Twelve O'Clock

Twelve O'Clock is a wheelie game set on a summer avenue lined with brick rowhouses, marble stoops and corner stores. Hold to open the throttle and lift the front wheel, let go to bring it down, and steer between the city traffic. The dial at the bottom of the screen shows your angle. Keep the needle in the green, right around twelve o'clock: go past it and you loop it, ease off too much and the front drops and the wheelie ends.

You never ride alone. The pack rides out with you, dirt bikes and a quad pulling their own wheelies in the next lanes, and the police helicopter hangs over the avenue the whole time. The block comes out to watch: ride past the people on the stoops and the corners on the back wheel and they go up, arms in the air, and your points go up with them.

The longer you hold a wheelie, the bigger the multiplier, up to ×10, and the sweet spot pays double. Near misses pay extra, double on oncoming cars, and they chain. A wheelie's points only bank when you land it, so every long one is a gamble. Bail and you'll see it all go wrong in slow motion.

Ride out as long as you like, work through 60 rides named for streets from North Avenue to Druid Hill, each with three stars to earn, or take on the daily challenge, where everyone gets the same road, the same traffic and the same weather. A hot afternoon, golden hour, a summer storm, streetlights after dark, a hazy Sunday morning and a full thunderstorm each change the light and the mood.

Spend your winnings in the garage on seven machines, from the little Pit 110 everyone starts on, through two-stroke and four-stroke dirt bikes, a supermoto and a silent electric, to the Brute 400 quad. Tune the engine, clutch, chassis and tyres, spray it in candy, chrome or oil-slick paint, and pick your fit: white tee, hoodie, track suit, fitted cap, ski mask, durag or an MX helmet.

It's all real-time 3D, with a ringing two-stroke engine synthesised live and a Baltimore club beat. Play it in portrait or landscape with touch, mouse or keyboard.