IImagine a new racing video game. Whatever you imagine, What the Car? isn’t it. In a world where racing games pride themselves on the increasing detail and realism of the driving experience, with cutting-edge game engines and perfectly simulated engines that push the speedometer to the limit, this game does the opposite. This car actually runs around on its feet.
Described as “a ridiculous adventure full of racing, laughs and surprises,” What the Car? sees players take on the role of a car with legs, sprinting and climbing through obstacles that are increasingly sillier than the last to reach the finish line. “No one on the team owns a car or even likes it,” said Tim Garbos, the game’s creative director at Copenhagen studio Triband.
“That might have seemed wrong when we were making a car game, but it led us to naively misunderstand all kinds of things about cars.”
Not only does the car walk around on two legs, it can also play foosball and chop vegetables. It’s still technically a racing game, but it’s better to think of it as a crazy collection of mini-games. Each of its hundreds of levels requires a different challenge to get to the end, from paragliding to kicking a soccer ball to turning into an accordion to stretch your wheels through the cracks.
Unsurprisingly, the racing game isn’t influenced by Forza, Gran Turismo, or even Mario Kart. Instead, the Triband team referenced the adventure worlds of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 64, with flashes of Katamari Damacy in the chaos (when your car grows too many legs, you tumble around the track like a ball). “The ever-changing format of the game is great when you’re inspired by everything,” adds Garbos.
A version of the game originally launched on Apple Arcade last year and won a Dice Award for Best Mobile Game. The PC version has been expanded and will continue to be updated monthly. Another new addition is a full level creator, giving users the ability to build and share their own wacky worlds, which Garbos hopes to do in appropriately ridiculous style: “People are going to make some really bad levels and force their friends to play them.”
The studio has previous experience making humorous games, such as the hit What the Golf? and What the Bat?, in which players use baseball bats instead of hands. “As a studio, we specialize in making comedy games, and when you come up with a joke, you first set expectations, usually by providing some mundane context — and then subvert those expectations by doing something different,” Garbos explained.
As other successful spoofs like Goat Simulator have shown, there’s an art to creating beautifully done silliness. How exactly does Triband achieve this balance? “A complete disregard for any realism, car fandom, and actual vehicles, but also a huge focus on creating an overall great experience. Sometimes we just need the car to have bigger legs, to be able to fly or swim – and then we make that happen… [but] While we do have some silly and simple jokes, it also needs to work like a game. It needs to deliver hours and hours of play. It takes time and dedication.”
Games can do well with comedy, especially physical comedy – think Octopussy, Gang Beasts, Untitled Goose Game, and any game where characters go hilariously off the rails during a scene. What the Car? joins the recently released Thank Goodness You’re Here! and the upcoming Baby Steps as games that actively tried to make us laugh this year.
“I do think that there isn’t enough comedy in video games compared to, say, television,” Garbos said. “We’re very serious about comedy. When you want to make someone laugh, you have to start with yourself. If you find it funny or ridiculous, then you’re on the right track… Personally, I love showing the game to people and seeing their eyes light up at a joke, even if they try to hide their laughter. That’s why I make video games.”
I can’t help but wonder what the absurd Triband has in store next. “We’re just getting started,” Garbos teases. “We’re thinking about making a game that parodies most mundane and well-known things… including newspapers.”
