How to Invite a Friend to Play WheelMates for Free: 2026 Guide to Steam Friends Pass

WheelMates is built around a simple idea that I honestly wish more co-op games would steal: buy one copy, bring a friend, and just play.

Firevolt’s upcoming RC-car adventure launches on September 1, 2026, on PC via Steam, throwing two tiny remote-controlled cars into a ridiculously oversized world packed with physics puzzles, platforming challenges, gadgets, collectibles, and the remains of a missing scientist’s bizarre laboratory.

The important part? You don’t need two paid copies to play the campaign together.

The WheelMates Friends Pass allows one player to own the full game while a second player joins the complete cooperative experience without purchasing another copy. This isn’t one of those annoying demo systems where your friend gets to play for 30 minutes before hitting a paywall. The free player is effectively getting access to the co-op client needed to join the owner’s campaign.

I’ve seen plenty of players get confused about how these systems work, especially when the free version is listed separately from the main game. So here’s the clean version: one person buys WheelMates, the other downloads the Friends Pass, and the two connect through Steam.

WheelMates Friends Pass: What You Actually Get

The biggest misconception about the Friends Pass is that it sounds like a trial. It isn’t.

The free player isn’t being handed a tiny slice of the game and told to buy the rest later. The Friends Pass is designed specifically to let the second player participate in the owner’s cooperative campaign.

The standard price is $19.99 USD, with a 10% launch discount during release week according to the information surrounding the launch.

For a game that requires two players, that’s a pretty attractive setup. You’re essentially getting a six-hour cooperative adventure for the price of a single indie game while your friend gets to jump in without paying another $20.

And honestly, that’s exactly how I think mandatory co-op games should handle this.

How the WheelMates Friends Pass Works on Steam

The process is much easier once you understand the two separate clients involved.

The owner installs the normal version of WheelMates. The friend installs the free Friends Pass version. Steam handles the invitation and gets the second player into the host’s session.

Step 1: One Player Buys WheelMates

The person who intends to host the campaign needs to purchase the standard version of WheelMates through Steam.

After purchasing it, install the game normally. The full client contains everything required to host a campaign, including the game’s levels, vehicles, gadgets, puzzles, and collectibles.

You don’t need to purchase a second license simply because another person will be sitting in your lobby.

Step 2: Your Friend Downloads the Free Friends Pass

This is the part that can be surprisingly easy to miss.

Your friend should visit the WheelMates Steam Store page and look for the separate Friends Pass version.

The wording may appear as something along the lines of “WheelMates Friends Pass” or “Download WheelMates Friends Pass Version.”

The important thing is that your friend does not purchase the $19.99 game.

They add the free Friends Pass client to their Steam library and install it.

Don’t be surprised if the download is nearly as large as the full game. That makes sense: the second player still needs the game’s environments, physics systems, vehicles, textures, audio, and other assets locally. The difference is that the Friends Pass client doesn’t grant independent ownership of the full game.

Think of it as the passenger seat rather than another car.

Step 3: Host an Online Co-Op Lobby

Once both players have installed their respective versions, the owner launches the normal WheelMates client.

From the main menu:

1. Select Online Co-Op.
2. Choose Host a Session.
3. Wait for the lobby to initialize.
4. Open the Steam Overlay with Shift + Tab.
5. Find your friend in the Steam Friends List.
6. Use the available Invite to Lobby or equivalent invitation option.

Depending on the final Steam implementation, you may also be able to invite your friend directly from WheelMates’ own lobby interface.

This is the point where things should become almost stupidly simple.

The host creates the session. The friend accepts the invitation. Steam launches or switches to the Friends Pass client and connects the second player to the lobby.

No second purchase. No separate campaign license. No weird workaround.

Step 4: The Friend Accepts the Invitation

The guest should have Steam running before the invitation is sent.

When the invitation appears, accept it through Steam.

If everything is working correctly, the Friends Pass client should launch and place the guest into the host’s session.

I’d recommend not manually launching the Friends Pass first unless the game specifically requires it. Letting Steam handle the invitation-to-launch process is generally the cleaner route for this kind of setup.

Once both RC cars are visible in the same area, you’re ready to start causing tiny-car chaos.

And trust me, these aren’t leisurely little toy-car drives.

WheelMates throws both players into environments where a badly timed jump, missed swing, or physics interaction can turn a simple puzzle into five minutes of yelling at your friend.

Can You Play WheelMates Locally With One Copy?

Yes. This is where the Friends Pass isn’t even necessary.

If your co-op partner is sitting next to you, WheelMates supports local shared/split-screen play.

The owner simply launches the full game and connects two controllers.

For the best experience, I’d strongly recommend two gamepads rather than trying to make two people wrestle with keyboard controls. Driving tiny RC cars through precision platforming sections already sounds chaotic enough without fighting over keyboard bindings.

The local setup is straightforward:

• Launch the full version.
• Connect two controllers.
• Select Play Local or Couch Co-Op.
• Have the second player press a button to join.
• Start the campaign.

The game handles the split-screen presentation from there.

This is actually one of my favorite aspects of the setup. Not every co-op game needs an internet connection, a second purchase, and three different accounts just to put two people on the same couch.

What Happens to Your Save Progress?

There’s one important detail Friends Pass players should understand before starting a campaign.

The host is effectively the owner of the campaign progression.

Your friend can participate in the adventure, unlock things during the session, and experience the story, but the campaign itself is tied primarily to the host’s save.

That means you shouldn’t think of the Friends Pass as giving your friend a completely independent copy of your campaign.

If your buddy later buys the full version because they become obsessed with the game—which, let’s be honest, is exactly how these things work—they may need to begin their own campaign rather than simply becoming the new host with every previous unlock intact.

That’s worth discussing before you spend several evenings grinding through collectibles.

What About the 1,279 Collectibles?

WheelMates reportedly contains 1,279 collectibles, which is a frankly ridiculous number for a game about tiny RC cars.

The host’s campaign is where that collection progress matters.

If you’re the completionist in the group, decide early who is going to host.

Otherwise, you can end up with one player doing the heavy lifting for the collection while the other discovers that their own account doesn’t magically inherit the entire campaign when they eventually buy the game.

For casual players, this probably won’t matter much.

For the “WE ARE GETTING 100%” crowd, it absolutely matters.

Steam Deck Support and Playing on PC

WheelMates is launching on PC through Steam and is positioned for Steam Deck compatibility.

The Friends Pass concept should work through Steam’s handheld interface as well, meaning you don’t need some separate account-management ritual just because you’re playing on a Deck.

That makes the game especially appealing for portable co-op sessions, although your actual experience will depend on the connection quality and performance of the hardware involved.

For online play, both players should make sure Steam is functioning normally before launching the game.

A surprisingly large number of “the game won’t connect” problems in PC multiplayer aren’t actually caused by the game itself. Steam’s matchmaking layer, firewall permissions, VPNs, NAT behavior, or background security software can all get involved.

WheelMates Friends Pass Troubleshooting

If your friend can’t join, don’t immediately assume the Friends Pass is broken.

Start with the boring fixes first. They work more often than people like to admit.

Steam Doesn’t Show the Invitation

Make sure both players are actually online in Steam and that you’re appearing as friends rather than offline.

Restarting Steam can also refresh an invitation or presence issue.

“Unable to Connect to Lobby”

Try these in order:

1. Completely restart Steam on both PCs.
2. Restart WheelMates.
3. Verify the game files through Steam.
4. Temporarily check whether Windows Firewall or antivirus software is blocking Steam or WheelMates.
5. Disable an active VPN while testing.
6. Try having the host recreate the lobby.
7. If possible, test the connection from another network.

The host’s NAT configuration can also affect peer-to-peer connectivity. If one player has an unusually restrictive network setup, joining can become much harder than it should be.

The Guest Installed the Wrong Version

This one is easy to overlook.

The second player needs the Friends Pass client, not the paid game.

If Steam is asking them to purchase WheelMates despite the host owning it, double-check that they’ve actually installed the correct Friends Pass version and that the invitation is being sent to the same Steam account.

Do You Need Voice Chat?

WheelMates doesn’t rely on built-in voice communication, so I’d strongly recommend using Discord or another voice-chat service for online sessions.

And this isn’t optional in spirit.

When two RC cars are trying to coordinate a puzzle involving movement, timing, switches, ropes, magnetic mechanics, or platforming, communication becomes half the game.

“Wait!”

“Go!”

“No, don’t press that!”

“WHY DID YOU DRIVE OFF?”

That’s basically the natural language of cooperative physics games.

A voice call makes everything significantly smoother.

Is WheelMates Cross-Platform?

At launch, WheelMates is planned for PC through Steam, with Steam Deck support.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are reportedly in development for a later release.

The important distinction is that future console support doesn’t automatically mean cross-play at launch.

The exact cross-platform functionality and Friends Pass implementation for console versions needs to be confirmed separately when those versions become available. So if you’re buying the PC version specifically because your friend owns a console, don’t assume that the one-copy model will immediately bridge the platforms.

For launch day, the safest setup is simple: two Steam players, one full copy, one Friends Pass client.

WheelMates Friends Pass: How Does It Work? Complete Co-op Guide (2026)

Is the Friends Pass Worth Using?

Absolutely.

For a mandatory two-player game priced around $20, the Friends Pass is one of the strongest selling points WheelMates has.

The biggest advantage isn’t even the money. It’s the reduced friction.

Convincing a friend to buy a $20 game isn’t impossible, but it can still be enough to kill the idea of playing together. Maybe they aren’t sure they’ll like it. Maybe they don’t play co-op games often. Maybe they already have a huge backlog.

The Friends Pass removes that conversation.

One person buys the game. The other joins.

That’s it.

And because WheelMates is specifically designed around two players, the system actually makes sense rather than feeling like an afterthought.

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Final Verdict: One Copy Is Enough for Your Duo

The WheelMates Friends Pass is refreshingly straightforward.

One player purchases the full game. The second player downloads the free Friends Pass client through Steam. The owner creates an online lobby and sends an invitation. The guest accepts it, connects, and joins the campaign.

For local play, you don’t even need the Friends Pass. Two controllers and one copy of the full game are enough to get both RC cars rolling.

The only thing I’d pay close attention to is who hosts the campaign, because progression and collectibles are tied to the host’s save structure. If you’re planning a completionist run, pick the person with the most reliable schedule and keep that save backed up.

Beyond that, the setup is refreshingly painless.

At its best, WheelMates looks like the kind of co-op game that thrives on two friends sitting in a voice call, immediately getting stuck on something that should be easy, blaming each other for twenty seconds, then accidentally discovering the solution and celebrating like they just cleared a raid.

For $19.99 for the host and nothing for the second player, that’s a pretty easy pitch.

Grab a couple of controllers, get your Steam accounts sorted, fire up Discord, and prepare for several hours of tiny-car nonsense inside a giant laboratory. That’s exactly what a good co-op night should look like.

WheelMates Preview | On The Right Track