Spotted On Test: King of the Road

arcadehero July 12, 2019 4

[Thanks to Jdevy for the tip]

DISCLAIMER: The following product may change drastically from what you see below OR it may not be released at all. It is a prototype product going through testing and is subject to change or cancellation without any notice. Potential buyers, please do not contact your distributor about it yet, as they will not have any information to share beyond what you’ll read in this post. 

I’m not sure what it is about late Friday, but it seems to be the time when I receive interesting tips on new arcade games that are currently on test.

Let’s jump right into it. King of the Road is essentially an indie game originally  developed by Wyatt Bushnell (a son of Nolan Bushnell) and Mike Salyh for the Two Bit Circus in Los Angeles. The official website for it is here; It’s essentially a party game, kind of like those endless runner style games on mobile, but much crazier as you have up to 8 cars fighting to be the last car ‘standing’ on the road. Per the description:

King of the Road is a fast-paced, casual racing game for up to 8 players. Dodge oncoming traffic, ramp over obstacles, and bump your friends off the road. Do you have what it takes to be crowned King of the Road?

While I had assumed that the concepts developed at Two Bit Circus might stick to that venue, it appears that others in the industry have taken notice, particularly where King of the Road is concerned. Today’s news is sourced from this post to Imgur with the title “King of the Road by Adrenaline Amusements,” it’s impossible to judge from this photo alone whether or not it really is an AA game, although I would assume that whoever took the photo and posted it played the game, where they likely saw their logo. So, we can assume for now that it’s an AA game; I did send an e-mail to a contact I have at the company, but given the late hour, I might not get an answer until Monday.

Here’s the pic, then some comments. Also note that where this is a location test, the final production design of the cabinet will likely change.

This new, potentially commercial model varies a little from the version seen at Two Bit Circus. The cabinet is similar in several ways, but with some changes/improvements. The top portion would be the biggest change, with lights along the monitor, the new marquee (which does have an art style similar to what Adrenaline’s done before), LED lighting behind the wheel, which with the simple art makes the control panel more vibrant. The screen appears to be smaller (I’d guess it’s 65″), while the bottom portion looks about the same.

I’m not sure what location this is – while it is definitely an FEC, it doesn’t appear to be a Dave & Busters or a Round 1 due to the mural. Does anyone know of a place that has a huge mural of the Pac-Man ghosts? 😛

For some opinion, I like the idea of big party games. While such games are certainly more for FECs than the street locations, for an arcade with the space and budget, it makes for a unique bit of fun when you have specifically tailored multiplayer titles like this around. I haven’t played it so I can only say that it looks like fun, but I’ve long seen that multiplayer is where the strength of modern arcades games is at, as opposed to single player fare.

We’ll have to wait and see for more info, but based on what we know so far, what do you think about King of the Road?

4 Comments »

  1. mrjbrpg July 12, 2019 at 9:39 pm - Reply

    An 8 player arcade game? That is not a king fish game cabinet? That sounds like a great attraction ever since Tank 8 and Sprint 8.

  2. Dustin Wilcox July 13, 2019 at 3:43 am - Reply

    I don’t know what the gameplay is like (obviously), but I’m tentatively excited…for some funny reasons, actually. First of all, love that this is eight-players on one cabinet. And weirdly enough, I’m beyond excited that this is the first “upright driver” we’ve gotten in years. Can’t wait to see more.

  3. Mike July 21, 2019 at 12:23 pm - Reply

    Paragon Arcade – Hull, Massachusetts

  4. Tony Gemmink July 23, 2019 at 2:37 am - Reply

    On the website i have found this

    WHERE TO PLAY
    Two Bit Circus Micro Amusement Park
    634 Mateo Street
    Los Angeles, CA 90021

    Paragon Boardwalk Arcade
    189-197 Nantasket Ave
    Nantasket Beach, MA 02045

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