SmuggleCraft : Highly Illegal. Extremely Fun.

Paul 'Soterios' Wareheim // Posted on June 29, 2015

At IndyPopCon this weekend, we had the opportunity to try a fun little game by the name of SmuggleCraft by Happy Badger Studios. Though still in development, the bit of racing we got to do was promising, as there was a lot of smiling and a lot of smack talk as I completely dominated Drax during our race. Some say he’s still trying to finish the race. All I know is: this game was fun.

SmuggleCraft is a hovercraft racing game with a story that revolves around, you guessed it, smuggling things. As you race around with your contraband you are given multiple choices about what to do with your loot. The more illegal activities you choose, the more the police will chase you around. The more you choose to defy the suppliers, the more likely it is that a bounty gets put on your head. Either way you’ll be involved in many high speed chases with someone who wants you dead.

In order to keep ahead of your pursuers, you’ll need a good craft. The first craft we piloted was quickly donned ‘Toaster with Wings’ for obvious reasons. Should you want less of a toaster and more of a missile, we were told that vehicle upgrades were going to be plentiful with hundreds of available parts. You and your friends will never be flying the same kitchen appliance…errr…hovercraft.

The most interesting feature of the game was the tracks. Every course you play on is generated randomly. There are a selection of map pieces that can be interchanged in various directions and orders to keep the races feeling fresh and unpredictable. This also meant that crashing was inevitable and hilarious. The element of surprise means that you’ll never have ‘that one friend’ who memorizes every track and never loses. Everyone is going to smash into a wall. Everyone. Happy Badger is hoping to have up to sixteen players on a track for maximum hovercraft carnage.

Looking for a new arcade racer? This just might be your game. I know I cannot wait to jazz up my little toaster.

Currently the game is set for a Spring 2016 launch for PC/Mac/Linux/PS4 (sorry Xbox fans)
No price has been set.
For more information and updates about the game, check out www.smugglecraft.com