Nidhogg creator's open-world cycling sim Wheel World lets you ride a hotdog around a Moebius-coded N

I hadn't fully appreciated how expansive's, uh, world is, until I watched its new trailer revealed during the . But this latest showcase of developer Messhof's open world cycling sim demonstrates just how vast and varied Wheel World's landscapes are. There isn't long to wait before you can explore them yourself either, as the game launches this July.

The trailer's opening shot is a Breath of the Wild-ish panorama of rolling fields on a distant peninsula, stone windmills visible between the trees of the forest your character Kat cycles through. Later, there are glimpses of orange groves, snowy mountain passes, idyllic, Mediterranean-inspired villages, and a futuristic metropolis that reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077's Night City—its dark, moody skyscrapers illuminated by neon signage.

It's a hugely inviting virtual space, all elevated by Wheel World's vivid, Moebius-inspired art-style. As for what you do in this world, well, you only save the universe through your own elite cycling prowess. Kat's on a mission to find "Legendary" parts to her bicycle which have been stolen by some unknown miscreant (It was probably a unicyclist. Those single-wheeled weirdos are always up to no good). These are [[link]] needed to perform the [[link]] great shift ritual that will prevent Wheel World from collapsing.

Along the way, you'll meet other groups of cyclists that you can challenge to races, which vary in terms of length and difficulty, and feature optional side-objectives built in, These include collecting the letters of Kat's name, in a respectful nod to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

The trailer also features a rapid-fire montage of Wheel World's extensive bike customisation system, which lets you reassemble your bicycle with different wheels, frames, pedals, chains, handlebars, and so forth. While it looks neat, most of it isn't relevant to me, because I'm of course going to spend the entire game riding around with a bike designed to resemble a giant hot dog. If there's a better customisation option than that in Wheel World, then helmets off to Messhof.

Wheel World launches on July 23. There's a demo, which lets you [[link]] explore the opening area, get into a few races and familiarise yourself with the game's Portaloo-based fast-travel system. Yes, you read that correctly.

Check out