Happy Wheels

I don’t know what to say about Happy Wheels. I mean, it’s fucking insane.

Having gotten sick of LAN matches, a friend and I began paroling the Internet separately. I think I was checking my email when I heard him burst into laughter. I glanced at his screen and saw he was playing what appeared to be some kind of racing game… with a homeless man in a wheelchair.

Other playable characters included a somewhat yuppie-ish businessman on a personal transport, a mustached man with a child strapped to the rear of his bicycle who’s appropriately called “Irresponsible Dad,” and a heavy woman in a motorized shopping cart, complete with groceries in the basket. Since then, two characters have been added and that’s part of the fun of Happy Wheels: it’s a work in progress, which means the re-playability is through the roof.

So, it’s not really a racing game. The point of the game, if you need one, is to make it to the exit while dodging a wide range of obstacles. Mines, spikes, killer robots, psychotic Pokemon (is the plural of Pokemon really Pokemon?), you name it. If it’s not in the game yet you can add it yourself with the level editor. What makes this game so utterly addicting, however, is the mesmerizing physics. Chances are, you’ll lose limbs like a cricket before reaching the end of any level. Meanwhile, getting gibbed is as easy as 1-2-3.

Clever, fun, bizarre… Happy Wheels is all of these and more.