Turbo Boats

Turbo Boats is a cartoon powerboat racer seen from above a bright summer harbour. The water runs from shoal turquoise at the quay wall to deep blue down the middle of the channel, sun glitter skips across the swell, gulls wheel over the piers, and your boat leaves a churn of foam that spreads and fades behind you. The camera follows the hull, so the harbour swings past whether you play in portrait on a phone or in landscape on a desktop.

Boats are not cars. Ease the wheel over and the hull keeps its momentum, slides wide and bites again as the bow comes round, which makes every corner a decision about how early to lift. Pairs of red and green buoys mark the course, and a clean pass down the middle of a gate tops up the turbo meter — miss one and two seconds go on your time until you swing back and take it properly. Shoal water drags the hull, timber piers and slow-moving cargo ships stop it dead, and floating ramps throw you clear of the water for a landing that pays out another slice of boost.

Three courses run three laps each. Harbour Sprint is wide and fast, round a lighthouse and under the cranes. Canal Chase is a narrow run between stone quays, moored dinghies and low bridges. Open Sea trades walls for a reef, long swells and the longest straights in the game. Race the four rivals for a place on the results board, or take the Time Trial alone against the ghost of your quickest run — your best times and best laps are kept on your own device. Arrows or WASD on a keyboard, on-screen buttons or drag steering on a phone.