So you want to be a catch driver? You want to experience the thrills of split-second decision-making; should you leave hard or just settle in and wait for your time to shine at the end of the race? While jumping into a race bike and competing against Yannick Gingras or Jordan Stratton might be a stretch, lining up behind the gate next to them in the new harness racing app Catch Driver is quite attainable. Launched on August 17 in the Apple and Google Play stores on any mobile device, Catch Driver places users at the controls of mythical horses on half-mile, five-eighths, seven-eighths and mile tracks asking players to make the key decisions to guide their horses to victory. Created by Ryan Clements’ Farm Ventures, which launched the Off And Pacing horse management game in April 2017 for mobile devices, Catch Driver has exceeded early expectations. “It has exceeded our expectations but we felt that was possible because the game play appeals to more people than the Off And Pacing management style,” said Clements. “I’ve already heard from people who are gamers. One guy said he had never seen a horse race in his life but he is loving learning how to drive. It appeals to any age or generation.” Currently Off And Pacing has 3,000 daily active users and 8,000 monthly. In just four days, Catch Driver is up to 4,000 players! The game has seen as many as 500 users playing in a half-hour period without any marketing efforts outside of social media and word of mouth. “We are starting to look into how to market this game to a general audience rather than just harness racing,” said Clements. “So far it seems to be appealing to people regardless of whether they like horse racing or not. “There are not a lot of racing games that are like this. Harness Racing lends itself to doing a multiple player online game like this one, but it does push the boundaries. It needs a high-level connection because we have to send position updates to nine other players in a race 20 times a second. If you drop the connection at all, it can really mess things up,” said Clements, who added that his team is diligently working to iron out any bugs with connectivity. After downloading the app you are instructed to enter your driver name, can choose your facial type, pick out a new set of colors (racing outfit), and off to the races you go. Just hit “Drive!” from the main screen and a race will fill against seven to nine others. You’ll see attribute bars for total speed, stamina/heart and gate speed/acceleration. These are your guides to the abilities of each horse before the 35-second clock ticks down and the race begins. The next screen takes you behind the gate with a pair of arms holding reigns. You can snap the lines forward by swiping up at the start and watch your horse leave to the best of their ability or swipe down on the left line and make a beeline for pylon position. That first decision will play a major role in your chances of winning, so choose wisely. Players are in control of every move their horses make during the mile-long journey around the mythical racecourses. There are no track biases or weather concerns during these races, which means you can win on the lead or from last, but there are also no Judges. Players are often seen trying to block the path of an oncoming horse and locking wheels on the bike is a common occurrence. Don’t expect to see an “inquiry” light illuminate afterwards; it’s no holds barred. The measuring stick for success in Catch Driver is a rating system that awards points if you finish in the top five positions in any race. Finishing first to fifth is worth 2 to 50 points depending on the ratings of the players you are competing against. Players that finish sixth or worse lose an equal number of points regardless of finish position. “There will be rankings based on the rating system and the higher ranked players will typically drive against similarly ranked players so they won’t have to compete against amateur players or those that are just playing around. This will allow those that want to play serious to do so and the ones that want to have fun and goof around to do that without affecting the ratings of the serious players,” said Clements, who added that the system should be in place very soon, perhaps by the week of August 27. With an update to the APP that expects to come out next week is the launch of an “Event” area that will allow users to join various special events. The section could include anything from stakes races to driver championships. The event section will give users the ability to win more horseshoes (the game currency) and/or trophies.    Sample of new 'Event' section. Other new features that are in development or under consideration include: Zoom function to get a closer view during races Mini map to show horse location during races Indicator to show horses that don’t appear in viewing area MPH gauge to show current speed Adding the driver ratings on the entry page With thousands of players already immersed in Off And Pacing, a natural thought would be to create a crossover between the two games. While this relationship has yet to be explored, Clements has given it some initial thought. “There are different levels we could do it,” said Clements. “One of the first we will explore is having a Catch Driver stake in Off And Pacing. You enter your horse from Off And Pacing into the race and you get a random catch driver assigned to your horse at post time. We could definitely take it further, but that sounds like the natural first step to tie the two together. “I think we could introduce a new stake and designate it as a Catch Driver final race, so if you make the final you have the option to drive your horse and if you don’t want to you get a random or computer driver.” While Clements is excited about the prospects of Catch Driver, he wants to be careful to protect the Off And Pacing platform and the experience that thousands of users have come to enjoy. “Off And Pacing is sort of its own world and I don’t want to do anything to compromise it. I want to add new fun stuff without doing anything to hurt Off And Pacing,” said Clements. The early returns have Catch Driver off and pacing at a high rate and have seen Off And Pacing continue to thrive. Clements reported that user participation in Off And Pacing has risen since the launch of the new driving game. Regardless of what you enjoy, Farm Ventures has you covered. If managing a stable of horses and watching them race is your cup of tea, then check out Off And Pacing. If you love the thrill of interactive gameplay where you make all of the decisions, Catch Driver is your game. See you on the track!