Skull & Pedal: Wheel World

A whimsical bicycle open-world adventure with racing and a mystical skull.

‣ Wheel World
From: Messhof, Annapurna Interactive
Platforms: PC
Release: 2025
Genre: Open world bicycle adventure
Steam Page • Demo Video • Developer Site

[This edition of AIIG was written by new contributor Gonçalo Santos! He didn’t want to add any promo information just yet, but you can look him up on his Substack profile. Keen to record videos or write for AIIG? Find out more here!]

You rarely see bicycles in games. Many of the reasons that incentivize us to ride bicycles in real life don’t translate to gaming, so cycling games are rare. Furthermore, these made up worlds allow us access to vehicles and means of transportation that are either impossible to drive in real life, or prohibitively expensive.

This means that giving you a simple bicycle might not be exciting, but what if you got one possessed by a talking, floating skull engulfed in blue flame? And what if you could upgrade it piece by piece, feeling incremental improvements as you explore an enchanting world? This is the proposition presented by Messhof with their upcoming title, Wheel World.

Wheel World's art style fits the game’s aesthetic quite well, and the cartoony approach meshes naturally with its weirdly magical world. Everything in this universe seems to revolve around bicycles, and the game’s writers must’ve spent weeks on puns alone.

Understandably, bicycles are everywhere. You’ll encounter bicycle gangs and, at least for the entirety of the demo, you won’t see any other vehicle. Most people have their own pair of wheels, but you’re the only one with a Skully.

And who are you? Well, besides knowing your own name is Kat, you’re not quite sure. The game kicks off with you waking up seemingly having no idea where you are. It doesn’t seem that this is the same world that Kat’s from.

Unaffected by such existential trifles, Kat blindly trusts Skully, gets on her rusty bike and begins exploring the island. The controls are fine, and Wheel World gives cycling a true sense of speed.

You’ll notice that the bicycle isn’t that smooth or responsive. The game and its gang members you encounter are quick to point out how rusty your bike is. It doesn’t handle too well, nor does it go fast.

So, how can you expect to win your first race against the Lunardo Boys, allowing you entry into the hill behind them? That’s where Skully comes in. The little floating skull is also your own supernatural Nitro gauge. Let’s race, then.

You have your R2 to speed up, L2 to brake, and SQUARE to use boost. Airtime, near misses, and drafting will fill your boost gauge

But racing is only a third of Wheel World’s gameplay loop. You can press TRIANGLE to exit your bicycle. You’ll never actually let go of it, but you’ll be able to walk into the game’s points of interest. And you’ll want to do that a lot, because the second third of the gameplay loop is exploration, which will not only give you more information regarding this mysterious world, but also reward you with bike parts.

You’ll find these in yellow boxes, and they’ll bring us to our third and final loop: upgrading your ride. There is an undisclosed lore reason for your bike to be fully rusted, but the gameplay justification is immediately obvious.

📽 Demo Snapshot: Let’s race!

The controls in your first races are weird and sometimes unresponsive because your bicycle is in a rough state. Every time you find a new part and swap it in for the old one, you’ll notice a difference. It might be subtle, or transformative. Additionally, it will also visually change your bike, which is a touch I appreciate.

Skully is on this journey with you because he needs your help to “perform the long overdue Great Shift ritual”. What exactly is that? Well, the demo won’t answer that question, but it will give you just enough information to get its hooks in you.

Give it a try for yourself, as the actual feel of riding the bicycle is something that can’t accurately be conveyed in words. There is no concrete release date for Wheel World yet, but Messhof are aiming for a 2025 release, published by Annapurna Interactive.

Wheel World will release on Steam in 2025.

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Explore The Game with Youtube Chapters:

• 📽 00:35 Where are we?

• 📽 01:45 Skully's Puns

• 📽 04:12 First Ride

• 📽 04:50 The Lunardo Hill Boys

• 📽 09:35 First Parts And A Boost

• 📽 11:54 Let's Race!

• 📽 18:28 Tinkering And Exploring

• 📽 20:23 The Bell Is Rung

• 📽 22:27 Portal... Potties?

• 📽 23:45 Enjoying The View

• 📽 25:35 The Bridge To Velo City

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