Reviews

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  arleas

  Jul 15, 2016

  I thought this was going to be a fun little puzzle game. Instead it seems like it's for people who have a lot of nostalgia for those play mats with the roads printed on them. I never owned one of those... believe it or not, I just got some chalk or crayon or whatever, and then drew on the back of a piece of board or whatever...I'd put in stop signs and traffic lights and all sorts of neat things, and then i'd drive my little Hot Wheels cars around the track I made. So yeah, basically what you do is this: start up a game and then the various tiles are scrambled (as in twisted around randomly). It starts out with the mat on the ground, which if you don't mind laying on the carpet is no big deal, but considering how you really need access to the whole mat, it's better to do this standing up. You have to reach down and twist the tiles(with the vive controllers) to change how the cars will proceed on the track. The game throws coins, gems and other things onto the tracks and you collect them by driving the cars over those things. If the cars collide with each other or hit a point where the road doesn't match the direction they're going, they disappear in a non-exciting poof of purple smoke. After some set time limit or something (I am not sure) the game is declared over and you can see how much money you've collected. You can use this money to buy new play mats. That's it.... that's the whole game. I know it's Early Access so there's hope for a puzzle mode or something new to be added. Maybe they'll add in some sweet jumps and you can go for tricks and stunts and stuff? Or maybe you'll get a mode where you go for the most gnarly 458 car pile up imaginable. Either way, it's got potential, but at the moment it's kinda blah. I hate to vote it down, but I can't see myself wanting to play this again. Things I liked: [list] [*] cars are launched with the press of a button and then proceed around the track according to how the tiles are laid out [*] There's some room for intricate routes to be taken, and I think you can even reach down and change the tile direction while the cars are driving (but not while they're on that tile) [/list] Things I didn't like: [list] [*] To raise the mat you have to hold a button and raise your hand. Why not just give me the option to raise the platform to waist high in the starting options? Leave the adjusting of the height for later in case the "waist high" option wasn't right. [*] I didn't feel like grabbing the tiles was too accurate. Sometimes I accidentally adjusted an adjacent tile rather than the one I was going for. Sometimes I'd go through the twising motion and nothing would happen. [*] There doesn't seem to be ANY challenge to the game. Just twist a few tiles and spam cars and bam, $3000. [*] They add blocks that freeze your cars or make them go into Road rage mode... why? I suppose that's supposed to be the challenge, but it's just an annoyance. [/list] Overall this game was disappointing. I had read the reviews and somehow they made me feel like this was more of a cool experience. I'm guessing I don't feel the same because I didn't have one of those big mats with the roads printed on it. It's also possibly aimed at a younger audience (like 10 and under) so maybe it's more entertaining for a kid. I didn't bother to try out any of the other mats, but I doubt that would have changed my mind. We'll see what he does with this game in the future.
• 

  mshagg

  Jul 20, 2016

  I think this game is cute and is a cool demonstration of the Vive's ability to create experiences... like playing wih toy cars. The game play is pretty simple but there's something mesmerising about watching these little cars going around and trying to get as many as you can onto the road. Hope we get the chance to build our own play mat one day, or some more variety in the ones provided. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNITekJaABc
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  ✪ Hulatep 2900 ✪

  Jul 30, 2016

  I wasn't expecting there to be a game that my youngest would want to play more than Modbox and VR MineCraft, but he really enjoys playing "the car game". If you have younger kids and let them VR, grab this title. It's a must have in the list.
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  Mr. Snazzypants

  Aug 3, 2016

  Wow....this is really cool. Being able to get right down and see all the cars, buses, trucks that you summon whizzing around the track is really something - or raising and rotating the table so that you can do so while standing. It's a challenging puzzle game to try and put the track into place and avoid causing the cars to crash, and there are lots of options in how you direct traffic. I was really blown away - there are a whole bunch of vehicle models, and each one is so nicely designed and painfully cute to launch and watch. I forgot about trying to make money to upgraded to other tables/maps and just spent an hour or so "playing toy cars". It's a great game in its own right, but a delightful app to showcase VR to kids, or those who are still a kid at heart. Highly recommended, especially at this steal of a price.