The game is Phantom Spark, a stylish time-trial racing game developed by Jonatan Van Hove and Torfi Sgeirsson, an independent game development duo. Jonatan's successful 2021 title NUTS introduced them to each other.
“I had been working on a prototype vehicle controller,” says Torfi.
“figuring out the physics of how the vehicle should behave; how it should move, jump, and collide. I landed on a version that I thought was pretty promising and decided to continue evolving that prototype. And that became Phantom Spark.”
While playtesting early track designs, Torfi and Jonatan became aware that they had found something special.
“We found ourselves passing the controller back and forth,” says Jonatan.
“not actually racing against each other, but competing to shave milliseconds off each other’s best time. It was compelling and convinced us that we could build a game around constantly improving and learning to be a better driver.”
The player can race against champions and the "ghost" of their last attempt on each track endlessly.
“I had been working on a prototype vehicle controller,” says Torfi.
“figuring out the physics of how the vehicle should behave; how it should move, jump, and collide. I landed on a version that I thought was pretty promising and decided to continue evolving that prototype. And that became Phantom Spark.”
While playtesting early track designs, Torfi and Jonatan became aware that they had found something special.
“We found ourselves passing the controller back and forth,” says Jonatan.
“not actually racing against each other, but competing to shave milliseconds off each other’s best time. It was compelling and convinced us that we could build a game around constantly improving and learning to be a better driver.”
The player can race against champions and the "ghost" of their last attempt on each track endlessly.