Build a Car

Building a Car uses an extremely simple concept and turns it into something that is extremely fun. In addition to simply creating a vehicle (in which case you are merely "driving" a pre-made one), you have to create from scratch using various pieces, nothing but empty space and a solution to the problem of how to build your own car. The real challenge here is to complete the track, but that's not all; you also need to build something that will be able to make it around the track. What looks like a fast car may fall apart after going through the first jump, while what appears to be an ugly or awkwardly designed car may crawl right over rough terrain without problems. The trial-and-error process that you experience in this game creates the game's personality. While it has a sense of playfulness, it also demands your attention and time, as well as a little bit of that engineer inside of you. On Rocket Games, I would highly recommend it to those who love physics, customizing things and run lengths that keep changing based upon improvements made by each player.

Key Controls

• Drive: W, A, S, D
• Jump: SPACE
• Interact: E
• Pick Up Item: F
• Start the Run / Confirm Build: ENTER
• Remove Parts: X
• Control Camera: HOLD RIGHT MOUSE
• Zoom Camera: MOUSE WHEEL

Game Overview

The game is a car-building game that relies on the player's ability to test and adjust their vehicle to meet the demands of each course. Players add various components (engines, wheels, etc.) to a grid-based construction platform, which they then take out for a spin across tracks featuring inclines, declines, jumps, obstacles and uneven terrain. Each component impacts the performance of the overall vehicle. For example, a heavier front-end will make climbing steeper hills more manageable; however, this added weight will negatively affect the landing. Larger wheels provide greater support when traveling over irregular surfaces; yet again, larger wheels do not benefit all designs. The game pushes players to focus on structural elements, as opposed to aesthetic considerations.

In addition, the physical relationship between the garage and the track is what makes the game successful. In most games building cars and racing them are two different experiences. Here, they are one-in-the-same experience. When a player fails on a particular section of a track or does not perform adequately they gain additional knowledge that they use to improve upon their original build. With every minor tweak to their vehicle it feels like they have truly improved their vehicle as opposed to simply "tinkering" with it. Because of this dynamic, it is less likely that a player will repeat the same racing scenario with the same vehicle and therefore provides a much more "hands-on", individualized sense of progress through play than found in traditional driving games.

Key Features

• Grid-style building of vehicles to design as you want, without templates
• Physics based handling (Weight, Balance, Traction, Power)
• Tracks with obstacles designed to show the weakness of each part of a car
• Parts can be upgraded such as motors, tires, frame etc.
• Experimenting and finding unique ways to make a car work is rewarded
• The quick retry system helps players try new things quickly

Tips for Beginners

• Instead of trying to get maximum speed from the beginning, start building your car at a lower, steady level of performance.
• Try to position wheels as far apart on either side as you are able to do in order to make it feel like the car will be less likely to tip over.
• Test only one modification at a time since testing all modifications at once creates an overwhelming amount of data for you to interpret.
• Once you have identified where the vehicle is failing, design your rebuild to overcome that specific obstacle.
• Build your early versions of the car as simply as possible in order to see how every component contributes to the way the vehicle moves.

Advanced Tips

• Fine tune weight distribution so that car lands smoother after jumps.
• Choose engine based on chassis instead of assuming the strongest engine is always best.
• Use lighter builds when course rewards momentum and recovery.
• Base wheel choice by terrain rather than using same setup everywhere.
• Test with awkward looking designs because unusual layout can help solve specific track problems.
• Consider failures as truthful data for a track not just as mistakes.

Common Mistakes

• Making the car too tall, as this is most likely to cause problems finding balance on hills and landings.
• Adding too much horsepower in the motor before the chassis can support it.
• Only looking at speed while ignoring traction.
• Randomly rebuilding rather than understanding what really caused the part or vehicle to fail.
• Using a heavy build style on courses where you need a lot of flexibility and ability to recover.
• Staying with the same set-up for all levels regardless if the terrain has changed.

FAQ

1. What is Build a Car?

   Build a car is an obstacle filled race track in which you can use physics to build and test cars made up of multiple components. In addition to racing fast, you will have to figure out how to successfully pass obstacles using creative problem-solving techniques.

2. How to play Build a Car?

   This is what makes the game appealing. Instead of solely relying on speed to finish the course, you will rely on designing a better solution for completing the course.

3. Does car design really matter in Build a Car?

   Once you assemble your vehicle using different types of parts, you can decide how those parts will be placed within your vehicle. Then you can take your new vehicle and begin testing it on obstacle filled terrain. If your vehicle has difficulty navigating the course, you may need to alter or modify your vehicle build.

4. Is Build a Car more about creativity or efficiency?

   Your vehicle's ability to climb hills, land jumps, navigate rough terrain etc., depends upon four major factors (weight distribution, wheel selection, power output & overall balance) of your vehicle build.

5. Why is Build a Car so replayable?

   Both. Using creative ideas and unique problem-solving approaches to help find alternative ways of getting over/through obstacles; and by utilizing efficient designs to keep your vehicle stable enough to get past the difficult areas.

Final Thoughts

Build A Car is at its best if you treat "Failure" as something other than a bad thing (a Set Back) and begin to treat it as an element in your Design Process. This will transform each test run on the Track to be a Puzzle and turn each Rebuild into Progress. As long as you enjoy Games that allow for Experimentation with Physics and Satisfying Improvement, I believe there is a good Loop in this Game and enough flexibility to make Every Successful Build feel like Your Own.

More Games Like This

You may want to play Build an Aquapark as another building based game (that you can build and test in) if you like games of create/build/try/test/improve. Alternatively you could go to Obby Grow A Garden to have fun creating a garden while having some of the same progress style (but less of the sand box) or you could move directly into MineFun to have an open-ended building experience using blocks where your ability to experiment will be rewarded.