Left Behind Game Club: A Video Game Podcast · Left Behind Game Club

What The Car? Interview & Impressions

September 20, 2024·17 min·1 clip

Triband's Sarah Sander reveals how they made a racing game without knowing anything about cars.

This episode features host Jacob McCourt interviewing Sarah Sander, community manager for Triband, about their comedy driving game *What the Car?* The game, originally on Apple Arcade, is launching on Steam with new content. Sarah explains the studio's history of comedy titles like *What the Golf?* and *What the Bats?* She describes *What the Car?* as an unconventional game featuring absurd vehicle transformations. Players encounter cars that are sharks, chefs, or have legs across various themed episodes. The game offers around 30 levels per episode, with each level lasting one to three minutes. Sound design includes pitched vocal effects for speed pads and a silly trombone soundtrack. The development process often starts with a pun or a weird environment idea, like an "ice, ice, leggy" car for a frozen level. A particularly buggy "cardian" vehicle almost didn't make the final cut due to unpredictable physics. Sarah's personal favorite is the shark car, which simply has a plastic fin strapped to its roof. The team draws inspiration from the chaotic physics of games like *Goat Simulator* and *Untitled Goose Game*. Players can expect five to twelve hours of gameplay, with more content planned via live updates. A level editor allows for user-generated content, and the developers anticipate community speedruns. Jacob McCourt shares his impressions after playing the first nine episodes, totaling four to five hours. He notes the variety in car forms, including monsters trucks, winged cars, and cars with rocket packs. Most vehicles control well, though a few have slidey or slow physics. The game uses a crown-based scoring system and features an overworld map similar to *Super Mario World*. Quirky audio includes a human voice announcing each level's gag with puns or movie quotes. The experience is designed for short play sessions, especially on Steam Deck. The tone is enthusiastic and conversational, focusing on the game's humor and creative design. It adopts an interview format followed by a detailed hands-on review. Fans of whimsical physics-based games like *Katamari Damacy* or Triband's previous titles will enjoy this episode. Listeners seeking a deep critique of traditional racing mechanics or a narrative-driven experience might find it less relevant.

As heard by us

A lively Steam-launch feature that settles into a grounded first look at What the Car.

The episode splits its attention between a studio portrait and a first pass at What the Car. Sarah Sander describes TriBand as a comedy-game studio, and the earlier releases help explain why this one leans into odd premises instead of straight racing.

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Why you'd press play

A fast, funny primer on What the Car's Steam debut and first nine episodes.

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