Table Top Racing: World Tour Preview

In the past few years, the most popular racing games, aside from Mario Kart 8, have been all about realism. Personally, I can’t drive, so changing gears and tuning a car is fairly alien to me. That is not to say I don’t like racing games. Even Project CARS became a guilty pleasure of mine, even though I had to ask my mates to dumb it down and prepare a car for me, so I could just enjoy driving – on the easiest difficulty, of course, and in automatic. Still, my enjoyment was only occasional, since I’ve never been interested enough to actually learn how a hardcore racing game works. And as I haven’t joined the Nintendo cult just yet, Mario Kart 8 was out of my reach. I played some Crash Team Racing on my old PlayStation a few months ago, but these games haven’t aged very well. Table Top Racing: World Tour seems to be the answer to my prayers.

Playrise Digital had released another Table Top Racing game for mobile, but as they were restricted by the limitations of these systems, they were craving to create something superior. The result is TTR: WT, a game for modern systems with the playfulness and the vibrancy of the original, but with further reach and more sophisticated features. The millions of downloads of the mobile game speak for themselves: there is a market for table-top racing games, and Playrise are doing something right. “We took stuff from the mobile game”, says Nick Burcombe, the CEO and Founder of Playrise, “but enhancing that, like with the superweapons, it adds so much complexity to the game”.

One of the most engaging features of this oncoming release is how the tracks are designed: they allow for the players to open new paths, in order to get ahead through shortcuts, collect special secrets and in all in all, change the rules of the race. Throughout each track, you will find glowing objects — like boxes of matches — which you will have to knock down with your power pick-ups, and so, use the paths revealed to your advantage. “Some of the paths are really hard to figure out”, admits Nick, “We understand that some people won’t get it when they first play, but then later on in the game, or when they see somebody do it in multiplayer, they will realise there’s much more to the level design”. The idea is that, just like a kid would create their own track on top of a table, you can do the same during the race itself, feeling the true essence of table top racing.

The core idea of the game is the light-heartedness, the childlike wonder, the vibrancy and the fun that table top racing has. These ideas have clearly transpired into the development process, where the team has enthusiastically approached designing the game very similarly. “Some things which are interesting, we allowed to happen. Like the frostbite power, where you get turned into an ice cube and suddenly you lose all your steering… complete accident!”, says Nick, “We had a weapon that stunned you, and then we said ‘what if we took the friction away?’, and it was brilliant!”.

The variety of powers spice up the multiplayer game and will ensue some couch rivalries among your friends. However, aside from the multiplayer, there is a single-player campaign that sees you advancing throughout the three different tiers of cars, gradually acquiring faster cars and taking on more challenging races. The higher the tier, the shinier and more pimped-out the cars will be. On top of the power-ups, which range from simple boosts, to guided-missiles, to the aforementioned frostbite power, the wheels you’re using grant you different abilities too, like a shield around you that you can use when you’re in danger.

But as Nick says, they haven’t made any compromises. Each level, which in turn, has four different playable tracks, has a different theme. From a YO! Sushi restaurant to a mechanic’s workshop, each location provides a completely different atmosphere, making the objects we use every day enormous. The different paint jobs for the great array of cars confer the world a lot of charisma, which is reinforced by every soy sauce container you race through. The level of detail in environments and cars alike has been one of the most challenging aspects during the development of this game, but it all has been worth it, as the game’s visuals are exhilaratingly beautiful and lively.

Nick, as well as some other members composing the small time of Playrise, had worked on Wipeout games previously, and have been able to transpose much of the speed sensation and vindictive couch games that this game has inspired since 1995. With its PS4 release set in summer, and Xbox One and PC releases later on, TTR:WT promises to be the fun friendship-breaking racing experience that many have been craving outside of the Wii U. Although with a smaller budget than its main competitors, the love put into this game shines through its presentations, modes and mechanics. Look out for this one for casual couch sessions with friends, it won’t disappoint.