Your Top 5 Free Racing Games on Steam

Your Top 5 Free Racing Games on Steam

From futuristic aircraft to 1960s hill climbing, there are plenty of free racing games to be found on Steam. Here are the five free Steam racing games with the best user reviews!

Photo credit: Taranasus

Gaming can be an expensive hobby, and sim racing has more than its fair share of expensive games and peripherals. If you’re feeling a little bit weak in the wallet, you may want to consider taking a look at some free racing games on Steam. There are a lot of duds out there, so we’ve gone to the effort of picking out the five free racing games that are most popular with the Steam community.

5. Interstate Drifter 1999

Minimalist, challenging, retro. These are the three words that best describe Interstate Drifter 1999. The game consists of a few stages and eight cars, only one of which is unlocked at the start of the game. Gameplay is all about drifting your car around 8-bit streets to collect ‘bits’ laying on the ground. As you progress, you will be presented with AI ‘rivals’ in certain levels, which you can race to the end of the level. All in all, the game is fun. It’s easy to learn, yet hard to master, but it’s not likely to leave you craving more.

4. Fuel Renegades

This is a slightly sad entry to the list. Fuel Renegades is an arcade-style game brimming with potential. If you’ve ever played F-Zero, Fuel Renegades isn’t far off from a modern-day version of that. A futuristic setting with flying vehicles racing one another at incredibly high speeds sounds like a lot of fun, and mostly it is!

FUEL RENEGADES
Fuel Renegades is the most visually polished game on the list. Photo credit: ESAT

There are a couple of big issues with the game, however. First, the contact model between vehicles feels dreadful and it is very frustrating to play with. More significantly though, Fuel Renegades is currently little more than an excellent proof of concept. The game has been listed on Steam as early access since 2018, and yet it doesn’t seem like it’s receiving any updates anymore. As a result, there is a major lack of content in the game. It’s a shame, because the core gameplay and setting are both really quite good. But we don’t complain, as it’s for free!

3. Vecter

Alright, this one isn’t technically a racing game, but it involves piloting a vehicle, going fast and avoiding crashes, as well as competing against others to get a high score, so I’m calling it close enough. Vecter is an endless runner game set in, you guessed it, a futuristic neon world. Aesthetically the game resembles geometry wars, but in Vecter you pilot a small flying vehicle with which you have to dodge, duck and dive around an array of obstacles.

VECTER
This retro-styled racer demands extreme levels of focus and incredibly quick reactions. Photo credit: Taranasus

Picking up certain power-ups help you to avoid the debris, as well as boosting your score, but the main aim is to go as far as possible without crashing. As you progress, you’ll be shown where others finished their runs, giving a great sense of competition to the game. As with most free games it’s pretty simple, but the gameplay is enjoyable and that’s what really matters.

2. Classic Racers

If you’re a fan of the 1960s then you’ll almost certainly be interested in Classic Racers. This game lets you drive hill climb events in knock-off versions of iconic cars, with surprisingly good-looking backdrops for a free title. In game you can complete the ‘campaign’ events, unlocking faster cars as you go through, or you can simply go for some free play.

CLASSIC RACERS
Classic Racers includes the renowned ‘Fred GT50’ with its iconic ‘Glul’ livery. Photo credit: Vision Reelle

The gameplay is quite satisfying and maintains a good balance between casual and challenging. There aren’t that many tracks or cars, but for a free game this is a minor complaint. There are also online leaderboards so you can see where you stack up on any given track. Give this game a go, it’s simple but fun.

1. Death Rally (Classic)

Originally, Death Rally was released way back in 1996. It made a comeback in 2014 as it was added to Steam, and the gameplay holds up surprisingly well. The game is a classic top-down arcade-style racer. The controls feel intuitive and responsive, and the game presents you with a ranking system for you to climb up against 19 AI drivers. This system helps to make the game feel alive and as though the racing would still be going on whether you were there or not. Overall, this is a fantastic little game considering it is available for free.

Which free racing games are your favourite? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!

My name is Jacob and I have been writing for OverTake since November of 2020. I come from the UK, but I'm now living in Berlin. I love to watch, write about and sometimes shout about all forms of racing.