Shape-shifting, sometimes stylized as Shape-Shifting or ShapeShifting, is a casual racing game in the rush subcategory. The player tries to win races by shifting the appearance and abilities of a stickman when faced with new terrain and dangerous obstacles.
The stickman turns into or uses a vehicle, such as a sedan, bicycle, hang glider, helicopter or scooter. The player can even shift it into more specialized purpose and terrain vehicles, including a dune buggy, locomotive, rowboat, snowmobile and tracked drill. They switch to the most appropriate vehicle just before or when they reach a new terrain, such as the bicycle before a narrow wood bridge, the helicopter before long shipping containers blocking the race track, and the snowmobile before ice and snow patches.
The player's goals go beyond winning each race. They also attempt to earn enough cash to perform speed and vehicle upgrades. For example, they can upgrade the hang glider with the ability to travel a greater distance through the air. If they drive a car or other fast vehicle off a ramp and then switch to the glider, they can make the avatar glide faster and farther above obstacles that would slow it down at ground level.
Shape-shifting rewards the player with a cash payment that they can multiply up to five times per win with an ad view. They can also use ad views to perform upgrades. Otherwise, they use the cash to level up the stickman and vehicles on cards that pop up on the screen before a race.
