If you’re a gamer who enjoys various racing titles but is interested in smaller Indie racing games, then you’re in luck. From hyperrealist simulations to arcade-like and cartoony games, you can choose from many different experiences depending on your preference. The best thing about the indie gaming space is they’ve been able to create some super creative and extraordinary racing games, which mostly cost a fraction of the prices charged by their AAA competitors. If you’re looking for high-octane vehicle action, crazy speed, and car combat, here’s a list of various Indie Racing games that will give you the adrenaline rush you want.
1. Hot Shot Racing
For Hot Shot Racing, you get the experience of a classic arcade racer with a combination of modern sensibilities. This game is for all adrenaline junkies, as it’s all about pure speed. If you’re looking for an Indie Racing game that’s equally striking yet full of speed, this is the racing game for you.
This game’s pros include its simplicity and accessibility. Given its arcade-like style of racing game, you can easily focus on the fast-paced gameplay and fun without worrying about the complex mechanics. This is a good gaming experience for any casual gamer or those who prefer an upfront racing experience in the simplest of ways.
Indie racing games such as Hot Shot Racing are also fairly priced and, at times, introduce updated gameplay mechanics and ideas that most AAA titles might be scared to implement owing to their potential financial and large-scale risks. This is an added advantage as many Indie games evoke feelings of nostalgia for you if you played them as a youth. Hence, having them cheaper with more innovative features than AAA titles becomes more attractive if you’re a gamer on a budget.
Also, given the uniqueness in the art style that Indie games have, from the retro-inspired art style and visuals that appeal to players to develop interaction, this gives you a sense of involvement in developing the games. Their player community is actively involved in giving feedback, and the developers are also quick in responding to the needs of their users. So, if you’re looking for a game that gives you a host of quirky drivers, get affordable new racing parts to help customize your sports car to help you get to the finish line first; Hot Shot Racing is the Indie game for you.
2. Crash Drive 3
This is the third development in the Crush drive series of the multiplayer open-world stunt driving simulation built by M2H and published by 2Awesome Studio. As a player, you enjoy action-packed experiences that involve stunts and adventure opportunities through wild minigames while experiencing different challenges at each stage. You also have an open-world adventure when playing Crash Drive 3, as it features and allows users to roam freely and explore different areas.
It’s filled with various obstacles, hidden collectibles, and ramps along the way. Apart from just having an adventure. You also get to perform different stunts, flips, and tricks that will help you earn additional rewards and points.
You also have multiple players as the game supports it. You can easily make teams with friends or compete against other players in various game modes, which can be an amazing experience and help you build your gaming community. Through these, you and your team can participate in competitive events, challenges, and races to help showcase your driving skills to the rest of the gaming community.
Crash Drive 3 also offers features such as customizable vehicles, collectibles, and secret areas, which is impressive for indie race games. To customize your vehicle, you can easily unlock and personalize your car to suit your preference, from the set of tires you prefer to your custom car color. With each vehicle coming with its own unique strengths and features, this is a fantastic addition to have.
3. Wreckfest
Do you consider yourself a fan of destruction derby games? Then Wreckfest is the game for you, as it’s one of the most exciting indie race games that combines derby chaos with traditional racing while giving you plenty of vehicle action. You can enjoy aggressive vehicle combat as the game focuses heavily on this and encourages players to always obliterate and cause mayhem when racing.
The realistic physics and car damage when racing makes it even more exciting. Cars get deformed and damaged during crashes and collisions in a more realistic way. The developers have also ensured that each dent, scratch, and damage is precise in detail and dynamic. This means that in each collision, the impacts affect the cars’ appearance and performance.
Also, given sometimes the cars may end up underperforming, this is one of the indie racing games that offer you the option of repairing your car. You can easily customize your car and upgrade it as well to help improve its performance and overall aesthetics. You also get an extensive array of vehicles ranging from repairable salvage vehicles for sale to trucks, each with unique handling characteristics. You also get to choose if you want to be part of a team, as the game allows online multiplayer and single-player campaigns. For the multiplayer challenges, you can work as a team or against each other in different chaotic events and races.
Given the game offers a variety of race types, such as demolition derbies, banger races, and traditional races, among many others, you may need to change or upgrade your car according to the race you choose to participate in. Also, it supports modding, allowing the player to create and share their customized content, including skins, tracks, and new cars. This helps developers continue providing proper updates, fixing bugs, and generating new content to keep the game new and engaging you as a player.
4. BeamNG.drive
This realistic vehicle simulation game offers a range of gaming features. These include advanced, highly realistic physics engines and emphasis on having realistic deformations and the behavior of vehicles upon collision. These include its soft body physics that allows the cars to get crumpled, deform, and even bend when run into or hit an obstacle, giving an unmatched level of practicality.
The game also allows for vehicle customization, letting players modify their vehicles to fit their preferences and terrain. Because you have an open-world environment, your car may need to be customized to go through various terrain, such as off-road tracks, roads, and different landscapes you would want to explore. Given how realistic and detail-oriented damage can be due to crashes, you must either fix the car or choose another one. You’ll need to find a transmission shop if the transmission gets damaged.
The game offers a wide range of vehicles, including buses, trucks, cars, and more, that can handle each unique adventure, given their unique characteristics. It also has a robust modding community that allows you, as a player, to take part in helping develop the vehicles, scenarios, and maps. With frequent updates, developers can implement users’ needs and add new features while refining the physics and gameplay.
5. Street Legal Racing: Redline
If you’re looking for an Indie Game that involves street races, an open-world adventure, and allows for vehicle customization, this is it. Redline is a legend among Indie Racing games and is a popular global motorized vehicle simulator offering both on-track and night drag racing events. One of the game’s best features is its detailed level of personalization for the vehicles you get.
As a player, you can opt for a new car from an auction or car dealership or choose a used one from the local shop, which may be customized for you or totaled. You could also construct your vehicle from scratch with just the chassis. Unlike most video games, in Redline, you may need to manually replace each damaged part if your car crashes.
You may also need the expertise of a diesel engine mechanic so that your car gets the best upgrades to help you win future races. Other exciting features that you may enjoy include street racing and challenges, salvage yards, dyno tuning, day-night cycle, modding support, and multiplayer support, among many other features. The game’s focus on reality and attention to detail allows you an unbeatable user experience.
6. Automation
Ever wanted to build the car of your dreams? With Automation, you can build your car from scratch at various auto body shops in the game. You can choose your engine design, including the cylinder count, compression ratio, and more. You also get to analyze, optimize, and even test your designs. You can easily push the limits of any design and go beyond what is possible.
As a player, you can also choose the car’s body shape, materials to include, styling features, and dimensions. You’re involved in the research and development of the car company as a tycoon as well as production, sales, and marketing. While this may be exciting, the game goes further to do market analysis to help you get accurate information about the various market strategies and car designs. A worthwhile investment for any car enthusiast.
7. Meow Motors
A name like Meow Motors will make you think the game is boring and girly. However, this is far from the truth, as the kitties are the stars and heroes of this go-kart racing game. This is a well-polished and engaging game with the players featured as these adorable and colorful cats with different abilities and unique personalities. You’re expected to navigate through various tracks drifting past exploding bombs and mines, attack your opponents by blasting bubble gum at them, and many other amazing features.
You also get to collect power-ups during the race to increase your speed and become the fastest driver on the track.You also get to collect power-ups during the race to increase your speed and become the fastest driver on the track. The game has evolved from traditional kart racing games to a more classic one, including vehicle customization such as accessories and different paint jobs in a car shop, diverse tracks that range from snowy mountains to sunny beaches, and various quirky visuals that add charm to the atmosphere. This offers a family-friendly experience, and the cute characters and easy-to-navigate mechanics make it suitable even for children.
8. Intertial Drift
If you were an adrenaline junky in the early 2000s and got excited by either Burnout or Need for speed, then Intertial Drift is a worthy contender. This is one of the best Indie Racing games, offering both single and multiplayer features, unique mechanical drift features, stylish visuals, and follows logical physics, including the damage to your car. In case of damage that can be substantial to your car to the extent that it affects mobility, you can get your car fixed and upgrade it using various truck parts to improve its optimization and strength.
The twin-stick drifting feature allows players to use different buttons/sticks to navigate the different terrains independently while controlling their drift modes, adding a new level of dexterity and accuracy for any game player. Making this whole new ball game for precision drifting. Other features, such as challenging tracks, allow you to learn proper navigation, time attack, and ghost mode, which allows you to compete against other players’ best timings or ghosts for extra challenges. You can also save and analyze your game afterward with the replay system, which can help you analyze where you need to improve and upgrade your skills.
9. Project Cars 2
This game offers over 189 car choices, ranging from Honda, Ferrari, and Porsche to BMWs, among many others. Also, it includes over 140 track designs and 60 different sceneries. Featured with different weather conditions in real-time, you experience rain, snow, and fog, which may impact your tire’s grip, affect visibility, and hence the need for windshield calibration and overall driving experience.
The game also hosts several pit stops where you, as the player, can easily stop for a tire change, gas refill, or repairs to help optimize your vehicle’s performance. The realistic mode input by the developers is also seen when the car is damaged, as this affects its ability to perform, making any crash or collision very impactful. Given that you can also include a virtual reality experience, this game provides an immersive racing experience overall. For anyone who enjoys indie racing games, this is a top choice.
10. Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
This car mechanic simulator allows you to rebuild your car from scratch and customize it to your liking. You get all the creative freedom and experience the challenges of rebuilding a car. These include painting, repainting, tuning, and even testing and driving the car. You can easily customize unique cars that you find either in the junkyard or barn find modules. Get to establish your repair shop with this simulator which takes into consideration the attention to detail you input.
You can get your cars from either auction, where you can purchase old cars, spruce them up and resale them at a profit or add them to your collection of cars. It also features a photo mode which can be useful to showcase the car before and after. Enjoy each mission and its unique challenges you must meet about time and varying difficulty.
There are numerous Indie racing games that you can enjoy besides AAA titles. You don’t have to spend a lot on such games to enjoy yourself. Pick what works best for you and play to your heart’s content.