WheelMates gadget tier list

This hub ranks the three signature WheelMates gadgets for puzzle solving, not for combat, speedruns, or cosmetics. WheelMates has no fights and no timers. The only question that matters is how often a tool lets two RC cars finish a room, reopen a dead end, or hand a job to the other player without stalling.

Firevolt built the house as a two-player loop. You pick up a gadget, then you drive back through spaces you already saw. Magnetic wheels rewrite vertical routes. The rope swing (winch and hookshot) covers gaps and distant levers. Magnet grab lifts covers, holds buttons, and drags objects. Car customization sits beside this list: it changes how the cars look and sound, not which puzzles you can finish.

Read this ranking after Getting Started if you still need co-op setup. For room context, pair it with the Kitchen and Garage pages, then the full Walkthrough.

Ranking rules

• S changes how you reread the whole house. After you unlock it, old rooms stop being scenery.
• A shows up in designed set pieces from the Garage onward and stays useful in almost every later gap or lever puzzle.
• B is mandatory in specific rooms, but it is not a general traversal tool. You still need it; you just do not steer with it all day.

Both cars receive gadgets as you progress. Puzzles assume two drivers who can talk. There is no in-game voice chat, so use Discord or sit on the same couch. Online co-op and local split-screen both count; Friend’s Pass means only one Steam copy is required.

Current ranks

S — Magnetic wheels

Magnetic wheels are the Metroidvania key. Once they stick to metal walls and ceilings, routes that looked like decoration become roads. Returning to the Kitchen or other early rooms with wheels is the moment the house opens sideways instead of forward. That is why they sit in S even if you spend more minutes swinging a rope in the garage. Full notes live on the magnetic wheels page.

A — Rope swing (winch / hookshot)

The rope kit debuts in the Garage: a big, open space with hidden paths. You latch onto far points, swing across gaps, and yank levers you cannot drive to. Demo patches made the hookshot easier to trigger, which is why this rank assumes the launch handling, not the first May 6, 2026 demo feel. Rope does not rewrite every wall the way wheels do, but it is the tool you fire most often once the house goes vertical. See rope swing.

B — Magnet grab

Magnet grab is a toggle, not a hold-to-aim panic button. Use it to lift covers, press distant buttons, and slide objects into place. It also starts in the garage. It solves object puzzles that wheels and rope cannot touch, which is why B does not mean skip it. It means the gadget is room-scale: brilliant on a hatch or a crate, idle while you are simply crossing a shelf. Details: magnet grab.

How to use the list in a session

New pairs should not treat S as “use only wheels.” Play the Kitchen for controls and the first power-ups, then treat the garage as the exam for rope and grab. When a later room stalls, ask which rank you are missing: a surface you have not driven, a latch you have not fired, or an object you have not toggled. The Walkthrough is the beat-by-beat companion; this hub is the “which tool is the bottleneck” companion.

Cosmetics do not move a gadget up or down. Colors, wheels, antenna, and horn are collectibles hidden in the house, and the Supporter Pack adds an exclusive car. Rank those on the customization page after the story, not during a stuck puzzle.

If you only rank one gadget before you start the house, rank magnetic wheels first, then plan garage sessions around rope and grab.