Swipecart is available on Windows PCs, Web via HTML5, as well as iOS and Android. The multiplatform nature of this game shows, and not in a good way.
Swipecart is a game by Micro Factory Games. You play as a child who always had a penchant for adrenaline, and has allowed this desire for action to manifest itself in extreme minecart racing. There is more to the backstory, but to be honest it doesn’t matter.
I don’t mean say this with offence. One thing the game does great is that the entire game seems to be very self aware of how ridiculous the context is through humorous “Track Facts.” Just to give you an idea of how strange this is – it opens with a Gandhi quote that holds no connection to the game.
Swipecart also boasts a level editor that will allow users to create and share custom tracks. The editor is rather complex and unintuitive at the start but seems to have a lot of promise as to what can be created.
An example of the touch interface.
Now comes the bad stuff.
Swipecart’s controls are, well, it’s in the name. Swipes. If there’s one thing my PC can’t do it’s touch input. This decision to have controls shared across all versions makes sense because your account is also shared across all platforms, or at least is supposed to be at launch. Yet as understandable of a decision it was, it leaves the PC version with some quirks. Almost all of the prompts in the game refer to touch controls, and some menus even instruct you to “swipe.” When using a mouse and keyboard, “swiping” is not the most intuitive way to navigate. Most of the menus are not clear as to what is and isn’t a button to press either.
Aside from the aforementioned grievances, the game really does seem to be at least competent, and on other platforms it probably is a great deal of fun. I for one would love to play this on my Nexus 7 tablet, but on the PC I am more uneasy about recommending it.
I really want to like this game more than I do. The concept is great and the gameplay is solid, with more challenge being added each level. Hopefully the issues I had with the controls can be sorted out, and if they can’t maybe the end product can make the controls worth it. For all I know this could be the next Happy Wheels.
We will find out the fate of Swipecart after the 8th of May, when it releases for WIndows, Web, iOS, and Android.
[youtube link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buzKUonk-bc” width=”590″ height=”315″]