I like to think I know what most gamers are playing and what games are doing ‘the rounds’. However I recently discovered one that went totally under my radar and since I discovered it has been giving me hours of decapitating fun; Happy Wheels.

Careless Shopper

Happy Wheels is a special Flash based online game. On the surface its a messy balancing game where the player controls a various assortment of characters and tries to navigate levels. Graphically it looks bland and mechanically it feels broken; however under its surface is a complex web of teasing. Firstly the game is user generated and comes with a level editor. So far hundreds of levels have been made with the more popular levels having been played millions of times.

Not thousands; millions!

I’ve been playing the game for hours. I’ve completed dozens of levels and despite all this still levels come up that surprise me. I also haven’t laughed this hard in a game in years. One of the characters, careless father, has a child in a back seat on his bike. Hit a rough bump and the child may just go flying. Add in as well that the game actually has a button that allows you to hurl the child in the back seat if you want, and it just gets funnier.

Careless father

An early warning now, though; the game is extremely violent. Well; not violent, more gory. Any time you fail with your character they are likely to explode into a hailstorm of guts and blood.

But then again … isn’t that why we play these games?