The headline, “You Stink at Parking,” is a bit of an driving overstatement. I’ve never claimed to be the next Ken Block, but I don’t believe I’ve ever kerbed a wheel while navigating tight spaces, either. Well, no, hold on a second. Maybe I am terrible at parking; I once scraped a friend’s vehicle along the base of a gas station.
If you haven’t driven a vehicle before or you’re used to doing a handbrake turn into your local lot, you’re going to spend the first 30 minutes of the driving game spinning your wheels, running out of gas, and slamming into obstacles. Like with getting three stars in Overcooked or Two Point, you can still go on even if you don’t collect all of the golden places; all you need to do is park in each slot within the extended time limit.
That’s why it’s so appealing. The process of failing, trying again, and ultimately succeeding is frustrating. Belgian developer Happy Volcano presents a driving game from the player’s perspective called You Suck at Parking. The goal, somewhat unsurprisingly, is to locate parking spots for vehicles. As in a platformer, you drive your vehicle over a series of short yet deviously created stages.
Have a certain amount of time to complete?
Oddly, the other direction can’t be selected. If you miss the target and crash into a wall, you’ll have to start again. You quickly switch between tries, hoping driving beyond hope that you’ll be able to park in each level’s slots on the first try. To top it all off, you may explore the game’s Overworld, a semi-open hub where you’ll discover the many environments housing the game’s stages.
True satisfaction comes from mastering every turn, hairpin, mine, leap, and fan without incurring even a scratch on the body. You may continue playing driving without worrying about losing progress if you die in any way, even by crashing, falling over a cliff, or exploding. Since both are immediate, it’s hard to stop eating it. Also, there are online leaderboards for each stage.
As you go through the maps, the absurdity increases, with obstacles like gigantic magnets and boxing gloves that force you off the battlefield. It takes a few tries simply to figure out where the parking places are, much alone get them down perfectly on the first run. Nonetheless, the driving challenge never becomes so difficult that you want to quit up. In general, it’s just on the cusp of being doable, while there are occasional spikes in difficulty (such as when you get stuck on a problem for half an hour then breeze through the following one without even batting an eye).
The vehicle’s handling is unobtrusive
In a similar vein, the vehicle’s handling is driving unobtrusive, with the friendly approachability somewhat tempered by an eventual lack of accuracy. At drift hunters least some wiggle room is provided by the elastic reactions.
With over a hundred levels available at launch driving and more expected thereafter, the game’s inventive level design is sure to keep players on their toes. Sometimes, just when you get the hang of things, the cops show up or you turn into a block of ice.
Few options exist, and there’s little functional driving difference between, say, a saloon and a van. But, similar to the Podium Pass in F1 22 and the Rocket Pass in Rocket League, there is a Parking Pass that allows you to unlock aesthetic enhancements. You may modify your car’s appearance as you level up via challenges and online battles. In the form of paint, livery, trails, or explosions. Further graphic enhancements available for a fee, and they will be updated seasonally.
The Parking Pass’s true lasting appeal
You’ll either upset by this or not care at all. It’s not crucial, but props to the creators for thinking out a method to make money without limiting access or adding paywalls to the game. If aesthetic upgrades are more your speed, you may also purchase a driving set of them separately.
The Parking Pass’s true lasting appeal lies in its driving online multiplayer, which was absent from the game’s first demo release in 2021. Due to the game’s postponement until 2022, the mode has received more funding as a result.
In this four-round mode, players of up to driving eight strong compete to be the first to park in each of the game’s nine available locations on some of the wackier levels. This, together with the experience points awarded and the progress made on the Parking Pass, is meant to the primary source of dopamine that keeps you coming back to the game.
It’s the video game equivalent of frantic vehicle driving battles during Boxing Day sales – it’s entertaining, chaotic, and totally insane. Thankfully, however, there are no heated exchanges or, even worse, irate letters from insurance companies to worry about, as there would be in the real world.
A level editor was notably absent
Nevertheless, there is now a little issue in that you cannot currently team up driving with your list of friends, however this feature will added after the game’s release. Nevertheless, a level editor was notably absent from the game’s early prototypes. Such an approach may have inspired a group of gamers to make new, challenging levels available to everyone. Although I like the driving concept, it seems that multiplayer and unlocking skins have taken their place.
Yet, for the asking price of $19.99/£15.49, you get a driving lot more than you bargained for, including the promise of updates much beyond the game’s original release. It all comes down to how engaging the game’s central concept is; even as I write this review, I can’t wait to start it up driving again and try to beat even more of the levels. You Suck at Parking has wonderful personality, with charming levels, simple controls, and a compulsive streak that keeps you coming back for more.