Bicycle Roguelike Handlebar Announced for PC
The announcement reveals a roguelike that strips out trick mechanics to focus purely on high-speed downhill cycling, with portal-based route selection and risk-reward upgrade choices.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Developer handlebardev announced Handlebar, a first-person downhill cycling roguelike, on August 19. Players race down automatically generated mountain paths, pass through portals to warp between tracks, and collect upgrades attached to the handlebars. The game is in development for PC via Steam, with no release date set.
Handlebar is a first-person downhill cycling game with roguelike structure. Courses are automatically generated, and players can leave the path for shortcuts. Portals ahead warp the rider to another mountain path, and the destination is chosen from multiple routes, with more dangerous options offering greater rewards.
Upgrades are added to the bicycle's handlebars as items, including navigation tools, recovery systems, and defensive devices, with synergy effects from combinations. The faster the player goes, the better the upgrades available. Later stages include situations where slowing down is not allowed, making the upgrade build important. High-difficulty routes include narrow paths, bad weather, pitch darkness, and low gravity.
The game was reported in development on social media in May, and the Steam store page is now live. A life system was initially adopted but has been cut from the display, possibly because slowing down itself becomes a penalty. Handlebar is in development for PC via Steam, with release timing undecided.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.