There's a short demo for Wheel World available on Steam, but it doesn't really show off the scope of this surrealist adventure. Earlier this year, I got a chance to go a little deeper with an extended demo of this open-world racing game. After a half-hour, I was hooked.

Wheel World starts with you waking up in the forest. There is no explanation of how you arrived in this world (or the forest), but there's a strange building nearby with a bunch of large pipes running out the sides. Investigating, you find a janky old bike and a ghost — or more accurately, an immortal bike daemon. Skully, as the floating, flaming skull is known, is tasked with bringing souls to the moon and moving Wheel World forward. The thing is, all of his good bike parts have been stolen, and his rider has passed on. Skully needs you to help him out.

Putting the metaphysical weight of the world on your shoulders right from the start might seem like a heavy lift, but the Wheel World narrative manages it nicely. Skully has a few text-heavy info dumps early on, but the game quickly shifts into making those optional. You can usually learn more about Wheel World from key characters (and locations), but you can also skip those bits if you just want to get on with the action.

The action in Wheel World is all about biking, and this is one aspect that the developers have already nailed. It almost sounds odd to describe it as feeling "accurate," since I'm using an Xbox controller instead of sitting on a real bike, but that's exactly how Wheel World feels when racing down its hills, across the beaches, or catching air off a ramp. While I'm far from a professional, I've spent plenty of time riding across San Francisco on a bicycle, and the way the bike in Wheel World moves and reacts just feels right.

The first island in Wheel World is essentially a tutorial island that sets up the story and introduces you to your first race. Racing is key to building up your rep in the game, and rep is needed to progress.

Winning each race is obviously a goal, but there are also secondary goals that give you a reason to be creative when racing, or to replay a race if you missed them on the first go-round. For example, you may need to collect letters that are only accessible by hitting ramps during the race. Completing the secondary goals can grant additional rep and/or bike parts.

Bike parts, which can also be found or bought throughout Wheel World, are ways to upgrade your ride for better handling and performance. Some parts are better for specific areas, so you'll want to swap out parts as needed. For example, if you're racing on streets, commuter tires are great, but in other cases, you may want to use off-road tires. Thankfully, swapping out parts is a very quick activity (open the options menu and get it done). Your end goal is to recover all of Skully's legendary bike parts, rebuild the ultimate ride, and travel down the Sewer of Spirits.

Strategically placed Bell Shrines provide additional bits of the story, increase your total boost gauge, and add new locations to your map. The tutorial island only has a single Bell Shrine, but once you move onto Tramonto, there are multiple shrines to find across the four regions.

While the initial island is small, Wheel World quickly opens up for exploration and discovery. To help ensure you don't get bogged down, Portal Johns are scattered throughout. These special porta-potties tap into the Sewer of Spirits and allow you to fast travel to any previously discovered Portal John.

If you think porta-potties as a fast-travel option sounds weird, don't. It's one of those things that works in context thanks to the smart writing in Wheel World. The narrative team has done a solid job of weaving in cycling and related terms to the dialogue. It's all part of the game's charm, at least in the early stages. I can't speak to later parts of the game, but in the initial bits the dialogue often had me smiling.

An open question about Wheel World is how well developed the areas are once you get through the initial stages. Do the missions and side gigs stay interesting? Do they end up feeling repetitive? What is the real story behind Wheel World anyway? Is this real life? Is it purgatory?

All I can say at this point is that I already miss my time with Wheel World. I can't wait to get my hands on the full version. It's clear that the core gameplay elements are solid, so if the whole game holds up to first impressions, Wheel World promises to provide one exciting ride.