About this game
Wheelabout puts you in the driver's seat on the same streets Swivelhead puts you on as a pedestrian. The car drives like a real one. It will not turn unless it is moving. It takes about six seconds to get to fifty, and about fifteen metres to stop again — twenty-five if the road is wet.
One hand drives the car and the other turns your head. That is on purpose. Checking right before you pull out only means something if it costs you the view straight ahead, the same as it does in a real car. On a phone you drag a wheel, hold two pedals and swipe to look. On a computer it is the keys and the mouse.
Each level is a full drive through a small town, five to eight junctions one after another. Directions come early enough for you to get in the right lane, and there is a map in the corner if you miss one. Other drivers are really driving: pull out in front of someone and they brake, and that counts against you. Plenty of them forget to indicate, because plenty of real drivers do.
You are marked the way a driving test marks you, so you never get sent back to the start. You keep driving, and every mistake goes on a sheet with a line about what to do instead. Small mistakes cost you demerits. Enough of those ends the drive, and a few things — running a red light, or making another driver brake hard — end it straight away.
The four roads
Pick one from the title screen. They get harder in this order, and each one adds a single new thing to think about.
- Circuit. Five junctions in a row and nothing clever. This is where you get used to the car, the directions and the give-way lines.
- Traffic Lights. Same idea, with lights. The question is always the same one: when the light turns yellow, can you stop safely or are you better off going through?
- Crossing. Turning across the traffic coming the other way. Nobody has to let you, so you have to pick your own moment.
- Busy Road. The long one, in heavy traffic, where most drivers don't bother indicating. You have to work out what people are doing rather than what they're telling you.
How to play
- Drive. In Australia, you drive on the left side of the road, and the driver sits on the right.
- Look around. Swipe the screen, or move the mouse, to turn your head. Check the road before you pull out.
- Indicate. Q and E, or the two arrow buttons, signal left and right. Use them when you turn.
- Try to pass. At the end of your drive, you'll get your results: minor faults, serious faults and instant fails.
Controls
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| Swipe or mouse | turn your head — still the whole game |
| A / D or the wheel | steer — the wheel straightens when you let go |
| W / S or the pedals | drive · slow down (hold at a stop to reverse) |
| Q / E or ◀ ▶ | indicate left · right (press again to cancel) |
| Esc or the pause button | pause |
| Fullscreen | hides the browser so the game has the whole screen. Press it again to bring the browser back |
The tricky part
- Roundabouts. Give way to traffic coming from your right. Watch for a safe gap, then go. Gaps can disappear quickly, so take your time and make sure you have enough space.
- Traffic lights. Red means stop, green means go. When the light turns yellow, decide whether you can stop safely or need to continue through.
- Starting from a stop. You need a much bigger gap from a standstill than you do while you are still rolling. If you get it wrong, the game tells you how much bigger it needed to be.
- Turning right. You have to cross everybody coming the other way, and nobody has to let you. Make sure there is somewhere to arrive as well as a gap to cross in.
- An indicator is not a promise. Some drivers forget to use one, and some leave it on by mistake. Wait until the car actually turns.
Good to know
- Wheelabout is free to play in your browser.
- Wheelabout is a game about driving decisions, not a replacement for real driving lessons or an official driving test.
- It plays on a phone, and there's one thing to know. The thumb that steers is also the thumb that looks, so you cannot do both at once. Do your checks before you start to turn. Everything else is the same game.
- No crash is ever shown. If you get it wrong there is a screech and a flash before anything touches, then a sheet to read.
- There is no sign-up, no chat and nothing to buy, so players cannot contact each other.
Want to read about it instead of driving? The learn to drive guide covers what the game practises, and roundabout practice goes through the junction everybody asks about. Out of the car, Fetchmead is a meadow where you catch birds with a thrown net and your dog fetches them.
