Monorace Preview

Craneball Studios, the indie developers behind Superfall and 33rd Division, and gearing up for the release of their next potential iPhone hit. This time around they’ve decided to tackle the futuristic world of monobike racing, and they’re looking to put you in the driver’s seat.

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Monorace Preview

Craneball Studios, the indie developers behind Superfall and 33rd Division, and gearing up for the release of their next potential iPhone hit. This time around they’ve decided to tackle the futuristic world of monobike racing, and they’re looking to put you in the driver’s seat.

Like any good race, the object here is quite simple – get from the beginning to the end in the fastest time possible. Players won’t have direct control of the vehicle’s speed or direction, but instead will have the ability to flip the track’s gravity. Players will flip the gravity by simply tapping the screen. As the vehicle will proceed through the level under its own power, it’s up to players to flip gravity to help them avoid obstacles and stay on the track.

Competition in Monorace won’t come from other vehicles crowding the track, but from your friends high scores on the leaderboard. Like many games in the App Store, achievements and scores are all tracked as part of the OpenFeint social network. Early indications also suggest that you’ll be able to challenge your friends to beat your top score, not unlike the challenge system in Hook Champ.

We were fortunate enough to spend some time with a preview build of Monorace, and found it to be a uniquely challenging take on the one-button genre. While billed as a racing game, the experience is more akin to Canabalt if you were to add in a heavy dose of obstacle avoidance.

Monorace
Monorace

With only a single tap required to control the movement in Monorace, gameplay focuses more on quick reflexes than careful manoeuvring. One button design is accessible by its very nature, and yet Monorace should manage to provide a solid enough challenge in its later levels to appeal to veteran gamers as well.

Looking to get your gravity-flipping race fix on? You won’t have to wait too long – Monorace is expected to hit the App Store shortly.

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.