Garfield Kart

About

Garfield Kart is go-kart racing game which bears many similarities to Nintendo's Mario Kart series. Following the its release on the 3DS and the Steam store in 2015, the game was widely mocked online for its unimaginative gameplay, low production value and poorly designed mechanics.

History

On November 7th, 2013, Garfield Kart was released for the PC, Mac, iOS and Android platforms. Developed by Artefacts Studios and published by Microids, in the game, the player controls one of many characters from the Garfield franchise while racing go-kart vehicles around various tracks. In the summer of 2015, the game was released on Steam^[4] and on the Nintendo 3DS.

Online Presence

Let's Play Videos

On October 17th, 2015, YouTuber Jim Sterling uploaded a video titled "Garfield Kart – Oh Just Shit Right Off," in which he pays the Steam version of the game (shown below, left). On January 5th, 2016, YouTuber OfficialNerdCubed uploaded another Garfield Kart gameplay video (shown below, right).

Steam Sale

On December 22nd, 2015, the /r/steamsaledetectives^[3] subreddit was launched for investigations into rumors regarding the 2015 Winter Steam Sale. On December 31st, Destructoid^[2] reported that Valve had hidden a new alternate reality game (ARG) within the sale. After a /r/steamsaledetective user joked that Valve hid secrets within the game Garfield Kart, many began joking that it was the key to solving the sale's ARG.^[5] On January 2nd, 2016, the /r/dankgarfieldkartmemes^[6] subreddit was created. The following day, the Garfield Kart Wiki^[1] was created in reference to the Steam sale joke.

Reception

On July 6th, 2015, the Nintendo news site Nintendo Life^[7] published a review of Garfield Kart, giving the game 3/10 stars and describing it as "a bland, horribly un-balanced Kart game." On September 1st, the gaming news site Hardcore Gamer^[8] gave Garfield Kart a rating of 1.5, criticizing the game as "absolutely dreadful." On August 15th, 2015, YouTuber Haedox uploaded a review video titled "Garfield Kart: The Worst Game Ever?" (shown below).

Furious Racing Release

On November 7th, 2019, an unexpected sequel, Garfield Kart: Furious Racing^[9] released in Europe, with a November 19th release date planned for the United States. The game will be available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch (launch trailer shown below).

User Setzeri posted a review saying the game was exactly the same as the first with an unnecessary online multiplayer mode (shown below, left). User @PsychEyeball echoed this complaint, saying it was essentially a reskin with 4 new tracks added since the last game (shown below, right). The game currently has a score of 96% on Steam,^[10] but this is largely thanks to ironic positive reviews that have referred to the game as a "Magnum Opus." One review wrote of the game, "Masterful piece of work that explores an ensemble of characters in their competition for power during the Vietnam War."

Search Interest

External References