What The Car? is a wonderfully absurd romp with adorable bears

Ridiculous and proud of it, What The Car? is the latest creation by developer Triband. Similar to its prior games, What The Golf? and What The Bat?, it’s a silly, humorous game that turns a familiar idea on its head. Technically, it’s about getting a car across the finish line at the end of the level without falling off the edge, but we’re talking about a car that can sprout legs, paraglide across gaps, and turn into an accordion. To say that the game doesn’t take itself seriously would be putting it mildly

Car-te blanche

Featured at the Day of the Devs event in San Francisco during GDC 2024, the short demo of the game featured numerous levels that each took roughly thirty seconds to complete. In that time, I saw the car walk on two legs, hit speed pads on the road, crash into a sign held by bears with hard hats, and chop vegetables. This kind of comical absurdity reminded me of Katamari Damacy, specifically the level where you have to roll up all the bears to make the Ursa Major constellation, so it wasn’t a surprise when the developer on site said that the cult classic was one of his inspirations.

In a similar vein to Nintendo’s Warioware series, it’s best to think about What The Car? as an absurd mini-game collection that just so happens to have (not really) a car in it. Every stage introduces a new concept, a new way to control the car, a new gameplay mechanic, so the experience doesn’t get dull. The level of creativity is staggering, to the point that I wish I was a fly on the wall during the brainstorming sessions at Triband. Considering that one level had the car transform into a shark called the Shar-car, I would like to know what ideas were in the rejected pile (if there even was one).

Wheel be the judge of that

For players who want a challenge, each level tends to have an alternate path that’s more dangerous but will get you across the finish line faster, which will place you higher on the leaderboard. There are also collectible cards in each hub world that you can find tucked away in various stages along the way. That said, What The Car? isn’t really meant to be a diehard, competitive experience as much as it is about having foolish fun.

It’s difficult to tell how many levels there will be in the Steam release of What The Car? mainly because the game is already out on Apple Arcade. The developer said that he lost count as to the number of levels there are in the mobile version of the game, partly because it comes with its own stage creator. By his last estimate, there were over 200,000 user-created levels, which is an incredible amount of extra content. While he admitted that many of these levels weren’t that good, he hopes to port over as many as he can to the Steam platform.

What The Car? is slated to release on Steam some time in 2024. Triband has plans to have the game be available on other platforms as well, but those details will be shared at a later date.

This preview is based on a hands-on PC demo at the 2024 Day of the Devs: San Francisco Edition event during GDC 2024.

Nick Tan

Contributing Editor

Once upon a time, Nick's parents confiscated his Super Nintendo because he was "playing it too much." He has secretly sworn revenge ever since. Nick is now a freelance writer for various video game sites. Powered by iced green tea, he typically plays RPGs of all kinds like Shin Megami Tensei, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout. In his spare time, he follows the latest season of Critical Role.