Happy Wheels (Free), a horrific physics-based trials game from Fancy Force, grabbed the iOS world by storm last week when it appeared on the App Store and swiftly soared to the top of the free games ranking. Happy Wheels was first introduced as a Flash game in 2010, and it has expanded in leaps and bounds since then. Happy Wheels has been a great success in the world of browser games, thanks to its cast of ludicrous playable characters and automobiles, as well as a community-driven level-creator with over 6 million user-created levels. Which makes me feel a little dumb for having never heard of it until it appeared on iOS last week. Hey, I'm elderly, and I have no idea what these crazy youngsters are into these days.

Anyway, if you were a big fan of Happy Wheels' browser version, you would have noticed that the iOS version is severely deficient in material when compared to its elder sister. Don't worry, the stripped-down version of Happy Wheels that was launched for iOS was completely intended, according to a statement by creator Jim Bonacci on the game's official website TotalJerkface.com. Bonacci purposefully uploaded what he believed to be the most secure version of the game in order to get it approved into the App Store and see how it was received. As Bonacci puts it:

"As you may have seen, no user level browser exists." There is also just one character accessible for each of the 15 stages. The game was published in this manner because the most essential thing was to get Happy Wheels approved into the Apple App Store for the first time. The Segway person is perhaps the most gentle and simplest to operate of the first several characters. The sight of an irresponsible father and his kid exploding as they are crushed beneath a vehicle was not the first thing I wanted the people in charge of assessing the game to witness."

Aside from violence, Bonacci was concerned about the level editor and the likelihood that user-created levels may include content that violated Apple's requirements. Like, like penises or something. It's not the first time a developer has expressed such worry. In any case, as games like Geometry Dash ($1.99) have shown, user-created content may be the lifeblood of a game's long-term success. That seems to be the case with Happy Wheels as well, so it's encouraging that additional material is on the way for the iOS version.

Furthermore, being the current #1 free game, Bonacci recognizes that a whole new audience is discovering Happy Wheels for the first time. "I know there are a lot of new casual players who have never played the game before, and I'd want them all to know, ideally as quickly as possible, that there is a lot more that they haven't seen," he says on the subject. There will be a user level browser, and as soon as we have enough quality content, we will provide "featured" levels for other characters." So there you have it, direct from the source. Happy Wheels for iOS is getting a lot of attention, so download it now and keep a watch on the Updates page in the App Store in the coming months.