It took 16 years to do it, but iconic physics-based game Happy Wheels has finally made the jump from browser game to Steam. It is off to an incredible start too, as most of those willing to chuck its creators $5 for what has been a free-to-play game since 2010 have been leaving positive reviews.
This comes after Happy Wheels’ creator Jim Bonacci revealed the game had been wishlisted 750,000 times. They weren’t expecting more than 5,000.
“I sit in terror looking at the 750,000 wishlists statistic,” Bonacci joked via an update on Steam. “I realistically was thinking maybe 5k at best, and then maybe it would gain some momentum as it casually settles into its new environment. After all, the game has been publicly available for 16 years.”
Turns out the world was hungry for a more official-feeling way to play Happy Wheels than even its creator could have anticipated. Happy Wheels launched on Steam seven days ago, and although naturally not all of those 750k people who wishlisted the game have now bought a copy, its concurrent player count peaked at a little over 3,000 people on launch day.
The hope, as Bonacci highlights in their post, is that this will be an ongoing venture that’s supported by the community. The developer is very honest in admitting that’s what will be necessary for Happy Wheels to be successful on Steam.
The three-quarters of a million wishlists a huge contributor to making sure Happy Wheels enjoys many successful years on Steam, but its user rating is too. An arguably even more important factor, as that’s the first thing a lot of Steam users look at when perusing potential new games, which is why Happy Wheels’ Overwhelmingly Positive rating is a great sign.
Not only does Happy Wheels have an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, but it is one of only eight games released on Steam this year to have 95% positive reviews according to SteamDB. It’s right up there with Creature Kitchen and Fields of Mistria, and ever-so-slightly better than Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem.
Since Happy Wheels has been available to play for free through your browser since 2010, you might be wondering why people are so eager to now pay for it. Well, for starters, it’s a nice gesture to someone whose game you’ve been playing free of charge for the better part of two decades, especially when that game only costs $4.99.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/happy-wheels-steam-wishlists-user-reviews/
