FutureGrind looks a bit like a far-future version of Trials, the series of tough 2.5D motocross racers. The focus, judging by the new gameplay video above, is a mixture of survival and stunts: you grind your brightly-coloured bikes along neon rails, backflipping your way between rails to build up a combo. If you touch the wrong-coloured rail, you explode.
You'll control different types of bikes—one has both a blue and a pink wheel, each of which can only touch a rail of the same colour. Another bike has just one wheel that changes colour every time you leave a rail. Both designs necessitate plenty of quick rotations and frantic jumps, and FutureGrind will have an instant restart feature for the many times you'll muck up.
It will have "dozens" of tracks and leaderboards to climb, according to the Steam page, but it will also have a story running through it. You'll have to keep sponsors happy to earn new bikes and tracks, and in the background, "someone is watching your every move. Who is it, and what do they really want with you?" It seems a bit sinister for all the bright lights and pumping bass but, hey, I'm willing to give it a shot.
It's being made by Canadian studio Milkbag Games, which has previously made logic puzzler Sidewords and Photobomb, a social media investigation game that you can grab for free here. FutureGrind doesn't have a release date yet, but I reckon it's worth keeping an eye on.
