I was surprised to see a racing game as part of Tiny Teams, and this one has proven to be great fun. Stunt Derby is a development collaboration between Cryptic Sea and Noclip, with its main draw being the track creator. Using a low poly visual style, the races are as crazy as you make them. As part of Tiny Teams, I have been given a code by Yogscast Games to offer my thoughts on Stunt Derby.

And what can I say? It has a track creator. Of course that’s where I was going to start! Relive the days of spending forever in the track creators of GripShift and MTX Mototrax on the PSP. And this creator is easy to use with its grid-based placement and top-down viewpoint. There’s a massive area for people to play around in, setting up track pieces to create massively long and winding routes.

To start with, I just messed around, seeing what was possible. A straight, short curve, long curve, S-bend, various split routes, crossover point, and a loop make up the basic pieces available to use. Along with those, there’s also special pieces, such as a log bridge, boxes and tyres, ramps, and a barn. That’s plenty to be creating some great routes, and some verticality is offered with height options for track pieces and the landscape.

I have yet to save a single track I’ve created, even though I really should. Since I have just been messing around with what the creator is capable of, I never felt the need. That one above is something I really should have, but I moved on without much thought. Ah, well. It’ll be easy enough to recreate. With so many options, I could never get bored of creating these tracks.

As for playing on them, the driving physics are very loose. Twitchy, too. Though maybe I need to mess around with the options more to make them less so. It felt as though small mistakes would easily turn into large ones, where even the smallest bit of counter steer would see the vehicle spin out or just become difficult to get stable again. As I say, there’s options for steering sensitivity and such, so maybe messing with those is all it will take for a smoother driving experience.

There is a test track for those who aren’t as creative, and it is here where I got a taste of racing against the bots. A choice of spawning in 20 or 100 is presented. Kind of obvious which one I’d go for. And having 101 drivers on a track – especially right at the start – is absolute chaos. At first, you can only go with the flow as everyone sets off at the same speed. Then it descends into chaos as vehicles try to push others out of the way, and suddenly about half the field is on… well, the field.

From that point on, there’s cars everywhere, with those who were at the front managing to avoid all that chaos. As the race progresses, most of the bots still continue to fight amongst themselves. Meanwhile, those who were at the front find themselves avoiding it all while you as the player keep getting mixed up in it. 20 other racers is much more manageable, and unless I want a laugh at all the chaos is what I’ll be sticking to.

For vehicles to use, there’s three. An everyday car, a racing car, and a van. All three are similar to control, so it’s mostly a visual choice in what you prefer. A neat little bit of customisation is that you can edit the stripe that runs across the vehicle. Have just one solid line, a smaller line either side of that solid line, or even a discordant frenzy of a design. The number that appears on the side of the vehicle and the display name on its plates can also be freely changed, with a choice of either name or logo of one of the developers.

As this is a game still in development, changes and additions will happen. The thing I most want to see is new additions to the creator, especially in the landscape department. The ability to change the terrain from just grass. A lot of landscape tiles such as buildings, foliage, and other random things such as burning wrecks. I’d also want barriers on track tiles at ground level and right-angled corners.

At present, this is a great racing game if you’re someone who enjoys creating tracks. Being able to just mess around and create some very fun drives is great. There is multiplayer in the game, where I believe you can choose from any track you have created. Hosting and joining games is simple enough, so those who enjoy arcade racing can have fun with some human interaction. There is a demo that has been active since June, so jump in and see what chaos you can have with Stunt Derby.

The Tiny Teams Festival is running until 10/August-2023. Thanks to Yogscast Games, I have been given codes for several games that are featured during the festival this year. Across this month, I will be either reviewing or sharing experiences of these games. Despite being given codes, the thoughts I offer are purely my own and not influenced by the generosity of Yogscast Games.

Images Taken From:
Stunt Derby | PC