After replacing Google Assistant with Gemini, Google’s next big plan for Android Auto is to let you play a cartoon arcade racing game inside your full-sized sedan. The next update to Android Auto 14.1 is adding a select few games you can play on your car’s touchscreen. Before you ask, yes, it’s only available while you’re parked. Then again, if Tesla owners’ previous misadventures with games on the go are any evidence, maybe car companies can cool it with providing features that should be reserved for our phones or dedicated gaming devices.
Google first promoted gaming apps on Android Auto when discussing its March 4 Pixel Drop. The first few games launching in the new Android Auto 14.1 beta update include Farm Heroes Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Angry Birds 2, and Beach Buggy Racing. 9to5Google showed a video of this feature in action with a connected Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The user was obviously struggling to control the Beach Buggy with a single finger while leaning over in the driver’s seat. Even on the bigger screen, it’s certainly easier to have two thumbs available with the screen directly in front. But I’m sure if you’ve ever been stuck in the car with one kid while waiting for the other to get out of an after school event you can see the value in an extra distraction.
These few games may not be optimized for Android Auto, just yet. The site mentioned that Angry Birds 2 failed to start, then was “grayed out” in the app drawer. Beach Buggy Racing still showed the option for tilt controls, and we doubt many people are putting gyroscope sensors on their hydraulic lowrider suspension for the sake of feeling tighter arcade racing controls.
Google does have a video of a user playing Farm Heroes Saga and the game fits the car’s aspect ratio well, so we’ll see if that remains the case for all compatible vehicles at full release. The full-screen app experience isn’t meant for the person in the driver seat, but will probably work fine for a kid bored out of their mind waiting on their Sonic Ocean Water. Still, the center console seems like the worst place to play a game, no matter which seat your sitting in.
It’s the kind of feature that seems extraneous but for very select few users. The ability to access YouTube on Android Auto while parked seems more of a shoo in, but the focus on gaming seems like an effort to entice more Tesla buyers. Tesla cars could play some games natively since 2019, though the Elon Musk-run electric car company took heat after drivers started playing games while on the move. Tesla later blocked its gaming features when the car was in motion under threat from federal investigators.
Google may see gaming as a way to get users interested in Android-based autonomous driving. The inevitable next step is for Google’s empire to put Android in all its autonomous vehicles (courtesy of Waymo), which is really the only place where games in cars make sense.
Or, of course, you could just unplug your smartphone and play games there.
