Beaver Karts: More than Driftwood?

drift_shifter8 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-01-2013, 06:22 AM

The Lowdown
I was looking for something fun to play on phone and I came across this. It was free in the app store so I figured that I’d lose nothing by trying it out. The first thing that I noticed was the cover art which presented itself as cute and colorful. I wondered if this would translate to the game as well since, for me, cute is almost always a good thing. As I downloaded the app, I kept wondering about how silly the entire concept was. I thought to myself, “What is the point of such a weird game?” The game revolves about you being a Beaver with his own custom wooden cart. Apparently, this Beaver has a nasty need for speed and spends his time travelling downhill (and aiming for an X-games promotion) in his cart. To make things interesting, you can perform an assortment of tricks such as wheelies and flips.

Once you get the hang of the controls, you can do tricks like this

Learning the Ropes
The game is pretty basic. You will have to guide the Beaver on his downhill descent as you perform a series of tricks. You have 2 buttons to control the cart: tilt forward or tilt backward. Tilting the cart backward, for instance, will allow you to ride on only 2 wheels (classified as a wheelie) and will grant you bonus points. Doing a tilt after a jump will make the cart flip which is worth massive points (given that you land safely). You will also have to collect gold coins on the downhill path to glory. One thing to remember is that you have a limited amount of fuel to burn during the stage and this is what limits your journey.

Gold collected will determine the types of upgrades you can afford for tricking out your Beaver cart. I’m not sure if these upgrades affect the performance of your vehicle or are purely aesthetic in nature. Take note that before starting a stage, you have 3 specific goals that you can opt to do during your downhill run. Accomplishing them grants you bonus gold and that’s what you want to do in order to earn more and upgrade your cart.

There are power-ups in the shop which you can purchase with gold or purple acorns. I guess that is the premium currency for the game which you can buy with real money. Some of the powerups that can make your run more interesting.

Not a Wallet Hurter
I got the game for free in the app store. Not bad since you get to you can try it out at no cost.

What I think
I like the game due to the simplicity of its graphics which comes out as a cute cartoony experience. It is simple yet entertaining. Unfortunately, it is far from perfect. I find a big lack in terms of customization. There are only a few choices of upgrades to choose from (around 5 per category). Also, you are stuck with the beaver. Not that I don’t like him or anything but, I would very much want to see a giraffe try to cart. Some mini-games would also help break the monotony that comes after a while.
I suggest keeping this at hand during lull times. This might In fact, it might be worth using while waiting for the bus, waiting for your food in restaurants, or during your breaks to the bathroom.