Wheel World review

Well spoke-n

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Annapurna Interactive

A relaxed, if unchallenging, open world racer that puts you in cahoots with a washed-up bicycle ghost for a breezy few hours of dinging your bell behind other cyclists.

• Developer: Messhof
• Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
• Release: July 23rd, 2025
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , Epic Games Store
• Price: TBA
• Reviewed on: Intel Core-i7-11700F, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, Windows 10

For a low-stakes open world cycling game, Wheel World has a lot of lore. You wake up in the forest and discover a spirit called Skully, a ghost who offers the player a rusty bike and immediately ejects so much fantasy jargon and frontloaded backstory that I started to think it was an intentional joke. Thank Cog (the god of cycling) that this loredumping is not habitual. The rest of the game plays out as a chill and happy-hearted racer in a small but well-crafted world of rolling vineyards, bumpy forests, and honking city streets. It’s a short tour, lasting only about five hours, but it’s five hours nicely pedalled.

The racing itself feels sleek and balanced, with a sense of coursing weight to the bike, especially on wide turns. Ride behind another cyclist to enter their slipstream and speed up, while also handily charging your magical boost bar. A lot of tracks include sneaky off-trail shortcuts, or ramps that you can bunny hop off with a flick of the joystick, and although there are no flashy tricks here, getting some air or narrowly avoiding cars and trucks will also charge up your boost. Crash and you’re plopped back on course with a refreshingly fast reset.

Getting into those slipstreams is useful for climbing positions, but it’s also important to know when you’re storming ahead - a rival can easily use the same tactic on you. I usually ended up strategically saving my boost for the final sprint. Which I believe is what real athlete-level cyclists do, when they are not busy taking steroids.

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You’re rewarded with “rep”, a thumbs-uppy currency that you’ll need to accrue to face the boss-level rivals who have stolen your ghost buddy’s magic parts. A cocksure beer guzzler in one town might only require 12 rep before he’ll accept your challenge, but the moustachioed champ in the big city needs 40 rep, and a final boss will demand much more. In the meantime, you make do with parts won through standard races or found in glittering boxes sprinkled throughout the land, as if dumped in a ditch and marked delivered by Evri drivers.

These parts alter your bike’s stats. Increasing “Power” gives you a better uphill pushing speed, for example, while “Aero” makes your ride more dynamic on the downhill. I found myself min-maxing in an effort to get an all-rounder bike, just because I can’t be arsed changing parts out for every race. That’s an option for anyone who cares enough about elevation maps, or wants to increase their “Handling” stat specifically for a race that’s all twisty turns. But I found it so quick to go from race to race that it was better to have one solid jack-of-all-gears. Racing games are about flow state, about staying in motion, and these kinds of arcadey open worlders in particular are often best enjoyed with as few trips into the menu as possible.

You can swap out the drivetrain, handlebars, wheels, seat, frame, and fork. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Annapurna Interactive

So aye. It ticks a lot of boxes for what I like in a racer. Its cartoony, cel-shaded presentation also brings to mind the bright skating of Olli Olli World . It’s silly and funny without trying too hard. Take Portal John, for example, a guy who’s invented a fast travel system using portapotties to harness the mystical and dangerous “sewer of spirits”. You’re not supposed to mess with that, he’s told. “Yeah, well I’m an entrepreneur,” he says, hammering a toilet. “I’m into disruption.”

It helps that all this colour is accompanied by an upbeat and hopeful soundtrack of mellow synth by Portland record label Italians Do It Better. It’s nigh impossible to feel stressed playing this game. Last week everyone in games media was celebrating the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake as a great music discovery device. I see you and raise you Wheel World’s soundtrack .

However, with that supremely chill demanour comes a noticeable lack of real challenge. A well-balanced cycle and some cautious cornering will win you basically every race, difficult moments usually only presented by colliding into randomly passing traffic on an important bend, or getting donked by a rival as you pass. The game’s sometimes-shonky physics can also lead to a few upsets (or act in your favour, as rivals bounce into the sky or drive vertically up a wall like a zoomies-afflicted calico up the sitting room curtains).

Barring that, it’s not a tough thing to beat, and you’ll rack up the rep and coupons needed to reach the end faster than a yellow jacketed French roadster. This might put a few self-flagellists off but such brevity doesn’t bother me. There’s plenty of room in my life for a racing game you can coast through with all the friction of a summer breeze. I gnashed my teeth enough on JDM: Japanese Drift Master last month - a racing game that was good for its own tough reasons, but listen, I deserve an easy win.

Oh look I got it. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Annapurna Interactive

The bike bonkers among you might more accurately compare it to the Descenders series, or Lonely Mountains: Downhill . Go ahead, I haven’t played enough of those to know. I find it more fun to think of Wheel World alongside 2023’s indie road trip game Season: A Letter To The Future , which had you bicycling around a small but detailed world in a similar vein. But while Season was an emotive story about memory and change given wheels and a camera, Wheel World is far more bubblegum and genre-loyal.

The map is relatively small, but that’s increasingly how I like my open worlds. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Annapurna Interactive

Some of the game’s design even veers close to Ubisoftian - you activate special shrines to reveal the map, little icons presenting themselves promptly for waypointing and cleaning up, after which you can peddle off towards one to begin a “side gig” for a corporate drone (discover five hidden jumps, etc). But then it redeems itself in other ways: you can, for instance, initiate some races by cycling up behind a rider and simply dinging your bell at them, which reminds me of the traffic light wheel-spinning of Burnout Paradise . If Burnout Paradise were a cel-shaded land of pushbikes and friendly ghosts instead of - ugh - DJ Atomika.

It’s a far cry from Messhof’s previous works - the incomparable Nidhogg remains one of the best fighting games of all time. And I’ll admit it feels a bit weird to set Wheel World’s sweet and ultimately harmless roamaround racing next to the snarling energy and electro fury of the fencing worm and its serpentine sequel. But that redefining of studio style feels inevitable when it expands beyond its origins - Messhof used to be a moniker for solo developer Mark Essen, but is now the name of his broader indie studio made up of many Messhoffers. If you’re going in expecting something similar to Nidhogg in tone, vibe, and surreality, you’ll only find trace amounts. But if you go in with a heart open to easygoing races and good music, Wheel World will quickly coast you through.

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Wheel World

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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