Have you ever wanted to know which was faster: a shark or a badger? How about who can leap over hurdles with greater ease, an octopus or a ferret? Now is your chance, with the mini-game-filled action game Animal Raceway. Choose your runner, train to increase your stats, and head to the track to run against other animal opponents. With our strategy guide, you can train your character to be the fastest runner of all — even if walking upright doesn’t come so naturally!
Basics
Animal Raceway is all about stat management. Once you choose your character, you’ll be given the option to train various attributes to increase your stats based on your performance in one of several mini-games. Ace the training rituals and you’ll pump up your animal quickly, giving it a leg up on the competition.
Money is won by winning races. The closer to first place you get the more you rake in. Use cash to train your stats or spend it in the store on items that may (or may not!) boost some of your abilities. In general, training is a sure-fire way to get better, but a pair of speedy shoes never hurts. You can also buy items that increase stats whose mini-game you aren’t particularly skilled at, which is an even better strategy!
Complete ten races and, if you qualify, you’ll move on to a new league. Opponents get tougher in these races, so keep training and check back at the shop for new items to buy!
Choosing an Animal
Your first step is to pick an animal. Each has a different base score for stats, so, for example, if you want to train a runner with good long distance potential, go with someone that has a high stamina rating. You can customize clothing colors as well as choose your name, and you should probably do just that, as you’re going to spend a lot of time staring at this critter.
Can’t decide which animal to choose? Go with the dog or the rabbit, as they’re both very well-rounded and easy to train.
- Badger – Great stamina and decent speed, the badger is well-suited for long courses with few obstacles.
- Chameleon – Low on all stats except stamina, making it a good choice for long courses.
- Dog – An excellent starting animal, the dog is good at just about everything.
- Ferret – Excellent agility stats but low on stamina, ferrets need short courses with lots of jumps to thrive.
- Horse – Good speed but not so good acceleration, horses want mid-length courses.
- Lizard – Good stamina and agility makes the lizard ideal for long courses with lots of obstacles.
- Rabbit – Another good starting animal, the rabbit isn’t proficient or deficient in any particular stat.
- Shark – Almost as well-rounded as the rabbit and dog, the shark tends to be a bit slower than his animal friends.
- Turtle – Slow and steady wins the race, and the turtle has the stamina to win long courses with ease!
Training Your Stats
You’re not going to be a winner unless you train! Training in Animal Raceway takes place via a series of mini-games, one for each stat.
- Health – By far the most important stat, health actually multiplies the rest of your stats, so it should always be given priority. The health mini-game is a side-scrolling version of whack-a-mole, giving you a hammer and challenging you to smash the burgers but leave the apples intact. Go for groups of burgers and stay far away from the fruit. If you see a clock icon, smash it for extra time!
- Agility – Agility affects how skilled you are at staying upright and leaping over obstacles with finesse. To train agility, you’ll run along a course where you have to jump and duck to avoid anvils flying by. Jumps are rather tall and can easily clear low-flying anvils, but you can only duck for a fraction of a second, so time your move for the last possible moment to avoid getting whacked.
- Reactions - To improve your acceleration, train reactions. The mini-game is a rhythm sort of experience where you block melons by tapping the appropriate key when they line up with the target. It’s not easy, so keep an sharp eye.
- Stamina - Tired of, well, getting tired? Stamina keeps you running in long races. To train it, you’ll play a game where your character tugs a cart across rocky terrain. Tap the spacebar to move the slider right, and try to keep it in the middle of the bar below.
- Speed – To win, you need to be first, right? The speed training game is one of the most unusual, and to win it you’ll have to type letters as quickly as you can. Watch the boxes, mind the timers, and don’t press the wrong key!
Picking a Course
Trained and ready to roll, you’ll be given a choice between two courses selected at random. Depending on your character’s strengths, you should choose longer or shorter tracks to maximize your chances of winning.
Courses are ranked by distance, number of obstacles, and terrain type. Longer courses require more stamina than shorter ones, so if your stamina stat is low, pick the shorter of the two. Similarly, obstacles require a good agility score, so watch the number and avoid them if you need to. Terrain type can also affect the race, so the rougher the road ahead (mud and sand), the more stamina will be required to make it.
