Finding more time on your hands than usual? Stay entertained with these cool car mobile games!
One way or another, we’ve all had some memorable experiences with car-related games, be they those good old days of classic Daytona racing at the arcade, Mario Kart-ing on an SNES console, or Gran Turismo (GT) on a Sony PlayStation.
While arcade machines are currently inaccessible and unless you’ve kept and maintained your old SNES or PlayStation consoles, reliving those nostalgic moments might be a little difficult. Thankfully, with current smartphone technology, there are more than adequate substitutes for these old games, and new, different ways to play a car game too! Be it building your own racing empire, or playing the role of a private hire driver, there are games for everyone. These car mobile games are bound to keep you entertained while we spend an additional four weeks being socially responsible and playing our part to avert the COVID-19 crisis.
Here, we try and test some car games that you and your family can play in the safety and comfort of your own home. Give these a go, and try not to crash all the time!
Note: All games were tried and tested on iOS devices. We’ve also rated these games on the following difficulty, addictiveness, and experience scales:
| Rating | Difficulty | Addictiveness | Experience |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Expert | “Meh, never playing this again.” | Poor |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Novice | “I’ll play this once in a while.” | Bad |
| ★★★☆☆ | Hard | “I’ll play this once a day to clear all my missions.” | Normal |
| ★★★★☆ | Normal | “Maybe just one more round…” | Good |
| ★★★★★ | Easy | “I must beat my own high score!” | Great |
GREAT SINGLE-PLAYER RACING
Real Racing 3
App Store | Google Play
A game by Electronic Arts, Real Racing 3 serves up a different racing experience. True to its name, the game offers a sense of realism as you compete against big names like Hamilton and Vettel at famous racing venues including the Bugatti Circuit. You even have to maintain and service your cars regularly!
For the uninitiated, the tutorial begins with a race, and almost like driving an actual car, players have to tilt the device left and right to steer. While using the phone’s built-in gyroscope is hardly novel, the iOS version comes with a “Connect to Apple TV” function that enhances the gaming experience by letting you play on a bigger screen. No Apple TV? No problem. All you will need is an HDMI cable and adaptor to connect your device to your screen (adaptors for iOS / Android).
With a huge variety of motorsports championships, high customisability and straightforward gameplay, Real Racing 3 is bound to keep you entertained.
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★☆ Normal
Addictiveness ★★★★★ “I must beat my own high score!”
User Experience ★★★★☆ Good
FOR ADRENALINE JUNKIES
Need for Speed: No Limits
App Store | Google Play
Many of us would be familiar with the Need for Speed franchise published by Electronic Arts. Need for Speed: No Limits is the sole mobile-only installment in the series, playable on both iOS and Android devices.
Expect familiar elements of heavy rock music and avoiding police patrol units while taking to the streets or traversing mountain courses. Finish campaigns and special car series races to acquire parts and unlock rides from familiar brands like BMW, Ford and Subaru.
The shorter-than-usual race times mean more skill is required to overtake your opponent or maintain your lead. Did I mention crashing means time penalties too? Put your mobile driving skills to the test with NFS: No Limits!
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★☆ Normal
Addictiveness ★★★☆☆ “I’ll play this once a day to clear all my missions.”
User Experience ★★★★☆ Good
PLAY WITH FRIENDS
Mario Kart Tour
App Store | Google Play
Mario Kart needs hardly any introduction, and Mario Kart Tour first made headlines when the popular Nintendo game was finally released on mobile. With the latest update, you can now compete with friends, or race against other players globally!
As the name suggests, the game follows a tour format. Every two weeks, you’ll compete in cups against other racers and stand a chance to unlock special drivers, karts and gliders that offer better bonuses during the tour.
Choose from popular Nintendo characters such as Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, or race using familiar nemeses like Bowser and Wario. Steering controls are straightforward, and you can choose between auto drift (recommended for beginners) or manual drift.
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★☆ Normal
Addictiveness ★★★★☆ “Maybe just one more round…”
User Experience ★★★★★ Great
BUILD YOUR EMPIRE
Overdrive City
App Store | Google Play
Overdrive City is a departure from regular racing games. While collecting familiar car brands and models continues to be a key motivator, the game downplays the actual racing and instead focuses on letting you build and customise your racing empire. Like most city-building games, you will need to farm materials to upgrade your cars, expand your city and build your own racing brand.
Unlike most other racing games, racing mechanics are simple and unsophisticated. All you need to do is tap and hold to accelerate, and release to brake. With no steering involved, achieving the best possible score then relies on how well you time your acceleration and braking. While achieving perfect turns ensures better scores and rewards, crashing has little consequence outside of each race.
Overdrive City is a quick and easy game to pick up and play, but as your player levels get higher, and car servicing and upgrades become more costly, these will surely help stave off any chances of gaming addiction.
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★★ Easy
Addictiveness ★★★☆☆ “I’ll play this once a day to clear all my missions.”
User Experience ★★★★★ Great
THINK QUICK, ACT QUICKER
Parking Panic
App Store | Google Play
If you’ve never been in a situation where your car is blocked from exiting the parking lot by another car… Count yourself lucky. Parking Panic adapts the classic puzzle game into a testy parking situation. You’ll not only have to manoeuver other cars within a restricted space to free your own car, you’ll have to do it while the timer counts down one minute. Any longer than that, and it’s game over for you.
The countdown timer more than makes up for the lack of exciting background music and revving car engines, and thinking and acting quickly is sure to keep your brain stimulated. No two levels are the same, and the longer you take to complete a level, the lower your score and number of stars will be. Not that we’re competing or anything…
If racing is not quite your thing and you’re looking for a quick breather during work breaks, why not try a puzzle or two?
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★★ Easy
Addictiveness ★★☆☆☆ “I’ll play this once in a while.”
User Experience ★★★☆☆ Normal
BE A PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER
Pick Me Up
App Store | Google Play
If you’ve ever been curious about what the private hire driver life is like, now’s your chance to live that life virtually. Pick passengers up, drive through the city, avoid accidents at all costs, and collect your earnings! Pick Me Up resembles a GPS route map, and small details like customer ratings and message notification pings add a realistic touch to the game.
Earned a ton of in-game cash? You’ll be able to exchange them for different cars with different characteristics to help you get through each job quicker. The number of jobs increase and roads become more complicated at every level, and you can expect a greater challenge trying to finish eight jobs in a single level without your customers getting mad!
The game’s simple tap-and-release controls mean you’ll be able to concentrate on avoiding collisions with other vehicles and getting to your next destination as soon as possible. The game is free-to-play and contains ads; you can either make a one-off payment to remove ads, or simply turn mobile data and WiFi for an ad-free experience.
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★★ Easy
Addictiveness ★★☆☆☆ “I’ll play this once in a while.”
User Experience ★★★☆☆ Normal
RECKLESS DRIVING REQUIRED
Smashy Road: Wanted
App Store | Google Play
Smashy Road: Wanted – the name says it all. The game opens with no introduction, and with only two indicators ‘L’ and ‘R’ for steering, the chase kicks off with your vehicle accelerating beyond your control. Not only do you have to steer deftly and avoid traffic, buildings and police patrol cars, you’ll also have to try and pick up some cash along the way. Trust me, you will need them if you want those better cars.
With intense music build-up and an even greater car chase, Smashy Road: Wanted will have you feeling nervous and calm all at once as you continue to evade the authorities time and again. Do so long enough, and they’ll even start sending choppers and tanks after you.
Pro tip: If you find yourself obstructed by another vehicle or a rock, tapping both left and right sides of the screen will help your car reverse out of sticky situations. You can even blow up oil tanks to stall your pursuers, but try not to take too much damage, as it’s game over once your car is wrecked.
This game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases.
Difficulty ★★★★★ Easy
Addictiveness ★★★★★ “I must beat my own high score!”
User Experience ★★★☆☆ Normal
For more ideas on what you can do to keep busy during the circuit breaker, check out our other articles here.
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