Hot Wheels racing revisited, a new game
I rarely go back and revisit and/or rebuild anything. I usually work on web projects for the learning challenge and once that’s conquered, move on. I then take all what I learned and add it to the next project, so each new project gets better. However, Hot Wheels is clearly something that deserves love and attention.
A little idea that went somewhere
Okay, so maybe it’s a dumb game but it’s fun. You’ll remember in the Spring that I created a Fantasy League for Hot Wheels drag racing. Players would select cars to be in their “garage” and then I’d race them (for real) and players would get points based on results. The game was fun and worked pretty well, but it was not without its problems.
Redline Derby Racing lives for another season
The biggest problem was a unforeseen player limit. I have to admit that I did not expect to have almost 50 people sign-up to play the game. Even if 75% of didn’t come back after that first sign-up, their join reduced the number of cars available to everyone. Problem.
Taking that mistake and feedback from the people that were regularly playing the game, I went back the drawing board and developed a new version of the same game. After almost three months of weekend work, my Hot Wheels fantasy league is back and hopefully a little better.
NEW GAME: Try out the new Hot Wheels drag racing Fantasy League
This time the game focuses on bracket-style tournaments and requires a lot less “thinking” from players. I modeled it all after the NCAA tournaments. Basically all players need to do is make their picks for which car wins each round of the tournament. You get points when you pick the winner.
Now, you can get more in-depth with the game if you want. For example, you can choose to enter your own car and even seek out achievements, a la Xbox games, but none of that is required to play the basic game. Of course, if you want to win, doing all the above is certainly recommended.
The best motivation is genuine feedback
This whole project has really shown me one thing, that audience feedback is the greatest motivation. I usually make my little web projects in a vacuum with little intention of them being played by the public for any length of time. I honestly expected my Hot Wheels idea to survive through the first season and that’s it. But the feedback I got from players showed they really enjoyed the idea, and that’s all I need to try and top myself for other people’s entertainment.
If you didn’t play in my Hot Wheels fantasy league in the Spring, please check out this new version and give it a try. It’s just some on-line fun that doesn’t require much, and hey, I’m doing all the heavy lifting!
