Playroom Racer HD – iPad Game Review
We’ve all played with toy cars at some point in our lives, and now Playroom Racers is bringing that pastime back in a brand new way. Playroom Racers is a charming racing game for the iPad and iPhone where you control a toy car and drive around a colorful and whimsical playroom race track.
The goal in Playroom Racers is to win races against other toy cars and collect stars to unlock more levels. Right now, there are a total of four levels, but trust me, you never get tired of playing them because you see something new every time. There is also a timed mode where you can practice getting your best time on the track, and a star mode where you zoom around and collect stars to add to your star count.
The graphics are just plain adorable. As you drive around a track constructed from colored pencils, you will see things like legos, alphabet blocks, toy airplanes, candies, stacking rings, and tons more. All the toys are so well done that it really does feel like you’re driving around in a child’s room. The music is fun and upbeat without being too repetitive, and I love the squeaking sound that happens whenever you hit a menu button.
If you get tired of looking at the same old truck, don’t worry, you can go to the garage option on the main menu which allows you to choose from six cars you can unlock with stars, and each car or truck has separate painting options, giving you a multitude of looks to choose from.
Playroom Racers is highly customizable, even down to the controls. There are six different ways to control your car: touch steering (using up/down/left/right buttons on the side of the screen), touch steering with autogas, tilt steering (you can adjust sensitivity), tilt steering with autogas, virtual stick (a stick on the left side of the screen), and virtual stick with autogas. I seemed to do best with the default touch steering, but no matter how you like to play, there’s an option for it.
This game is great for anyone, from young children to adults. Difficulty can definitely ramp up with easy, medium, hard, and extreme modes. There’s a star reward even if you don’t win, but a much higher star reward when you do. On the track, there are blocks, dice, and sticky patches to avoid. The consequences for hitting these get more severe if you ramp up the difficulty. I think a 5-year-old and a 20-year-old racing pro could both get a lot of enjoyment from this game thanks to such clever difficulty options.
Gameplay is simple though. There are obstacles, and you can knock your opponents cars over in some situations, but there are no speed boosts or other items to get, and your general speed never goes up. That’s something I felt the game was lacking. Though the graphics don’t get repetitive and keep it interesting, the simple gameplay certainly does.
What I liked: The graphics. I’m not a fan of racing games, but this one got my attention right away and I had a lot of fun zooming around each playroom.
What I didn’t like: Gameplay is too simple. Not in terms of difficulty, because it can certainly be difficult, but in terms of options for variations in speed, etc.
To buy or not to buy: This creative, fun game is a good value at $1.99 and has a lot of replayability potential. It will take awhile to get the stars to unlock the all of the modes and customization options, which will keep gameplay fun for quite awhile. If you like racing games, or have a child who does, this is one you won’t want to miss.
- App Name: Playroom Racer HD
- Version Reviewed: 1.2
- Category: Games
- Developer: Jozsef Punk
- Price: $1.99
- Score:
