phantom branches that you can use to reach the yarn. Require: Dweller's Mask. | |
Rift Token | #6 |
Take the path in fron of the time frozen ruins to reach a pool of water with several stones circling it. Climb up the circle of stones, using the Dweller's Mask for the phantom rocks, to reach the Rift Token at the top of it. It's a long climb, so be ready for it. Require: Dweller's Mask. | |
Relic | #7 | There is a relic on top of the time frozen ruins, which you can reach by taking the path from the Snatcher's house to the ruins. Start climb from the opposite side and around to it in order to reach it. | |
Relic | #8 |
In the ruins near the living room is a large crate in a stone building. Destroy it with the Brewing Hat to reveal a lantern. Hookshot it to swing up to a nearby relic on top of another structure. Require: Brewing Hat, Hookshot | |
Ice Yarn | #7 | Near the ruined living room is a green phantom rock pillar next to a blue phantom rock pillar. Use the Dweller's Mask to stand on top of the green one and turn it off to stand on the blue one to reach the Ice Yarn on top of a third rock pillar. This one is a bit tricky to get, so be patient and do your best! | |
Item Magnet Badge | - | File:Loc Subcon Item Magnet Badge.jpg | There is a bush at the edge of Subcon Forest that is surrounded by 8 pons. Use the Brewing Hat to throw at it and an Item Magnet Badge will pop out. This is very close to the green and blue barriers if they were still intact. If you already have the Item Magnet Badge, getting it again will do nothing.
You can leave and revisit the area as many times as you want and this badge will keep reappearing when you blow up this bush, but it is unknown if this is a glitch or intended. (Only tested on PC and Switch) This item can alternatively be bought from the badge seller for 50 pons. Require: Brewing Hat. |
Queen Vanessa's Manor (Behind the Red Barrier)
Achievements[]
Below is the list of achievements related to this chapter;
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the Beta Build, Subcon Forest had a "Free Roam" section, similar to Alpine Skyline. The Free Roam was later cut.
- There was originally another act in the forest known as "Fire Spirit's Big Ritual," but this act was removed from the game.
- The Toilet Of Doom would have originally been act 1.
- Subcon Forest was originally the game's second chapter. Late into development, its position was swapped with Battle of the Birds, and it became Chapter 3.
- The name is likely a play on the word "subconscious" as the entire forest is populated by ghosts and spirits, or on "subcontractor", which is when an employee hires someone under contract to perform specific tasks for a larger project.
- The NES game Super Mario Bros. 2 takes place in a place that is also called Subcon.
- Queen Vanessa's Manor were to originally include a 3rd
- r wr (which is accessible in the Alpha Build of the game) which would have included The Snatcher transforming into Hat Kid. Though this 3rd floor was cut, you're still able to access this floor in the final game by debugging.