FutureGrind is simple to play, but difficult to master. It is a game about precision and perfection. Imagine that Trials and Uniracers had a baby, but then that baby was raised by its uncle, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. In FutureGrind, you must navigate your futuristic vehicle through a series of increasingly difficult tracks to become the master of this new sport. You grind rails, pull flips, and complete challenges to climb further and further up the ladder. There is an underlying, more sinister situation happening with the sport though. . . and you need to progress to uncover the mystery.

Developer: Milkbag Games

Publisher: Milkbag Games

8 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $19.99

FutureGrind plays like a “Runner.” You don’t have to push forward to move, and you don’t control the speed of the vehicle; it just goes on its own. There are only two main controls: jump and spin (in the air). You’ll use these to navigate a futuristic motorcycle-type vehicle through tracks made of rails. The goal is to grind these rails in different ways to make it to the end. Sounds simple enough, right?

It is; the game does start fairly simple. You jump from rail to rail, grinding and flipping your way to victory. One of the strongest aspects of this game is how good the controls feel. Doing what you want to do becomes second nature, especially when you learn a track. “I know I can jump twice to get a 720 flip here and land right into a hang-grind before transferring to the next rail…”. FutureGrind makes you feel like a pro, and it is an awesome feeling.

Hang Grinds are the hardest to land but feel so satisfying.

New features are introduced as the game progresses. One of the first introductions, which becomes a mainstay for the rest of the game, is that the rails and your wheels become color-coded. You can only touch a rail with a wheel of the same color; you will die instantly if your wheel color doesn’t match the rail it is touching. This adds a whole new layer to how you’re able to progress through a level. Your paths and spins matter now. Then, the game ads even more obstacles. For example, there are orbs that will launch you for an extra jump when you touch them and zones that change the color of your wheel or the track.

Each track has three challenges. The first is always to just get to the end. Here, you can also go for a high score, earning a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum trophy. The additional challenges are more punishing. For example, some tracks you need to complete with only touching one color of rail the whole time and others require you to rack up a 25x score multiplier before reaching the finish. There are also multiple vehicles, which each have their own movements. One has a triple-jump, where another can spin faster. You are not able to choose your vehicle per track, so this also adds to the difficulty – no using the triple-jump bike to breeze through every level.

900 Frontflip! Better not hit that white rail below, though – those reset your score multiplier.

Get ready to die a lot. FutureGrind can get to Super Meat Boy levels of dying and retrying a level. There were some challenge tracks that took me over 50 tries to get perfect. However frustrating it became, I just couldn’t put it down. It felt so good to play, and I just knew I could best it. I had to keep going. And when I finally did succeed at a precision-perfect run, oh man, that feeling is why I play games.

The excellent soundtrack and visuals help keep it from becoming stale as well. Even on my 50th run of a level, I felt more in the zone than annoyed. The pumping electronic music helps suck you in along with the neon glow of the wheels and rails. The backgrounds and the menus are simple, but they don’t take away from the experience. Also, the devs included accessibility options, like a colorblind mode, so you can change up the colors if needed.

This bike is one of the more difficult to control but was so much fun to maneuver.

Despite this being a precision-based Runner, there is actually a decent story. All of the narrative is told via text before each level. You have the standard tale of an up-and-coming competitor making their way through the ranks of this new sport, with the goal of becoming the ultimate champion or whatever. Nothing new there. However, at one point your terminal (which acts as your level menu) is hacked and you are requested to find a glitch on the track. Who is this person? Why and how are they asking me to find exploits in a racing track? I was immediately intrigued.

Honestly, I would have loved this game just as much if there was no story at all. The gameplay and feedback loops were enough to keep me coming back. The intriguing narrative was a nice cherry on top, though. Not only was I excited to open and master the next track, but I also wanted to know where the story was going. I liked that they injected some mystery and narrative this experience.

Hmmm, not sure if I should trust someone who makes my screen fuzzy.

FutureGrind was a blast to play. I found myself hooked almost immediately. Chasing the perfect run on a course, using the precise and simple controls. . . it was all so much fun. The music, visuals, and story were great additions that helped elevate it. Milkbag Games made a perfect version of this type of game, and it should be experienced by anyone who enjoys these type of difficult, precision-based platformers. I loved it!

As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments! Check out our top 3 Games of the Year to see what took home the prize for 2018 and my review of Rain World. If you want to keep seeing ad-free content like this, please consider donating via Ko-Fi and Patreon. As volunteers, we appreciate all the support! Also, find us on Discord, Twitter, and our subreddit!