Mad Trails

Summary

If you’re after a fun, fairly deceptively challenging monster truck game where you’ll get to upgrade a battered, rusty old monster truck into an off-road weapon that could give Gravedigger a run for its money, Mad Trails is worth a go.

While the graphics admittedly look super simple at first glance, you’ll soon realize that holding the accelerator (D key) does much more than just move you forward. Under full throttle, the rear squats and the nose lifts, helping the huge, spongy tires get you over the next rock.

Press the brake (A key), and the weight shifts forward, which can save a landing or send the truck onto its roof. Since there’s only two buttons to think about, you’ll (hopefully) get used to the inputs within seconds. Getting the timing right is what matters most.

If you think you can fool the game by crawling along at a snail pace to avoid crashing, you’ll soon regret it. Throughout the run, your fuel drains fast, requiring you to get to the next (of four) fuel refill checkpoints while rough landings chip away at the truck’s health.

While a successful roll over earns a cheeky $50, if you stay upside down for too long, the automatic reset takes half the coins from your run. So, unlike some monster truck games where flipping is actively encouraged, you’ll probably think twice about whether the fiddy-buck bonus is worth the effort here.

Getting safely across the finish provides cash that you’ll put towards Tires, “Hull” (uhh… frame?), Engine, Protection, and Fuel Tank upgrades. There aren’t any new trucks waiting in the garage, so all that money goes into rescuing the rusty starter from its rather sorry state.

Mad Trails is a good fit for younger players or anyone browsing our monster truck games for a quick physics challenge. However, the forest barely changes, and the upgrade grind can drag. You’ll soon realize that the audio won’t win you over, either! (The mute button is on the main menu, not in-game. Thank me later!)

Features

• Release date – November 21, 2025
• Difficulty – Beginner/Intermediate
• Levels/environments – 1
• Number of vehicles – 1
• Vehicle customization/upgrades – Upgrades only
• Multiplayer – No
• Mobile – Yes
• Developer – AZGames

Physics

At the start, the amusing oversized tires look more like inflatable rubber rings than the kinda off-road gear you’d hope for, but that’s part of the fun. They squash and compress against rocks and spring away after a hard landing.

Despite the low pressure (which should help with traction) on steep ground, the stock rubber often scrabbles around and struggles for grip. However, once you upgrade them, you’ll start to understand why the upgrades are so important as climbs and roll over recoveries become easier to manage.

D (or right arrow) accelerates and squats the rear, tilting the front of the truck slightly thanks to the soft suspension (there’s no coilovers here, unsurprisingly!).

A brakes (or reverses), while shifting its weight forward and lowering the nose (sometimes more than you’d like), making both inputs useful in the air as well as on the ground. A tap of the throttle can help raise the front before a rock, while braking helps before a descent (just don’t overdo it). Hold the wrong key for a moment too long, and you’ll realize why tapping (and gentle inputs) often pay off more than mashing the keys.

Full throttle helps get you up the steepest climbs, but it can also tilt the truck backward too much as you crest them, so consider lifting off at the top. Braking too late creates the opposite problem. Sometimes the best option is to leave both keys alone and just let it coast until your assistance is required.

For another monster truck where keeping your balance is super important, Monsters Wheels Special backs each run with repairs and upgrades, then adds new vehicles and several fresh locations (both of which are lacking here).

If you’ve enjoyed the bouncy weight-transfer challenge of this one (but not the garage grind), Drive Mad offers the ultimate physics puzzle challenge. You’ll get behind the wheel of a totally different vehicle and terrain for every level. You can then get straight back into the next attempt near-immediately when you (inevitably) fail. Trust me, it’s hard (but insanely fun).

Graphics

While they’re not exactly providing visual eye candy (the rusty truck doesn’t help), the visuals are quirky and match the physics nicely.

Enjoy watching the almost jello-like tires squash against the ground (or spring away from it), and the shower of sparks when you smash the body into a massive boulder lying in wait. If the truck’s body strikes the terrain one too many times, you’ll soon be hunting down one of the repair spanners.

There’s admittedly a lack of visual variety, and you’ll soon notice that the same forest backdrop and dirt keep returning, with rough wooden obstacles dotted through the routes. While later runs still look familiar, the layouts become substantially trickier, so it keeps you on your toes.

Controls

PC/laptop/Chromebook

• D/right arrow key – Accelerate
• A/left arrow key – Brake/reverse

Mobile/tablet (iOS/Android)

• Right side of screen – Accelerate
• Left side of screen – Brake/reverse

Its simplicity makes it perfect for enjoying on portable devices. If you fancy more optimized options, our mobile games catalog has a huge selection of touchscreen-friendly choices. Eggy Car is a popular pick for beginners, which uses a similar accelerate-and-brake simplicity to this one while replacing the health bar with a very fragile egg!

How to Play Mad Trails

Initial Setup

The information icon in the top-left opens the credits, and the speaker underneath toggles the sound. (You’ll probably wanna remember this one, because the audio isn’t exactly the star of the show!)

You can open the garage with the spanner in the bottom left before pressing ‘Play’. You’ll find your rusty starter sitting beside five upgrade choices, each with an information button explaining what the part changes.

You start with an empty blue progression bar and zero coins in the kitty, so the first visit is really a chance to see what all those future earnings will buy.

Admittedly, I never found a use for the rocket icon in the top right despite playing for ages, so I won’t pretend I know what that does. It does mention protection from rockets in one of the descriptions, so I’m guessing it’ll be another challenge thrown into the mix later on.

Once you’ve had a look around, ‘Play’ in the bottom right lets you head into the run immediately.

Getting Started

When you head into the hills, you’ll see the remaining health (green) and fuel (yellow) bars stretching across the top of the screen.

Just below them, a progress strip shows your position and the finish line, with the four fuel stops marked along the way. Reaching any of those pumps instantly refills the tank, while spanners scattered across the route repair your truck as you drive through them.

Get to grips with the controls to start. Throttle lifts the nose as the truck accelerates, and brake brings it back down while braking or reversing. A ramp may demand a nose-high takeoff, only for the dip beyond it to need the opposite. Rocks and steep landings keep changing the answer. Hold either input without watching the ground, and the truck will happily turn a simple correction into your next (roof-related) problem.

Coins provide different (displayed) values, with 100-coin pickups worth more effort than the smaller 10-buck ones. Sometimes, reversing for a coin can make sense on simple ground, but risking a healthy run for 10 or 20 coins usually isn’t worth it.

Roll overs are where you’ll soon start to question the simple presentation. Complete a full rotation and a ‘Roll over!’ pop-up awards you with a $50 payout. Stay inverted, though, and the truck resets automatically (eventually) while removing half your current coins for the inconvenience. Before resigning to your fate, try alternating throttle and brake. If you’re lucky, the huge tires might catch the ground, returning it upright, which feels flippin’ great. (Sorry!)

My worst attempt took the half-coin penalty, reset the truck in a position where it fell straight onto its roof immediately after, then took half again (thanks, guys). Having most of your haul disappear within seconds sucks (and, yes, I paid a little more attention after!).

Fuel management makes you question your choices (keep an eye on it). If you run out before the next pump, it’ll be game over, and you’ll be sent back to the menu with zero earnings.

A steep climb often demands a pedal-to-the-metal approach, but the descents might need a quick dab of brake to lower the nose. On simpler downhills, leaving both keys alone (ready for the next surprise) is often the best way to avoid an accident.

Cross the finish, and the surviving coins go into your upgrade budget. Make sure you cross the line as fast as you can, since there’s often hidden coins sitting just beyond the line, and you can still collect them before the run closes if you’ve got enough speed.

Players who want to continue the careful-throttle concept should also give Rock Crawling a try. You get five upgradeable monster trucks to compete in a selection of races and tournaments. It’s against AI players, but we’ve got plenty of online multiplayer games if that’s what you’re after.

Upgrades

A clean first run should bring back around 3,000 coins (you’ll soon earn nearer 5,000), but missed pickups and roll over penalties can knock that figure down quickly. The garage has five upgrade paths to put the cash towards:

• Tires – 800 coins initially, with 12 stages. Increases wheel friction and grip
• Hull – 6,000 coins initially, with six stages. Hull (or frame/chassis, to you and me!) lowers the center of mass, improves the truck’s geometry, and (thankfully) freshens up its appearance
• Engine – 3,000 coins initially, with eight stages. Increases power, as you probably guessed
• Protection – 600 coins initially, with 12 stages. Reduces collision damage
• Fuel Tank – 600 coins initially, with 12 stages. Increases fuel capacity

We recommend buying Tires first (and it’s not often we say this as drifting nerds). We’re fully aware that power is the exciting option, but the standard engine already handles the early climbs, while the soft stock tires kinda suck at the (slightly required) aspect of getting up hills.

On top of that, more grip helps on the rocks and makes awkward landings easier to settle. It also gives your tires a better chance of catching the ground during a roll over recovery. The second tire stage costs 1,600 coins, so even the sensible routes get expensive quickly.

Once you’re not struggling for traction, spend according to where your ride is lacking. Protection helps if hull strikes are draining the health bar, while Fuel Tank makes sense when you’re falling short of later pumps. Engine upgrades earn their place once the slopes genuinely demand more shove, but not for a while.

Hull is the expensive all-rounder, but it improves the truck’s geometry while also making the poor thing look a little less neglected.

Progress can feel slow because every payout goes toward the same vehicle, and some of the parts are super expensive. If you’d rather keep climbing hills and spending collected coins on upgrades while working toward a much larger garage, Hill Climb Racing 2 offers a similar approach but with a much wider selection of vehicles to unlock.

Advanced Tips & Tricks

Be patient and wait for the tires to bite

The soft tires (they almost look like drag racing slicks at the start) latch into a steep obstacle to help with grip. Give the rubber a moment to settle before getting back on the gas. It might seem counterintuitive when you’re rushing to the finish, but it’ll get the truck moving sooner than just pressing the throttle and hoping for the best.

A roll over isn’t concluded until the reset arrives

Don’t write off a roof-first landing straight away. Watch what the wheels are doing and switch between the brake (reverse) and throttle, depending on which tires are closest to the ground. If the wheels eventually grab, keep assisting the rotation until the truck gets back onto its wheels. It might be scrappy, but it’s much cheaper than letting the auto-recovery guy steal half your coins.

Look behind the truck before setting off at the start

Some runs will have hidden coins just behind the truck. Consider whether it’s worth reversing back a tiny bit before heading forward when the opening ground is flat enough to make the detour safe.

A 100-coin line is worth easing off for

Charging through a row of coins can leave some behind. When you have several big-money coins on rough ground, ease off enough to make sure the chassis collects them cleanly. Smaller coins often aren’t worth turning the whole run into a crawl and missing the next fuel stop, though.

Going beyond the finish line can often provide one more payout

The run doesn’t always end when you reach the finish line. You’ve got nothing to lose by going as fast as you can when you see the finish, and you might get lucky. (I’ve had several-hundred-buck payouts thanks to this method.)

Mad Trails FAQ