There are some games which everyone simply knows better than to play with anyone whose friendship they value. Think Mario Party and Among Us - one last-minute Star theft or a particularly convincing lie to lead the poor crewmates to their doom, and you may never speak to your best friend of 15 years again.
Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point. After having the opportunity to get hands-on with Ice BEAM’s chaotic multiplayer racing game Make Way at WASD x IGN, I can safely certify that this is one such game that you should be careful with when it comes to choosing who to play with. That is to say that it’s heaps of fun, but plenty of yelling can be expected.
Up to four players (who can join in on the same screen or online, with cross-platform multiplayer) compete for points across a number of rounds of frantic top-down racing. Every round, each player picks a piece of track - everyone can then choose how to assemble their pieces to form the course. This means that it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever end up playing through the exact same configuration again.
Depending on which track pieces are chosen, your races can be filled with bouncy barriers which can easily send players flying if they’re not careful, item boxes, which, as you’d expect, can award those who drive into them with a variety of power-ups, and other obstacles, such as moving platforms. If anyone falls too far behind or plummets off the road (and they will), they’ll be out of the race until the next checkpoint (there’s one of these at every new section of the course).
Make your own fun
You don’t need to rely on power-ups or tricky sections of the track to take out your competition, either. I had the pleasure of playing Make Way with our editor-in-chief, Jake Tucker, who in a frenzied attempt to get into first place, I accidentally drove straight into the side of and plowed off the road, in a moment that may have permanently changed the trajectory of our friendship.
It’s okay, though, because in a later round of the game, Jake went on to a spectacular victory when his car narrowly avoided falling due to a moving platform, and precisely bounced from said platform to catapult himself over the next pit and across that section’s finish line. Words can’t do justice to what a thrilling turn of events this was - it was quite easily the highlight of the entire session.
That’s not to say that the rest of our time with the game wasn’t fantastic, mind you. I personally found the driving felt slightly clumsy (I found myself driving off the side of more bends than I’d care to admit), but that added to the charm of the game which, if it wasn’t already clear, is rather silly, in the best way possible.
Make Way doesn’t currently have a release date, but it’s set to race onto PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in the future.
For more games like Make Way, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best racing games. If you’re looking for something new to play with friends, you can check out our list of the best co-op games.
