Otto Simola is product marketing manager for Hill Climb Racing 2 at Fingersoft, the Finnish studio behind one of mobile’s most enduring franchises. 

A decade on, we speak to him about the physics that started it all, how a two-button game keeps growing and what the next decade looks like.

The original Hill Climb Racing began as a physics test coded in a bedroom. Almost fifteen years on, that work still sits at the heart of the sequel.

“That simple idea of two buttons, gas and brake, combined with the vehicle’s air controls, is still there,” says Simola.

The two games have developed separately, with different design principles, but put them side by side and the core mechanics are clearly related. Only one vehicle came straight across: the Hill Climber, which gets extra abilities in HCR2 through its deeper meta-layer of tuning parts.

Simola says two buttons can do more than people expect. Thrusters and jump shocks fire when both pedals are pressed together. Some vehicles get a boost from tapping the brake while holding gas. More recently, extra buttons have arrived for vehicle-specific features and boosters, and players have welcomed them.

“It’s all about playtesting: if some new mechanic feels natural in addition to the old ones, why not add more to that?”

Asked what would surprise the 2016 team most, Simola points to monetisation. HCR2 now offers far more ways to spend, from progress boosts to drivers and vehicle skins.

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