Last week saw the release of 20 games onto the Apple Arcade platform. While a good amount of them were already-released titles with extra content, four of the games were completely brand new. I decided to spend my weekend playing one of them: WHAT THE CAR?.
WHAT THE CAR? is a racing… No… A car game by Denmark-based studio Triband, and is the newest entry in the Rove McManus-esque WHAT THE? series of silly game from the developer. Their most recent title puts you in the role of a car with legs, and requires you to explore a variety of different themed areas, complete their challenges, and collect funny little bears in different outfits.
Now, I make a point of saying that it’s not a racing game and is, in fact, a car game because that’s the freakin’ truth. There’s no time limit, there’s nobody driving beside you, and there are no laps. It’s plain and simple: You are a car with legs, and you must get to the end of each level.
But wait, hark! Sometimes, you are not a car with legs! In fact, sometimes you are just a regular car, but long! Sometimes, you are a car that is very wide! There are so many different breeds of car that you become in your travels in WHAT THE CAR?, and I think that is just so beautiful.
You start your travels in Episode 1, which is Jumping. Jumping will see you doing a myriad of things as a car with legs, such as Running and Jumping and then also Just Jumping. This is a modern marvel in today’s video game technologies, as both these actions are not things that a car is normally able to do. Video Games are amazing in that aspect.
Overall, WHAT THE CAR? undeniably has the exact same charm that WHAT THE GOLF? does. It revels in its silliness, announcing either exactly what you are (a long car) or making a play on words at the start of every level. You have a little giggle before you start to go, and then you try and get to the end without falling off. And hey, you might even get a collectible card if you’re lucky!
Now, if you’re not an Apple Arcade enjoyer, you’ve probably read this post and are thinking, “Well, fuck you, Ruby. Fuck you, I wish the worst for you, I hope all your arms and legs fall off. I hope you go outside and direct contact with the sun makes all your skin fall off, making you look like just a Muscle Guy in a really scary way.” If you are thinking this, chill out! It’s just video games!
That being said, WHAT THE GOLF? came out on Nintendo Switch a little under a year after its Apple Arcade release, and then on PC only a few months later. So if you’re not interested in jumping on the Apple Arcade train, I’m sure WHAT THE CAR? get a wider release eventually.
But in the meantime, those with an Apple Arcade subscription can jump into WHAT THE CAR? right freakin’ now! And I highly recommend it!
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