Endless fun
An age-old gem, Happy Wheels is a game that thrives on user-made content. In its early years, it had a much greater popularity amongst YouTubers. This cartoon gorefest will still amuse you to this day. It’s available for multiple platforms and without download if you play it on your browser. Name and graphics style aside, this is not a game for all ages. Parental guidance advised.
Ride your way to glory
Play the happiest, most cheerful game on earth that’s filled with gore and an endless supply of pre-made levels. It’s fun, silly and an ideal way to pass a boring afternoon.
Happy Wheels is a physics-based ragdoll adventure game where players ride through maps as one of many characters. The goal is to reach the end alive. Here, anyone can create and submit levels. The created levels are, many times, well made, with a lot of attention to detail. You could explore a renaissance fair, throw knives and balls to gain points, or watch your body run through an intricately designed “do nothing” course.
While the levels are fun to play, the in-game physics are weird. This is prevalent in many sections where the ragdoll mechanic gets used. Simply jumping up and down can send a character flying, or you could quickly lose control as you’re racing towards a victory.
As you play the game you’ll notice how your character falls apart. Sometimes all that’s left of your character is their heart, making for a funny and uneasy moment. While this gore may be fun, it isn’t suitable for younger audiences. The blood and organs getting strewn about make a case for adult supervision while children play.
When you jump into the game for the first time you’ll find that there are no restrictions on what you can play. You have access to all levels, regardless of whether it’s the first one created or the last one. You play what you want to. This is great because most games require some sort of progression to unlock certain levels.
While the levels are not restricted, your character choices are. Some game modes will require you to play a specific character. But, even ones that give you the freedom to choose a character are limited by the small selection available. There are only six characters, and not all of them are available for every map. You play the character specified when selecting the level, and earn points towards unlocking the sections containing other characters.
As you play, you’ll quickly learn the controls. They aren’t complicated, but they are a bit finicky. Fortunately, there aren’t too many situations that require you to know any advanced controls or mechanics. Just grab a character and get in there.
While the controls are easy to learn, mastering them will not be as simple. The harder selection of levels require pinpoint accuracy when landing, and a steady pace when jumping across the map. The lack of accuracy causes hilarious fails that will have you laughing as you prepare for another run. The humor really stands out in this title.
The game is free to download and play on your mobile device, giving everyone the possibility to experience it. To support the cost of the game, it is supported by advertisements. These are frequent and very frustrating.
Where can you run this program?
Happy Wheels is a cross-platform game available for mobile devices such as Android and IOS. It’s also available on desktop browsers.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. In terms of player-made content, there are many better games. Garry’s Mod is another title focused purely on player-created content, most of it is inspired by pop culture and many other sections of geekdom. It takes a lot more skill to create content for Garry’s Mod, though. 3d models need to get created; coding needs to be written. After all that, animations still need to be applied. This entire process creates beautiful add-ons for your next playtime. But, Happy Wheels has a more straightforward level creation, providing you with all the assets you’ll need. Simply place them into the editor and set the requirements. It’s also far easier to jump into at any given moment.
Our take
Happy Wheels is a fun game to play whenever you need a laugh, a challenge, or a 5-minute break from work. It’s not ideal for younger audiences as some play-throughs involve killing your character and watching his heart roll along an elaborately laid out course. Others have you throwing knives at strangers, or you may even come across one of a handful of crude levels that have characters placed in uncomfortable positions. Overall, it’s a fun game, but it can get messy very fast. If you let your child play this, you may want to keep an eye on the levels they select.
Should you download it?
Yes. If you’re up for a funny and engaging game, then you’re in for quite a ride. There’s an extensive amount of levels available for you to play, each more difficult than the last.
