Coffin Dodgers was developed by Milky Tea Studios and published by Wales Interactive. It was released on Xbox One on May 6th, 2016 and is priced for $11.99 /£9.59. It is also available on PC and PS4.
Coffin Dodgers is a true traditional cart style racing game featuring elderly characters riding mobile scooters. You find yourself in the lazy retirement village of Sunny Pines. The residents are finally free of their daily grind of working and are found living out their days in peace and tranquility. Unfortunately this is where Mr. Grim Reaper decides to hang his scythe and reap as many souls as possible from these geriatric inhabitants. You find yourself racing for your life in this fun and fast paced chaotic racing game. My husband Xenmic and I played this together and we both provided input about what we enjoyed and disliked.
What We enjoyed:
Grab a friend - If you are looking for a fun and quirky game to play with your friends and family this is definitely a winner. Racing against death is a quirky yet fun premise for a game involving pensioners driving pimped out scooters. This game will have you laughing and crying as well as raging a little at all the road blocks and bumps in the road. Multiplayer mode in games is one of the deciding factors whether or not it will become part of my gaming library and this is one that will be added for sure. ~ Xenmic
Pleasing to the eye: The colorful maps and textures throughout the entire streets of Sunny Pines really put you in the driver seat! With so many things to look at and avoid it makes concentrating on the task at hand a challenge for sure. In addition to great visuals there are flying saucers, roaming sheep, and racing police cars to distract you while trying to knock you off your scooter. There is also an explore mode where you can free roam at your leisure through the streets and visit all of the areas in this lazy retirement town. ~ CuteLibrarian
Ready, Set, Go! - Once you get past the tutorial the ease of learning how to play makes this game fun and the time flies by. You can play in single player mode to beat death or take on death in local co-op with 2-4 friends or family. Challenge yourself with the 3D open world “Crazy Granddad” mode where you take on challenges and missions to collect random items all over Sunny Pines village, and a quick race mode to just “kill” some time. You have seven elderly but rambunctious characters to choose from to race your way to beating death. Beat all the levels to unlock Grim Reaper for an even faster paced race and beat the game using Grim Reaper to unlock an alternate ending. During each race you gain XP, which converts to cash, by hitting traffic cones, bales of hay and of course by annihilating Zombies that dare cross your scooters path. Depending on where you place in each race will determine how much coin and XP you collect and then can be used to pimp out your mobile scooter to leave your competition in the dust.
There are 4 mini maps and 3 races in each map, leading up to the boss race which incorporates all four maps. The road ways and paths you take your scooter on will change during those 3 races within each of those mini-maps of the village, taking you on different path to your end destination. Be aware if you do not place in the top three of each race Death will take your soul. ~ Xenmic
What We disliked:
Tutorial? - Tutorials are always a welcome addition in any game so you have an understanding of the gameplay, mechanics and just to get a feel for what you are about to embark on. I found the tutorial to be much harder than the actual game itself. It felt constrictive in movement, very small with the race way area being too short to stretch your legs or rev your engine. The tutorial would have been a better use of time if your character were put in a racing scenario while new obstacles, obstructions, and weapons were added as you progress in the race, while receiving a prompt at the same time to explain the next progression. The three short tutorial maps were hard to figure out where you were suppose to go and what exactly your objectives were. ~ CuteLibrarian
Stuck with it - In a Mario-Kart style you have the option to pick up weapons and abilities as you drive through brief cases with questions marks which are evenly spaced around the track. You are given random items such as an Uzi, rocket launchers, a safety bubble, speed boost, and other weapons of destruction. You quickly discover which weapons are more effective but you must use your random pick up before you can pick up another. One upside to this is you can upgrade this feature to hold more than one slot so you can push the “Y” button to pick which one you wish to use first. ~Xenmic
Is that it? - This game is fun to play with others but found there is not enough story mode or maps. It is also a short game as it can be beat in 2 hours playing through the story mode. The story should have had more of a quirky back story about the characters of this lazy village and why Reaper chose this town to reap souls. Or have Rudolf save his beloved Martha from Grim Reapers deathly clutches! Having said that I did enjoy the story mode aspect and glad there was an option for different modes in single player.
A better music selection would have been nice as the music in the game was repetitive and rather annoying as you are racing around the track at super speeds. Although Coffin Dodgers is a fast paced, chaotic racing game the music is a bit overpowering at times. ~ CuteLibrarian
Overall Coffin Dodgers is a great multiplayer game with lots of twists and turns that will keep you on your toes that will push you to the limit to beat Death at any cost! The multiplayer aspect is great but this game missed the mark by not having online multiplayer capabilities. This game is a must to play and you will not be disappointed with the ease of play with the spunky geriatric pensioners beating Death theme! Also it is an easy gamer score if you are into achievement hunting!
CuteLibrarian’s Rating: 3/5
Xenmic's Rating: 4/5