So, this is Wheelmates. It’s basically It Takes Two with RC cars… but is it actually that good?
Well, after playing through the demo in split screen with my friend Shawn, I came away pretty impressed with it overall. And honestly, the demo itself was way bigger than I expected.
Me and my friend played through the whole thing in about an hour and 45 minutes, which is pretty substantial for a demo. For something that’s basically an early preview, that’s a really good sign for how much content the full game might end up having.
You can play the game online, but I focused entirely on split screen co-op because that’s what I care about most here. And thankfully, the game feels very built around that experience.
There’s definitely a lot of influence from games like It Takes Two and Split Fiction. This is a co-op-only style experience where both players constantly have to work together to progress. That said, it’s definitely lacking the polish and production value of something like It Takes Two. But honestly, that’s kind of expected. This is an indie game, and this is only the demo.
The developers sent me an early code for the demo, but all the opinions here are my own.
Driving Around an Oversized House
There is some story here, although I’ll be honest, I probably missed a few details while we were playing. You’re inside this eccentric professor’s house, driving these little RC cars through oversized environments where everything around you feels huge.
And yeah, it absolutely gives off It Takes Two vibes because of that setup alone.
Most of the game revolves around completing objectives throughout different parts of the house. You’ll be driving through bedrooms, vents, garages, attics, and other areas while moving from one goal point to another.
The game actually does a really good job guiding you, too. There’s no full map, but there’s a waypoint marker showing the direction you need to go, so you’re rarely lost or wandering around aimlessly.
At first, the gameplay is mostly about driving to specific locations and learning how everything works. But pretty quickly, the game starts introducing puzzle mechanics.
A Puzzle-Heavy Co-op Game
This is very much a puzzle-focused co-op game. At least in the demo, there’s no combat whatsoever.
Most of what you’re doing revolves around hitting switches, interacting with objects, navigating the environment, and coordinating with the other player. A lot of the puzzles are built around fairly simple ideas at first, but the co-op implementation is what makes them interesting.
Eventually, you start unlocking new abilities.
You get a hookshot that lets you hit certain switches and swing across gaps. Then later you unlock a magnet ability that’s used for moving covers, revealing switches, and carrying batteries to power machinery.
So there’s definitely some layering happening with the mechanics as the demo progresses.
And one thing the game does really well is asymmetrical co-op design. There are sections where one player is doing something completely different from the other player at the same time.
For example, there’s one part where one player has to stop steam blocking the path while the other moves forward. Then you switch roles and repeat the process.
That kind of stuff works really well here.
One of the coolest sections in the demo involved this giant cylinder tank puzzle that basically played like a claw machine. One player controlled forward and backward movement while the other controlled up and down movement. Each person only had partial control over the mechanism, so you constantly had to communicate to position everything correctly.
And the tricky part was that you couldn’t just hit the buttons normally. You actually had to drive your RC car onto them to activate them, which made things way more chaotic than expected.
It led to a lot of moments where both players were yelling directions at each other trying to line things up correctly.
The Biggest Problem: The Controls
The biggest issue I had with the demo was definitely the controls and camera.
The gameplay design itself actually feels solid. The problem is just how the RC cars feel to control.
Right away, we lowered the sensitivity as much as possible, which definitely helped, but even by the end of the demo I never fully felt comfortable controlling the car.
I kept getting caught on ledges, flipping upside down, backing into corners, and getting stuck in awkward situations.
Honestly, a lot of the challenge in this game didn’t come from the puzzles themselves. It came from just trying to properly control the vehicle.
Thankfully, there are some really good quality-of-life features that help with this.
You can pause the game and hit an “I’m stuck” option that basically explodes your car and resets you back to your last safe position. And if you fall off a ledge, there’s a quick reset option that brings you right back.
Those systems helped a lot.
Also, to be fair, both me and Shawn are kind of terrible at racing games and vehicle controls in general, so maybe other people won’t struggle with it nearly as much as we did.
Still, I did want to mention it because it was definitely noticeable throughout the demo.
Surprisingly Great Visuals
Visually, I actually really liked how this game looked.
It has this stylized art direction that mixes realism with these slightly cartoony CGI-looking elements. At times it reminded me a little bit of the Toy Story movies.
The environments especially looked really good for an indie game. It’s obviously not AAA-level visually, but honestly, it looks better than a lot of indie co-op games I’ve played recently.
And I really appreciate that it’s a fully 3D split screen co-op game.
We just don’t get enough of those anymore.
Is It as Good as It Takes Two?
No. I wouldn’t say it’s on that level.
But to be fair, It Takes Two is one of the best co-op games ever made, so that’s an insanely high bar to compare against.
What I will say is that Wheelmates is doing a lot right already.
If the developers improve the controls and continue expanding on these co-op mechanics, I could absolutely see this becoming one of the better couch co-op games of 2026.
If you like co-op games where communication and teamwork are the main focus, there’s a really good chance you’ll enjoy this.
The demo already has some genuinely creative ideas, and even though the controls are rough right now, there’s clearly a lot of potential here.
And honestly, I’m just happy to see more games like this getting made.
I love pixel art games and retro-inspired co-op stuff, but we’ve definitely gotten a lot of that over the years. So it’s refreshing seeing a fully 3D co-op-focused experience trying to do something different.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Wheelmates ended up being a really cool surprise.
I went into the demo expecting something much smaller and simpler, but there’s actually a decent amount of content here already, along with some genuinely creative co-op puzzle ideas.
Hopefully the full release lands sometime in 2026, because after playing this demo, I definitely want to see where the game goes next.
And whenever the full game does release, I’ll absolutely be playing through the entire thing.