Off The Rails

Off the Rails is a platform game released in 2007. The player controls two Cactus men on a handcar, avoiding enemies through the desert and trying to outrun a train. Points are earned in the game by collecting Gold Coins, and landing 360 degrees flips. All the level names in the game are connected with the level.

Controls
← → Left and right arrow keys - Accelerate

↓ Down - Brake

↑ Up - Jump

Levels
In each level of Off the Rails, the player has to get the Cactus Men on their hand car past the finish line, while avoiding enemies.

1. Read The Billboards to Learn How to Play
This level is a straight line, with billboards all along it telling the player how to play.

Enemies:1 Tortoise

2. Rollercoaster of Love
The level starts out with going over a big hill, then going over a small hill with a jump over a pit of mud at the bottom. After the jump is another medium sized hill, which after going over it leads to a big hill. At the bottom of the big hill is a huge jump, meaning the player needs to be going very fast to get over it. After the jump is a small straight path to the finish.

Enemies: None

3. This Time we go the Other way
This level is driven by going to the left instead of the usual right, hence the name. The level starts out going down a small hill, and jumping over a Gopher at the bottom. There is then a speed boost that helps the player go up a small hill. After going down the hill are three small bumps, and then two more speed boosters to help go up another hill. At the top of the hill is a Tortoise. After going over the tortoise, is a speed boost that propels the player over a small jump. After the jump are two more Tortoises, and then the finish.

Enemies: 3 Tortoises and 1 Gopher

4. Next Stop The Moon
The level starts out with the Cactus Men in the middle of going down a gigantic hill. At the bottom of the hill is a jump that causes the player to jump super far, and try and land on a straight piece of track. Toward the beginning of the track is a cameo of a Hovering Robot from Toxic. A little ways down the straight track is a giant patch of Slippery Track with speed boosters. The Slippery Track combined with the speed boosters cause the player to go very fast, and go over another jump that is similar to the first one. At the bottom of the jump is the finish.

Enemies: None

5. The Rocky Road to Success
The level first goes straight, and then over a small bump. After the bump is is a small depression in the ground with a mole at the bottom. The depression leads up to a big hill. At the bottom of the hill is a big Mosquito, and then a series of small, sharp bumps that keep getting bigger and bigger. After the bumps (that get big enough to be very small hills), is a big patch of Slippery Track, with a Tortoise in the middle. After jumping over the Tortoise, is the finish.

Enemies: 1 Gopher, 1 Mosquito, and 1 Tortoise.

6. Maybe we Should Turn Around
If the player turns around, there is the word "Jackpot" written in gold coins, which is why the level name is hinting at turning around. The level starts out with going over a small hill with a Tortoise at the top. At the bottom of the hill is a Tumbleweed, then a speed booster, then another tumbleweed, then a backwards speed booster. After the backwards speed booster, there are some bumps, and then a hill with a Gopher at the bottom.

10. Mole Hills
This level introduces the first train.

11. Tricks and Traps
Go forward and keep jumping over the hills, gaps, or any moles encountered. Shortly a large enemy called the bull will be found. Put your hand car on the brake and wait. Shortly the birds will lift the bull up. Now is the right chance to speed past it. The end of the level will then be reached.

12. Look out Below!
Speed forward all the way and only jump over blue shells and that's it. Since the platforms always slope the speed gained will always allow the handcart to get over the gaps safely. The end of the level will soon be reached.

19. Not Too Fast Not Too Slow
One train in front of the player, one behind.

20. Width of a Hair
The last level of the game. This level is the ultimate test as it has the player face all obstacles from the first 19 levels of the game. However, there are no trains in this level, but they received plenty of attention in Level 19.

Glitches

 * If the player hits the ground at a certain angle, they will be stuck in the ground.

Enemies

 * Gophers - Stationary, disappear underground and pop back up deals damage on touch
 * Tortoises - Stationary blue creatures
 * Lizards - Moving enemies
 * Tumbleweeds - Bouncing balls
 * Bulls - Block the way until two birds on its head make it fly
 * Train - Chases the handcar on the rails. On one level, the train goes in the opposite direction and must be avoided by going over a hill
 * Skeleton Birds- Flies above and drops eggs. Oddly, touching the birds themselves won't hurt the player
 * Mosquitoes - Hovers above the rails and land as the car travels past

Trivia

 * If the player does a complete turn the cactus' will cry, "360!" or "Awesome!" indicating that the player has done a 360 turn.
 * Off the Rails has a rather gruesome Game Over. In the Game Over, which is triggered when the player falls off the screen or touches an enemy, the Cactus Men are blown up, their bodies blackened, and they will fall to the ground, along with some of their bones, and cooked meat.
 * Gophers are also in Skywire 2.
 * In the last level of Rubble Trouble 2, there is a screen with a playable level of Off the Rails on it. If the level is beaten, the player gets to play level 31 of Rubble Trouble Tokyo.
 * The game was made a Distributional Game, and was one of the 12 games made available when the Distributional Games page was launched on August 25th.