History VideoGame / HappyWheels

* {{Abandonware}}: It's a Flash game; Adobe no longer supports Flash.

* YourHeadASplode: The last way to die. A decent hit to the head will cause it to explode gloriously.

* Helicopter Man: An obese man in a personal helicopter. There is a magnet (turned on and off with the space bar, moved up and down with Shift and Ctrl) between the landing struts that can be used to pick up objects, including other characters
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See also ''VideoGame/GutsAndGlory'' that originally developed as fan game and plays like a 3D ''Happy Wheels''.

!!This game provides examples of:

* FilkSong: [=JTMachinima=]'s rap [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDJPZkA1Mw "To Victory"]], featuring verses from the perspective of Irresponsible Dad, Pogostick Man, Efficient Shopper, Segway Guy, Lawnmower Man, and Wheelchair Guy.

* InfantImmortality: Averted.

** Played straight in the [=iOS=] version of the game; as of update 1.06, the child characters are now invincible in order to prevent the game's removal from the App Store. (Though the adult characters are not.)

** Level designers [[CompletelyMissingThePoint telling you to Rate their level 5 if you win]] is the rule, not the exception.

* Abandonware: It's a Flash game; Adobe no longer supports Flash.

* RunningGag: The owl in The Astro Avenger, Renaissance Ravager, and Prehistoric Pilgrim. Lampshaded severl times.

The official Flash version of this game is no longer working, as Flash has been discontinued by Adobe. However, an [=HTML5=] version can be played [[https://www.y9freegames.com/game/happy-wheels/ here.]]

The official Flash version of this game is no longer working, as Flash has been discontinued by Adobe. However, an HTML5 version can be played [[https://www.y9freegames.com/game/happy-wheels/ here.]]

* AscendedFanboy: [[LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova UberHaxorNova]], for voicing the Pogostick Man.

[[https://happywheels13.com Happy Wheels Demo Version]]

- The flash version of this game is no longer working, as flash has been discontinued by Adobe. However, HTML 5 version can be played [[https://www.y9freegames.com/game/happy-wheels/ here]].

* Abandonware: It's a flash game. adobe no longer supports flash.

In October 2016, Creator/{{Machinima}} announced their plans to create an animated series based on the game, to premiere in November. The premise is that all the playable characters reside in "the world's most dangerous community", where, as always, everyone is constantly getting violently injured/killed as the heroes attempt to come up with a plan to prevent the mass mayhem from happening. A trailer can be viewed [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RCyEWnT_Nrc here]].

* [[BumblingDad Irresponsible Dad]]: Pictured at right, a man who rides a bicycle with (presumably) his young son riding on the back. [[EnsembleDarkHorse Also seems to be the most popular character.]] Often called [[FanNickname "Bike Guy"]] to fit the ThemeNaming of other characters. Can eject his son as an extra effort to get to the goal, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential to trigger traps]].

In October 2016, WebAnimation/{{Machinima}} announced their plans to create an animated series based on the game, to premiere in November. The premise is that all the playable characters reside in "the world's most dangerous community", where, as always, everyone is constantly getting violently injured/killed as the heroes attempt to come up with a plan to prevent the mass mayhem from happening. A trailer can be viewed [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RCyEWnT_Nrc here]].

* BigOMG: Irresponsible Dad and Moped Girl will cry out "Oh God!" whenever he or she gets split in half.

* CoolButInefficient: Wheelchair Guy is the only character with a rocket attached to his vehicle, but it's way less impressive than it sounds. Unfortunately, all forms of thrust on his wheelchair (including the rocket) is below his center of gravity, so you'll most likely be too busy wobbling and keeping balance whenever you attempt to move in order to effectively avoid obstacles and navigate rough terrain. Therefore, he's suited for advanced players. But if mastered, [[GameBreaker you can fly through entire levels at your leisure]].

* CriticalExistenceFailure: As long as your head's still attached to your body or you're not split in half and part of your body's still steering the vehicle, you can keep going!

* DifficultButAwesome: [[LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova The pogo stick guy]]. His controls are very hard to deal with, and getting him to go where you want him to is a bit of a chore sometimes. However, he is one of only two characters that can actually jump with no outside influence, and he is surprisingly durable while on the pogo stick, especially considering how everyone else is MadeOfPlasticine.
** But then again, he is the only one wearing a full set of [[FridgeBrilliance protective gear.]]

* {{Expy}}: The Moped Couple of Amélie and Nino and [[BumblingDad Irresponsible Dad,]] Lawnmower man of Effective Shopper, Explorer Guy of Indiana Jones, and Santa of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Santa.]]

* FakeDifficulty: Since there's no boundaries to how unfair a user-made level can be, this usually tends to happen as a result. [[ThatOneLevel Hastily crafted 99% Impossible levels]] are especially ''notorious'' for this example.

* InstantWinCondition: One rule always applies here: ''If your main character touches the goal/collects all of the tokens while alive, you win.'' Absolutely no other circumstances prevent this.

* LosingYourHead: Inverted, as this is the most common way to lose. As long as your head is attached to your torso, you can control your character and pass the finish line (provided you haven't been split in half and died from that). Note that this applies only to the driver; the vehicle (and passengers for the Irresponsible Dad and Moped Couple) need not be present to win.

* LuckBasedMission: 99% impossible levels. There is no strategy to getting pass the harpoons other than being really lucky.

* OwMyBodyPart: Wheelchair Guy will exclaim about his leg, should it get injured. Same goes with Pogostick Man's arm and foot.

* SelfImposedChallenge:
** Playing through levels as the Moped Couple usually counts. The moped's high weight makes it difficult to maneuver, and it usually can't be flipped over once it's upside down (at least without killing its riders). Its density makes the riders exceptionally prone to being ripped in half by sudden jolts. Expect any level forcing them to be HarderThanHard.
** Here's something to try out: find one of those Pogostick Man "Harpoon dodge" levels with multiple stages, and try to get impaled at least once every round without dying in the process.

* SturgeonsLaw: In the early days of the game people would actually make real levels where the objective was to reach the end. Nowadays you will find the game populated mostly by guns, skeeball-type games, and "Kill Music/JustinBieber", with the platforming-type levels few and far between. And most of the ones that ''are'' platforming are the nearly-identical "99% Impossible" levels with Pogostick Man. Moderators have, however, recently begun making a token effort to try to avert this.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: The Space Bar Ability of the Explorer Guy, the ability to attach to rails, can only be used if rails are made available and under no other circumstances. In all other instances he's slow, clumsy, top-heavy, and thoroughly useless.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The Irresponsible Dad. There is even a popular kind of level where the dad is required to slam dunk the child like a basketball.

* ShoutOut: Some of the more popular levels are based on [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]], and ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}''.

* LetsPlay: There are several [=LPs=] of the game on Website/YouTube, notably done by [[LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova UberHaxorNova]], LetsPlay/PewDiePie, LetsPlay/{{Sips}}, daneboe, Creator/{{Tobuscus}}, LetsPlay/WatchGirlsPlay, and LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}}.
** WebVideo/OMFGCata adds his own "Best Of" from a livestream [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-DbYcJYRl8 here]].
** LetsPlay/JackSepticEye has a series of one hundred gameplay videos [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl3MiR7XXAM&list=PLMBYlcH3smRzXGvi1NxF4qIXOWh9R_qbw here.]]

* AnnoyingArrows

* SelfImposedChallenge: Playing through levels as the Moped Couple usually counts. The moped's high weight makes it difficult to maneuver, and it usually can't be flipped over once it's upside down (at least without killing its riders). Its density makes the riders exceptionally prone to being ripped in half by sudden jolts. Expect any level forcing them to be HarderThanHard.

[[https://www.freegames66.com/happy-wheels Happy Wheels Demo Version]]

* AscendedFanboy: [[LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova UberHaxorNova]], for voicing the Pogo Stick Man.

* BigOMG: Irresponsible Dad or Irresponsible Mom will cry out "Oh God!" whenever he or she breaks their spine.

* ButtMonkey: The Irresponsible Dad's son (and occasionally the woman on the moped and Santa's elves) are often viewed as targets to abuse for hilarity, or merely to set off traps which may kill the main character. The son, for example, can go flying quite far and is great for disarming harpoon traps.

* CrowningMomentOfIndifference: Whenever the son of the Irresponsible Dad is killed, his only reaction is a flat and only slightly irritated 'dammit'. He sounds like he just lost a 5-dollar bet instead of seeing his son get horribly butchered! He's still better than the Irresponsible Mom though, as she doesn't react at all when her children are killed.
** The man of the Moped Couple doesn't even react when his wife/girlfriend gets killed. The wife, however, says "WHYYYYY!?" in a [[LargeHam Large Ham]] manner if the man is killed.
** There's also the case of Santa and the elves. The elves don't react when one of them dies, but when an elf is killed, Santa lets out a jolly "Ho ho ho!"

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: One user-created level "The Torture Gallery" featured a variety of horrific tortures, with the last one being a kid getting spanked.
** Some of the Saw levels fit under this trope. One of these levels had a woman who raped your child, a guy who stole all of your money, and [[DisproportionateRetribution a man who used your toilet without permission.]]
* ArtEvolution: Version 1.6 adds realistic gore to the mix. Now the blood looks more like blood instead of red confetti.

* BoomHeadshot: One way to die. There's a sweetspot in each character's head that, if in contact with a blade, will kill you instantly.

* ButtMonkey: The Irresponsible Dad's son (and occasionally the woman on the moped and Santa's elves) are often either abused for hilarity, or used merely to set off traps which may kill the main character. The son can go flying quite far and is great for disarming harpoon traps.

* ChunkySalsaRule: A variation of the rule: [[OffWithHisHead You only lose control of your character if he or she is decapitated]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe or (after a few seconds) if he or she gets ripped in half.]] Until then, crossing the finish line by any means will count as a success, even if you lose other parts of your body or your vehicle and shimmy down to the finish VideoGame/{{QWOP}}-style. In the case of couple characters, this only applies to the driver.

* HiveMind: While playing as any of the characters that include two people, you control both, but you only notice it when the passenger is off the vehicle.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Due to the way physics work in this game, it's possible for characters to eject from their vehicle... With the latter sometimes winding up crushing its owner to death afterwards ! For example, the Lawnmower Man can get shredded by his own mower, the Effective Shopper crushed by her groceries, and the Helicopter Man blended by his propeller.

* InstantWinCondition: One rule always applies here: ''If your main character touches the goal while alive, you win.'' Absolutely no other circumstances prevent this.
** And some levels don't even need your main character to be alive; this mostly shows up in ball throws, where your own ''severed head'' can land in the victory slot and trigger a win, as well as "heart donation" levels.

** LetsPlay/JackSepticEye has a series of nearly a hundred gameplay videos [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl3MiR7XXAM&list=PLMBYlcH3smRzXGvi1NxF4qIXOWh9R_qbw here.]]

* {{Plagiarism}}: while the game itself doesn't plagiarize anything, it happens [[InUniverse in-universe ]] with some of the levels being outright copies of other levels. Most common in rope swings, jet falls, and the infamous stair levels.
** 99% Impossible missions are all pretty much the same, "jump over a huge wall to a bunch of harpoons and get lucky."
** Bottle runs, pogo levels, and throwing levels are prime targets for plagiarism.

* CrowningMomentOfIndifference: Whenever the son of the Irresponsible Dad is killed, his only reaction is a flat and only slightly irritated 'dammit'. He sounds like he just lost a 5-dollar bet instead of seeing his son get horribly butchered!

** Inverted in the mobile version, since you can no longer kill the son nor even hurt him. He can still activate harpoons, but he is immortal in every manner.

* BigOMG: Irresponsible Dad will cry out "Oh God!" whenever he breaks his spine.