Trolley Turbo

01Brief

I wanted to capture the rush of a boost you decide when to fire, in a race that friends can join in seconds.

02Research and concept

The idea started in a classroom, looking at a fire extinguisher: what if a kid used one as a rocket on a toy wagon? I collected reference photos of a red wagon and an extinguisher and built from those.

The core loop is grab and boost. You pick up extinguishers and toy item boxes, then pick the moment to boost or hit a rival. Each extinguisher fills one of three boost charges, and when to spend them is up to you.

Late in lap 1: passing two karts, past the extinguishers and through the start arch into lap 2.

03Prototype

The first prototype tested the setting: would a living room full of furniture read as a race track?

04Development

Online races: I host, and friends join by scanning a QR code or typing a room code.
Five bot racers, each with its own lane and skill, so the pack spreads out.
Three tracks around the house, each longer than the last: Sofa Speedway in the living room, Kitchen Chaos and Backyard Blast.

The art is chunky, toy-like low-poly. Kenney kits for the kids and the furniture keep everything looking like it came out of one toy box.

Tuning in the Inspector

Driving values set how every wagon feels, and each bot gets its own lane and skill.

Art direction

The wagon and the extinguisher were built from my reference photos; the racers are Kenney characters.

05Testing and iteration

When my friends played, they wanted to race each other, and getting everyone into the same race was the hard part. I added online play with a room code and a QR code that friends scan with the in-game scanner. Empty spots fill up with bots.

Two visual bugs

Going through real frames from the game caught two things that looked wrong. The "before" shots are recreated in today's build with the old values, at the same moment as the fixed ones.