Gearheads

About Gearheads

A strategy video game, Gearheads is played by releasing toys on an arena floor. The goal is to get them to the other side, and prevent the opponent's toys from reaching the player's side. In single-player mode, the player always plays on the right-hand side. Toys are charged while waiting before they are released. They stop when they run out of energy. There are different types of toys, such as robots, Father Christmas, and magicians. Each toy has its own specifications. These include speed, movement pattern (straight, diagonal, or erratic) and special abilities. For example, the Walking Timebomb explodes when it runs out of energy, destroying nearby toys. Deadhead, a skull toy, "scares" toys it comes into contact with so they reverse direction. A chicken toy called Clucketta has the ability to hatch fry toys. Some toys are primarily intended for offence, others for defence. Some are immune to the special abilities of other toys: for example, Big Al (a bulldozer) is unaffected by attacks from Disasteroids (a robot that can also destroy toys, like the Walking Timebomb).

The player can switch between the available toys at any time. Once released, players have no direct control over them, and they do not belong to a player: a toy leaving the arena via the left side scores a point for the player on the right side and vice versa. The first player to score 21 points wins, unless he is only ahead by one point, in which case the game continues until there is a two-point difference. There is an unlimited supply of toys, and they are released in a row in the arena. Toys can be recharged by Handy, a glove toy.

There are four main arenas: kitchen, garden, frozen pond, and factory. The kitchen has no obstacles. The garden's main obstacles are bugs, mud, and rocks. The frozen pond's main obstacles are cracks in the ice which, if crossed over enough times, become holes that destroy toys that fall into them. The factory levels can feature obstacles such as conveyor belts, teleporters, and stoppers. Occasionally, a Powerup Key (a metal winding key) will appear on one side of the arena. When crossed, a power-up is granted to the player on the opposite side. Powerups include a one-shot rocket, being able to release toys from halfway across the arena, and the opponent being unable to release toys. Most powerups last only for a limited time.