WheelMates Beginner Guide: First Hour With Two RC Cars

Before you press Play

• Decide local or online first. Split-screen needs two controllers on one PC (keyboard plus pad also works). Online needs the owner to host and the partner to join with an invite code, either with their own copy or the free Friend’s Pass. The full co-op setup guide covers both.
• Pick your base colour at the start. It is the one cosmetic choice you make before the game; wheels, antennas and horns are found in the house later (customization).
• Open the settings once. Follow camera or free camera, steering sensitivity and throttle response are all adjustable, and Firevolt recommends experimenting before the first level. Players who found the demo twitchy say the release handling is easier, but the RC feel is the whole game, so tune it to taste now.
• Have a voice channel. There is no in-game voice chat. Discord for online, or the same couch.

The tutorial (about 6 minutes)

Professor Bloom’s opening message ends with both of you putting on neuro helmets; then the game teaches, in order:

1. Drive: right trigger forward, left stick to steer, left trigger to brake and reverse.
2. Sync press: two buttons that must be pressed at the same moment. The right stick honks, and honking is how pairs count each other in.
3. Jump (A on an Xbox pad). Time it at the edge of the platform, and strafe or slow down mid-air with the triggers.
4. Brake on landing (B). Platforms are short and the car keeps rolling; the jump also needs a moment to recharge, so the rhythm is jump, brake, wait, jump.
5. Roll over by holding a left button when you land on your side, and teleport back from the prompt after a long fall.
6. Self-destruct from the pause menu if the car is wedged (“I’m stuck”).
7. Headlights on Y for the dark vent that leads to the transit gate.

The transit gate is a wormhole between levels. You get scanned, the map shows the house, and the Kitchen loads. See the controls page for the full button list.

Your first level: the Kitchen loop

The Kitchen teaches the loop the whole game runs on:

• Collect Neuro-Cores (yellow orbs). A local capacitor shows how many you have banked in the sector. The professor needs “full sync plus enough cores” to override the house security and open the basement door.
• Run the sync tracks. These winding race tracks sync your helmets to his system; drive them to the end to progress.
• Scan things. The scanner (a prompt appears near objects) harvests data into the Journal: a napkin sketch, a newspaper article, notes. None of it is required; all of it counts for achievements.
• Find the Grapple. The first gadget is in the Kitchen. Aim with D-pad up, fire with the left bumper, and pull levers by reversing while latched. Two levers means both cars pull at once.
• Avoid the green sludge. BH-19 byproduct destroys the car instantly. Stay above it.

The full route is in the Kitchen walkthrough.

Five habits that save time

1. Read the top-right objective when it changes. “Reach the highlighted zones” means two cars on two pads, not one car twice.
2. When you find a mechanism with two stations, split it. One car drives the lift or crane, the other rides it. Say out loud which one you are.
3. A blue magnet symbol or a metal ceiling you cannot use is a later gadget. Note it, move on, come back after the Garage or the Neuro-Void.
4. Play the mini-games when you see them. Tag and Coin Rush pickups are optional and count toward an achievement.
5. Slow is faster. The most common complaint in reviews is losing control at speed in vents and on ledges. Feather the trigger.

What comes next

Kitchen → Hallway → Garage → Neuro-Void: Fragments → Shed → Backyard. The walkthrough hub links each level and the levels page shows what each unlocks. Budget about 6 hours for the story and 8 with everything, per Firevolt’s launch FAQ.