Five great indie racing games you may have missed

Sim racing can be so intense sometimes.

Handily, smaller, independent racing games exist to help take the seriousness out of racing and also provide a sideways look with fresh ideas.

Here are five recently released indie racing games we think you should try.

Each game here has been released across the past 12 months, including ports to different platforms.

Super Woden GP 2

• PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

A retro-infused isometric racing game, Super Woden GP 2 is a sequel to 2021’s original from sole developer, Spaniard ViJuDa.

It’s a step forward in pretty much every perceivable area and uses the power of nostalgia in various guises as its bait.

There’s a gameplay experience that requires practice, rhythm and a specific technique that will be learned over time. But perhaps the main draw is nearly 200 unlicensed vehicles, all heavily inspired by legendary machinery.

Upon booting the game for the first time, the inspiration behind it infiltrates your vision and your eardrums. Let’s just say, that if you are a fan of early Gran Turismo titles, you can’t help but smile.   

You will find yourself climbing the performance ladder in a satisfying manner, moving from low-powered rust buckets and ‘70s mini-vans, through rally cars and touring classics, all the way to GTs and prototypes. 

Aside from getting the important bits right, this game also has multiplayer elements to appease the competitive spirit, a well-balanced difficulty level and some specific gameplay and handling traits that provide a unique personality.

Initially released on PC in November last year, this game just became available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It also specifically suits Nintendo’s handheld, which is something many racing games fall short of achieving.

Rush Rally Origins

• PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Rush Rally Origins may be the oldest game on this list, but it thoroughly deserves its spot on your radar.

The main appeal is the gameplay itself, this rally title provides a joyous and detailed driving experience out on the stages.

The unlicensed, but recognisable, cars each have their own unique handling characteristics, mimicking that of the machine they are based on, and you can apply those classic rallying techniques to throw your weight around and glide through the corners.

Solo developer and founder of Brownmonster Games, Stephen Brown, injects fun into the details too, countering the lack of licenses with humour for rally fans. Let’s see how “Timo Slalom” and “Sebastien Okay” get on in their “Not A Ford”. 

This is yet another isometric racer, although you can also switch to a top-down heli cam on the fly should you wish. Being rally focused, however, the addition of pacenotes and an active co-driver perfectly complements these perspectives.

It’s not just you against the clock however, there are also races where you compete against five AI opponents along the same stretches of road. These roads might be tarmac, grave, or snow, and each location has its own set of challenges and qualities that keep things interesting, much like the vehicles.

Given its mobile routes, superlative performance on Nintendo Switch (it arrived on PlayStation late last year, too) and streamlined gameplay, this truly is a pick-up-and-play racing experience, in every sense. 

Distance

• PC (Steam), PS4 and PS5

This is a time-trial-based arcade racing game, set in an incredibly vibrant dystopian futuristic landscape with fast-paced action and a thumping soundtrack to boot.

Distance is fast-paced, sweat-inducing, frenetic action.

In short, the campaign features you, the car, traversing through an atmospheric facility that you need to escape while it goes into meltdown. You’re introduced to the mechanics one by one whilst everything in your path tries to slow you down.

Walls, saw blades and even frickin laser beams that slice your car in whatever way they feel fit, can cause a loss of control depending on the damage – your vehicle may end up looking like some sort of futuristic block of cheese.

Initially released for PC in 2019, Distance has now entered the console market, in the form of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions.

Alongside the latest releases came the form of a major update on all platforms, the Kinetic Update v1.5, which contains a whole array of new levels to tackle and a bunch of updates throughout the title, especially important for you Steam Deck users out there.

New Star GP

• PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Now, which racing game should you play if you are looking for a multi-season in-depth Formula ! career mode, involving car and team development, staff perks and upgrades, rivalries, press interviews, tyre and fuel strategies, dynamic weather and rewinds? That’s right, New Star GP. 

It’s yet another retro-inspired title, New Star Games using the allure of nostalgia to draw people in and then keep them engaged with a strong core experience.  

Starting in the ‘80s, you race your way through the decades, picking up speed and bitter enemies in the process

These rivalries you develop demonstrate the depth this career experience provides, with both off-track decisions such as answering questions from journalists, and on-track antics (i.e. collisions and overtake) affecting exactly how that rival treats you.

Alongside managing road rage, you must keep track of resources to develop your car effectively and force your way to the front of the field.

The gameplay itself is vibrant, energetic… Fierce. When it comes to your strategy calls and overtakes, you must be as bold as the dev team’s colour palette. The AI drivers regularly come to blows, creating monster shunts that add to the adrenaline.

Pittops are a game of chicken with your fuel tank, and that feeling of crossing the line first, holding off Giles Villeneuve (I mean Giles Verville, naturally) to take the title, is all the more impactful given the challenge and the decisions you have made along the way.

When the race is won, you have read the comical news report and further stirred Il Leone’s pot, you can’t help but think… is this more fun than F1 24?

Horizon Chase 2

• Apple Arcade, PC (Epic), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

With Horizon Chase 2, a deep-rooted sense of competition transcends its overtly childish sensibilities.

All you have to do is hit the gas and occasionally a boost button. Yes, you also sometimes need to steer, but for the most part, the driving is inert, precision is not a requisite skill.

At least initially. Get hooked into the leaderboards, Super Trophies (objectives higher than gold rating) and online multiplayer, and you must learn the precise moment when a little lift of the throttle avoids a time-consuming spin.

Easy to pick up, difficult to master – a tentpole structure that usually signals a great game.

You start each race from the back of the grid, avoiding rivals in a way that harks back to classics such as Lotus Turbo Challenge mixed with Out Run.

What appeals here is a sense of joyful enthusiasm. The visuals are outlandish, with more colour than a bag of M&Ms and extraordinarily varied. Crucially, for such a fast-paced game, it runs as smooth as soul music, with rock-steady framerates.

You play through six main countries, with their own distinct regions within. It means as you progress through the main campaign, each event feels unique as if there isn’t a single repeated track.

Compared to the 2015 original, the aesthetic is perhaps overblown, and now there are cosmic items and vehicle upgrades, all of which threaten to spoil the purity. 

Horizon Chase 2 is technically no longer an indie game too as Brazilian developers Aquiris have been acquired by Epic Games to work on Fortnite. However, the main creation process and initial release were before that acquisition. It’s just that the recent console versions arrived in May after PC last year.

For all its brashness and corporate overlords, the sequel has not forgotten what made the original so moreish – a testament to the Brazilian development team’s core vision. Simplistic, and all the better for it.

Honourable Mentions

Those are five epic indie racing games released, in one form or another, within the past year. However, here are a couple of honourable mentions:

SuperSpec Rallycross 

Another top-down arcade-inspired gameplay experience, SuperSpec Rallycross is packed full of ‘90s energy. Capturing the intense spirit of the sport it portrays, you are pitched against a pack of aggressive AI drivers for a series of mixed surface races.

There are joker laps, jumps, classic cars and liveries from the worlds of rally and rallycross over the decades, as well as real-world inspired venues.

The progression system is like Mario Kart, win cups to unlock the next, as well as cars that you can use as you move through. It’s a simple-to-pick-up, quick blast of sideways enjoyment, with high-octane battles galore. 

Karting Superstars

Another top-down indie title that you probably have heard of, is Circuit Superstars… But did you know that the creators, Original Fire Games, produced a sequel of sorts?

I say sequel, but maybe more of a spin-off, as Karting Superstars retains the charm and style of its older sibling, but this time presents things from a different angle… Literally.

The switch to chase cam allows you to see many of the same circuits from a totally fresh perspective, providing the same thrills and spills but this time in karts instead of cars.

The family-led studio has partnered up with iRacing since this game was released, however, so you can expect a true Circuit Superstars sequel in the coming years.