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Happy Wheels is a ragdoll physics / dirt bike flash game with an emphasis on extremely violent deaths.
Title screen
Designer: Jim Bonacci
Platform: Browser
Year Released: 2010
Significant Contributors to Game Development: Jack Zankowski (title song), Ben Haynes (site build and backend)
Genre: Ragdoll physics games
History
History
"I was inspired by a lot of side-scrolling, ragdoll physics-type games when that sort of thing was still very new in the Flash community. Many were pretty tame or boring, so I figured I should attempt to make my own."
-Jim Bonacci
Game Design Elements
Game Design Elements
The primary goal of most levels is to get to the finish area. The game is partially about overcoming obstacles that are in your way, but more attention seems to have been put into the consequences of failing to overcome the obstacles.
A nice day for a ride in the... office?
Oh no!
OH NO!!!
Maybe this lady will do better.
...never mind.
Throughout the various levels, you'll have to safely maneuver through some areas, and sometimes, you'll have to drag your legless body past a pit of spikes to the finish line. The primary entertaining factor of the game is the level of detail put into the system of gory dismemberment in the game, especially in the context of the characters these events are happening to. Having a soul is not conducive to one's enjoyment while playing the game.
The game features a level editor which, although unrefined, gives the player control over physics bodies and joints, in addition to the visuals and layout of the level. A vast majority of the levels are user-created.
The level editor
Controls
Controls
In-game, the controls are pretty straightforward and don't really contain anything novel or unique. Press up to move forward and down to move backward. Left and right tilt your bike forwards and backwards. With some of the characters, you can press the space bar to perform a jump. Pressing the Z key will dismount the character from their vehicle. While dismounted, characters can grab onto objects by holding the space bar.
The level editor for the game is operated primarily with the mouse (click to create/edit objects, drag to move/rotate objects), however every menu in the editor also has an associated keyboard shortcut.
Plot
Plot
This game has no narrative content outside of the narratives created in user-generated levels.
Characters
Characters
While there appear to be more characters planned for this game, these are the currently available characters:
Wheelchair guy - an old, bandaged man in a wheelchair.
Corporate dork - a man in a business suit and helmet on a Segway.
Irresponsible father - a middle-aged man on a bike with his son in a child safety seat on the back.
Lady Wal-mart - an obese women in an automated cart. Comes with food.
Lovebirds - a couple on a moped
Art
Art
Visual
The art elements are entirely vector-based. In addition to the backgrounds, props, and characters, there are also lots of character gibs, organs, blood particle effects, and explosion effects. When creating a level, the user is limited to basic polygons (a rectangle, circle, and triangle) and pre-created art assets.
Sound
Sound
The sound effects in Happy Wheels were handled pretty effectively. In particular, the sound effects involved in the violent parts of the game greatly helped in making the violence seem even more gruesome. There's sounds for breaking limbs, dismembering limbs, exploding, having body parts crushed, sounds for getting impaled on spikes, screams and grunts of pain, and cries for help. The game also has more ambient sound effects like the sound of the Segway moving or landing on a surface.
There is only one song in the game, and the song is played on the title screen. It's a hard rock song that sounds similar to a lot of dirt bike flash game songs.
References
References
An interview with the designer:
Links
Links
The only version:
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