Smash Bandits

Smash Bandits is a top-down racing game that builds on the concept of the two Smash Cops games by the same developer. This time the tables are turned as the player becomes a bandit who needs to smash objects and avoid or take out police and civilian cars. The game takes place in an open world environment that can be explored in any direction with a different starting location for each session.

The car is controlled by holding a finger below the car. The further down the screen, the faster the car goes. Turning is done by moving the finger left or right. When a car is close a circle appears. When the circle is tapped and the finger is then returned to the regular position behind the car, the other car is usually rammed and destroyed. Collisions and encounters with objects in the environment, cars and roadblocks damage the car, shown through a meter to the left of the car. When the meter is full or the car drives down a cliff, it is destroyed and the session is over.

Arrows point to challenges and objectives that can optionally be completed. The main goal is to remain alive as long as possible and collect smash bucks, the basic currency, by smashing objectives that are highlighted with small blue arrows. The game is presented as a TV show and combos activate a score multiplier. The TV ratings after a session provide smash bucks as a reward. There many cars that can be bought, divided over different tiers and with speed, smash power and handling as the main statistics. Smash bucks can be used to upgrade the three categories multiple times. Many abilities can be unlocked by leveling up, such as puncture proof tires, a head start, an electrified chassis, a tank stash, a ram or a sonic repulsor. There are also multiple paint jobs for each car. Next to cars such as a police car, the A-Team van, the Hennessey Venom GT or the Bowler EXR S, the player can drive tanks and boats.

The game is free-to-play and next to smash bucks, bandit chips are the premium currency used for many game elements. Both can be purchased as in-app purchases. Optionally small amounts can be earned by watching advertisements and there is a single purchase to remove all ads permanently. The game uses a variant of the traditional energy/stamina system. Instead of forcing a player to wait or pay to keep playing, a new session can be started at any time. However, with each new race the wanted level is raised to a maximum of five. At the highest level powerful agency cars are dispatched to take out the player's car and this makes the game very tough. Players can either wait until the wanted level drops or use bandit chips to raise the maximum wanted level or clear it.