Happy Wheels Review

Previously a major hit in web browser game form, Happy Wheels has made its presence known on the App Store. For the uninformed, think Trials with a Segway and a typical businessman type. That sounds a little wacky because it is.

Your goal is to negotiate various tricky puzzles and platforms with this middle aged businessman and his trusty Segway. Controls involve you tapping left or right to move with other options available for tilting and jumping. It’s not as fast paced as something like the Trials series but it’s no less tricky to succeed at.

A lot of the time, you’re trying to carefully get inside lifts before similarly carefully getting through them safely. Often, if you over or under shoot an obstacle, you die in spectacular gory fashion.

Being crushed under or on top of such platforms is commonplace here so it’s fortunate that the restart button is never far away. You’ll certainly need it once you’re up against spikes and wrecking balls. At all times, there’s a timer encouraging you to go faster and try that bit harder. Such impatience is what’s going to get you killed but you’ll still be enticed into trying again.

The physics engine seems reasonably realistic too, although I’m not convinced any man could survive having his legs crushed in the same way as this guy deals with it. At times, there are also issues with you being incapable of moving but the game not accepting it’s game over, forcing you to go looking for the manual restart button.

Happy Wheels isn’t as stylish as something like the Trials series, looking a little too rough and ready at times, but it’s a fairly entertaining challenge. There’s a level editor too, which can be pretty fun to mess around with. What Happy Wheels lacks in looks, it makes up for with challenging gameplay.