WheelMates Launches Today: It Takes Two Meets Re-Volt in a Tiny RC Car Co-op Adventure

What is WheelMates?

WheelMates is a mandatory two-player co-op adventure developed and published by Firevolt.

You and a friend control two miniature RC cars inside the home laboratory of missing scientist Professor Everett Bloom. The goal is to explore his house, overcome oversized obstacles, solve puzzles that require both cars, and piece together what happened to him.

Being tiny completely changes how the environment works. A cluttered desk becomes terrain. Shelves become roads. Gaps between furniture become platforming challenges. Pipes, machinery, electrical equipment, and random household objects become parts of larger puzzles.

WheelMates is technically tagged as a racing game on Steam, but that description only tells part of the story. This is much closer to a driving-based puzzle platformer where an RC car replaces the traditional character.

It Takes Two meets Re-Volt

Re-Volt is probably the cleanest reference point for the fantasy WheelMates is selling.

Released in 1999, Acclaim’s cult RC racer made ordinary human environments feel enormous. Tiny cars raced through places including supermarkets, museums, neighborhoods, toy-filled environments, gardens, and ships. Curbs became ramps. Furniture became scenery. Everyday clutter suddenly mattered because you were looking at it from a few centimeters above the ground.

WheelMates taps into exactly that sense of scale.

The difference is what you do with it. Re-Volt is a racing game. WheelMates turns the RC-car concept into an adventure.

You can drift across a workbench or launch yourself from a makeshift ramp, but there is no constant obsession with lap times. Instead, the house is there to explore. Hidden rooms open later, previous locations can be revisited, and new gadgets let you reach places that initially looked impossible.

Then there is the It Takes Two half of the equation. WheelMates is designed around exactly two people, puzzles depend on cooperation, and ordinary household spaces become oversized playgrounds packed with mechanical challenges.

So the comparison works neatly: Re-Volt provides the RC-car childhood fantasy, while It Takes Two provides the structure.

This really does take two

WheelMates cannot currently be played solo.

Firevolt designed the entire game around two players working together, either through online co-op or shared split-screen. There are no plans for an AI partner or support for groups larger than two.

That restriction allows the puzzles to assume both cars are always available. One player may need to activate something while the other crosses an obstacle, manipulate machinery from opposite sides, or time a maneuver so both cars reach their positions together.

The good news is that only one person needs to own the game. Friend’s Pass launches alongside the Steam version, allowing the second player to join without buying another copy.

Firevolt estimates around six hours to complete the main story and roughly eight hours if you explore thoroughly, find secrets, and play the extra content.

The RC cars keep learning new tricks

Driving is only the starting point.

WheelMates gradually equips both cars with gadgets that change how you move around Professor Bloom’s house.

• Rope swings let the cars grapple and swing across gaps.
• Magnetic wheels open routes across suitable walls and other surfaces.
• Magnet grabs let players interact with objects and puzzle elements from a distance.

That gives the game a light Metroidvania-style structure. The house keeps opening as your toolbox expands, and familiar places can reveal new paths when you return with the right ability.

Cars can also be customized with different colors, wheels, antennas, and horns, while a Supporter Pack adds another car model and extra customization options.

There is a mystery hidden around the house

You can focus on driving and puzzles, but there is more going on in Professor Bloom’s laboratory if you stop poking around.

A Journal gathers story fragments discovered during exploration. Professor voice nodes reveal parts of his life and recent events, scannable objects contain personal notes, and memory cards preserve conversations and arguments from before the house was abandoned.

That makes exploration useful beyond hunting collectibles. The question is not simply where Bloom went, but what he was working on, who else was involved, and why his house is full of strange machinery and experiments.

None of it seems designed to stop two impatient RC cars from charging toward the next puzzle, but curious players have a reason to check the corners.

Release date, price, Friend’s Pass, and consoles

WheelMates launches for PC through Steam on September 1, 2026. Firevolt originally announced September 7 before moving the release forward by almost a week.

The standard price is $19.99, with regional equivalents, and a 10% launch discount is scheduled to run until September 15.

Steam Deck is supported, alongside Steam achievements, online co-op, and local split-screen.

Console editions are coming later. Versions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch are currently planned for the first half of 2027.

More games for RC and co-op fans

Re-Volt itself is the obvious historical comparison, but WheelMates also overlaps with several modern co-op games and miniature racers. Here are some related options currently worth checking on G2A.COM.

More co-op reading on G2A News

• 10 Games Like It Takes Two – more games built around shared progression, puzzles, and teamwork.
• Games Like Split Fiction – Best 2 Player Co-op Games – dedicated co-op adventures where both players actually matter.
• Games Like Portal – more puzzle games built around clever mechanics and problem solving.

WheelMates FAQ

Re-Volt without the finish line

That might be the simplest way to explain why WheelMates looks interesting.

Re-Volt understood that driving a tiny RC car through a huge normal-sized world was fun before the race itself even started. WheelMates takes that idea and asks what happens if you remove the racetrack, add another player, and turn the entire house into one big puzzle box.

Then It Takes Two supplies the other half: mandatory cooperation, different jobs for each player, oversized household spaces, and a steady stream of mechanics designed to make two people actually talk to each other.

It is a surprisingly natural combination.

WheelMates launches on Steam on September 1, 2026. Grab a friend. Preferably one who will admit when missing the jump was their fault.