Hoverline — A Hovercraft Time-Trial Racer

About Hoverline

Hoverline is a 3D time-trial racer. You fly a hovercraft round a closed circuit against a target time, and the throttle is always open, so all you do is steer. Every corner has a speed limit of its own, and carrying too much into one scrubs the difference off. Beat the target and the next track opens. You can play it in this browser right now.

It is not in a store yet. It is coming to the App Store and Google Play, and until it arrives the browser version is how to play it. There is no download button on this page because there is nothing to download yet.

There are seventeen tracks, each of two or three laps, from an open ring at dusk to a narrow triangle with three hard corners. They get harder by asking for a faster lap, not a longer one. Ramps arrive on the third track and pylons on the fourth. Yellow pads along the road refill your boost and pay coins, and a lit ramp taken at speed launches the craft, which no bend can slow while it is in the air.

Nothing ends a race early. Running wide puts you in the dirt, which is slow until you get back on the road, and clipping a pylon or scraping a wall costs speed rather than the race. Finish outside the target and you still keep every coin. Each track awards a bronze, silver or gold medal for how far inside the target you finish.

Your quickest lap on a track is recorded, and the next time you line up that lap is driven again by a pale ghost, with a split showing how far ahead or behind you are. Rivals mode puts four computer craft on the same circuit, each built from the same garage you buy from, and from the fifth track a bolt fired from your boost tank slows the craft ahead. A rivals race pays coins and changes nothing on the ladder.

Coins come from finishing, from boost pads and from clean laps. In the garage they buy thrust, handling, grip and boost, an ion or pulse thruster, and hulls with more grip. The body, colors, fins and decals are free. The coins cannot be bought, they convert to nothing, and they are not the coins in our reward apps, which come out as PayPal cash.

Screenshots

The title screen: the craft on the track at dusk, with Race, Tracks, Garage, My Craft and Stats

A race on Five Points: lap time, a split against your best, speed, lap count and boost along the top, and the steer and boost buttons below

The garage: thrust, handling, grip and boost upgrades with their prices, and the ion drives below

The track list in Time Trial, with a best time, a target and a medal on each cleared track

How it plays

Steer. Hold the arrows on the screen, or use the arrow keys or A and D. The throttle takes care of itself.
Carry speed through the corners. Too fast into a bend and it scrubs you down to its limit. Grip raises that limit.
Take the pads. Yellow pads refill your boost and pay coins. Hold the boost button, or Space, for a burst of speed.
Launch off the lit ramps. A corner cannot slow a craft that is in the air. Keep to the middle to miss the pylons.
Beat the target. Finish inside it to open the next track, then spend your coins in the garage.

Features

Seventeen 3D circuits, each with a target time and three medals
An always-open throttle, so the whole game is the line you steer
A ghost of your best lap, with a live split against it
A rivals mode with four computer craft and, later, a bolt to fire
Upgrades, two thruster families and four hulls, bought with coins
Three bodies and a paint shop, all free
Twelve badges to earn
No account and no purchases; no ads in the browser version
Progress kept in this browser

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Hoverline on the App Store or Google Play?

Not yet. It's coming to both. Until it lands, you can play it in this browser, free, with nothing to install.

Does Hoverline pay me anything?

No. The coins in it buy upgrades in the garage and nothing else. You earn them by racing; they can't be bought, they convert to nothing, and they're worth nothing outside the game. The apps that do pay are on their own page, at a published rate.

Can you lose a race?

Not really. Nothing ends a race early, and a slow lap still pays its coins. Miss the target time and the next track stays shut until you beat it, which you can try again straight away.

Can I race other people?

Not online. Rivals mode puts four computer-driven craft on the track with you, and every one of them runs on this device. The only other thing to race is your own best lap, which comes back as a ghost.

How do I play it on a computer?

Use the arrow keys or A and D to steer, Space to boost, and F to fire in a rivals race. Click the game once first so it has the keyboard.

Does the browser version have ads?

No. The ad network has no browser version, so there's nothing to show. The store versions will carry a banner on the menus and an optional video after a race that doubles its coins, and nothing in the game will be behind one.

Does it save my progress?

Yes, in this browser. Tracks cleared, best times, ghosts, coins, upgrades and your craft are kept in the browser’s own storage, not in an account, so they don't follow you to another browser or device, and clearing your site data or using a private window loses them.