Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem comes from developer 3DClouds and publisher GameMill Entertainment, and it is a driving game aimed at a younger audience that may just crush some destruction cravings.

“Hot Wheels™ Monster Trucks are ready to catch some wild air and perform insane stunts while smashing and bashing through fantastical arenas in a new game that brings your favorite monster trucks to your fingertips!”

There have already been a couple of really good and recent Hot Wheels-based games with the Hot Wheels Unleashed titles. In those games, you race around some pretty exciting and creative tracks. Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem isn’t about racing though. As the title of the game suggests, this one is about stunts and mayhem… and monster trucks. Pick your starting truck, and you are then unleashed on an arena full of ramps, jumps, and destructible scenery. Instead of trying to complete laps and taking first place, you are given a couple of goals to reach. Pull off stunts to get a high score, destroy a % of the environment, etc.

Clear each arena by hitting the targets given, to you and unlock more monster trucks to drive. Complete specific tasks for each truck and you can unlock new liveries. Keep getting high stunt scores and destroy scenery to unlock new areas and arenas. Take part in boss fights and more. Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem is all about making as much mess as possible, and trying to look good while doing it. The controls are pretty straightforward. Of course, you have your basic accelerate, brake and reverse. But when you go full speed over a jump to get some air, you can perform simple tricks like rotations, flips, etc. Even on the ground you can pull off some stunts, do donuts, wheelies and more. Link stunts to build up your combo meter and go for those high scores.

The destruction part of the game is as simple as just driving your chosen monster truck into (or over) scenery. However, some of your targets may not be quite so easy to get to, and you will often need to take to the air to get to some hard-to-reach places. There’s a good selection of monster trucks to drive, including the legend that is Bigfoot. I have to admit to having a big smile on my face as I drove around in Bigfoot crushing cars and doing jumps. As a kid in the ’80s, I used to watch Bigfoot on TV, so having the opportunity to drive and destroy with a digital version was really great fun.

The gameplay of Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem is quite basic, but there’s a good chunk of trucks and locations to unlock that keeps you coming back for more. The numerous arenas do offer some great variety and while you start in a pretty standard-looking environment of a stadium, you’ll soon be visiting some rather unusual and unique places to test your stunt and destruction skills. Now, while I did say that the gameplay is basic, this does not mean that it isn’t fun. As I said in the intro, Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem is aimed at a younger audience. If you are a hardcore and older gamer, then this will offer you very little challenge. However, for kids, I think there’s a lot of fun to be had. I did try playing this with my son, who is a massive Hot Wheels fan (he even recognised some of the trucks in the game because he has the Hot Wheels version). However, my son is only 4 (very nearly 5) and this was a bit too advanced for him. He did enjoy aimlessly driving around and smashing into things, but being so young, he was not able to understand the goal of the game or how to achieve it. So while this is aimed at a younger audience… 4 (almost 5) is a bit too young. I’d suggest a 10+ age.

Around £35 is how much Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Stunt Mayhem is going to cost and honestly, I can see the attraction. There is a two-player split-screen mode and I think you could have some great parent/child bonding sessions over this game. It is way too easy for older gamers, but if you have a child of just the right age, and they love Hot Wheels, then this game may be worth taking a look at and a fun way to spend some time with the kids.