City Racing Games

In city racing games you drive among buildings, intersections and traffic: sometimes you race other cars and sometimes you work as a cabbie. There are more than 100, free, in your browser, and not all of them are races in the strict sense.

Three ways to drive around town

The first is street racing. Street Racer Underground, Street Car Race Ultimate, Wheels of Rage and Ultimate Car Racing Game 2020 mix speed with an urban setting: you have to watch your turns, the intersections and the obstacles that pop up in the middle of the road. Unlike a circuit, the route has corners and isn't entirely predictable.

The second is taxi games. London Taxi Driver, Sim Taxi 2, Hey Taxi, Taxi Driver and Uber Taxi Driver 3D ask you to pick up passengers and take them where they're going. There's usually a time limit, but crashes count too: arriving fast with a wrecked car rarely pays off. In this kind of game, driving well matters more than driving fast.

The third is driving challenges. In Parking Fury 3D, LaneChage 3D or Obstacle Cross Drive Simulator the goal isn't to beat anyone, but to park, change lanes or get past obstacles with precision. The list also has titles with characters, like Sonic Racer, Sonic Boom Town 2 and Chicken Race, and a few that are harder to classify, like Crowd City or Mining Truck 2.

How to choose

• You want a sense of speed: Street Racer Underground or Street Car Race Ultimate.
• You prefer a slower pace: London Taxi Driver or Sim Taxi 2.
• You like precision: Parking Fury 3D.

In the city it helps to look farther ahead than what's in front of you and to anticipate intersections. Taxi games want you to get from A to B without losing time in crashes, and street races punish last-second braking.

Before you start, check two things: whether the route is marked or you pick it yourself, and whether the traffic is a real obstacle or just scenery. You'll see within the first few seconds, and it changes how you should drive. If you're playing with little ones, the character games like Sonic Racer or Chicken Race tend to be easier than the taxi ones.