Steam’s racing catalog is wide and messy – flooded with everything from dusty indies tohigh-budget simulatorsthat take tire pressure more seriously than actual F1 teams.
Not all of these titles stick the landing and deliver what they promised to the players, and while the “overwhelmingly Positive” and “Overwhelmingly Negative” review indicator on the main page of a game is a good way to guage how good a title is, it’s often difficult to ascertain whether the said game delivers what you’re specifically looking for in a racing game.
8 Best Racing Games on Nintendo Switch
These eight racing games include a bunch of different titles that will satisfy every racing fan.
Hand-picked from the numerous positively-reviewed racing titles on Steam, each of these titles aims to scratch a different sort of racing itch that only fans of racing games can point to, and they definitely deliver on that end.
8Art of Rally
There’s No GPS in the Golden Age of Rally
Art of Rally
Despite its vibrant, almost toy-like visuals, Art of Rally is anything but soft around the edges. It strips the rally genre down to its core – one car, one road, no co-driver, no HUD – just players and the winding track ahead.
Set in a world inspired by the golden era of rally from the 60s to the 80s, the game reimagines cars from Group B and beyond into low-poly legends that demand precision. There’s no rubber banding or arcade corner-cutting either. Braking points matter. So does throttle control.
The camera pulls back high above the vehicle – not for style, but to make players feel like they’re looking down at a living diorama, every skid and oversteer captured with pinpoint detail. It’s one of the only rally games where learning the roads is part of the experience – memorization matters because there’s no one yelling out pace notes.
With dozens of handcrafted tracks inspired by real-world rally locations like Norway, Japan and Kenya, and a dynamic weather system that genuinely changes how the car behaves, Art of Rally becomes less about competition and more about chasing mastery – one perfect drift at a time.
7Need for Speed Unbound
Graffiti Smoke and a Whole Lot of Grip
Need for Speed Unbound
Need for Speed Unbounddoesn’t try to mimic real-world driving physics the way most modern racers do. Instead, it embraces its roots by pushing style and attitude into overdrive. Developed by Criterion, the same studio behind Burnout, Unbound mixes cel-shaded character models with flashy animated effects that trail every drift and jump – a visual language ripped straight out of street art.
Set in the fictional city of Lakeshore, which pulls heavy inspiration from Chicago’s skyline and underpasses, the map is built for aggressive racing. Cop chases are back in full swing too, with escalating heat levels that start with cruisers and end with unrelenting Rhino trucks.
But the real hook is the risk-reward structure built into the campaign. Races don’t pay out unless players survive the night and make it back to their garage. Betting against rivals and dodging police ambushes becomes just as important as winning races.
6 Need For Speed Games With The Best Storyline
The plot isn’t the strong suit of Need for Speed games, but these titles have the best stories in the series.
And while thesingle-player campaignhas a decent arc, the online mode plays it safe – no free roam lobbies or deeper car meet systems that older NFS titles had. Still, with a solid car list, satisfying handling and visual flair that finally gives the series a distinct identity again, Unbound is the best Need for Speed entry in nearly a decade.
6Wreckfest
Crash First, Corner Later
Wreckfest plays like a love letter to twisted metal, crumpled fenders and the chaos of unsanctioned demolition racing. Built by the developers of the FlatOut series, it swaps out the idea of clean lap times for full-contact mayhem where survival is often more important than placement.
Every car in the game has a detailed soft-body damage model, meaning every hit – whether from a rival slamming into your door or a rogue tire from a destroyed lawnmower – can warp your frame, bend axles or send your radiator into the dirt. And that’s not an exaggeration: one of the career events actually has players racing modified lawnmowers in a death derby.
Tracks range from classic tarmac circuits to oval dirt tracks and even figure-eight loops that guarantee mid-race collisions. AI opponents don’t play fair either. They’ll pit-maneuver, block and ram as if every race is their last. That unpredictability gives every race a sense of tension missing from more polished sims.
Despite all the chaos, the physics engine is no joke. Cars handle like the rusty old beasts they are, with weight shifts and body roll that make sliding through a turn feel earned. For players who prefer their racing with dents, broken suspensions and twisted roll cages, Wreckfest delivers with steel-plated satisfaction.
5Burnout Paradise Remastered
Drive Fast, Crash Faster
Burnout Paradise Remastered
Even after all these years, Burnout Paradise remains one of the purest expressions of freedom in a racing game. There’s no menu-hopping or track selection – just a full city open from the start, loaded with intersections that double as race starting points and a philosophy that encourages players to crash as stylishly as they drive.
The Remastered edition doesn’t overhaul the original in dramatic ways but does clean up the visuals and bundle in all previous DLC, including Big Surf Island – a separate area packed with ramps, mega jumps and stunt challenges. That alone makes it the definitive way to revisit this classic.
Unlike traditional circuit-based racers, Paradise thrives on improvisation. There are no fixed race routes, only finish points. Players have to chart their own path through shortcuts, back alleys and off-road detours, all while trying to ram rivals off the road in slow-motion takedowns.
Its stunt challenges, time trials and collectible billboards might feel dated now, but there’s still nothing quite like chaining barrel rolls while speeding through oncoming traffic to the sound of “Paradise City” blasting through the speakers. Burnout Paradise Remastered might be a relic, but it still drives like a riot.
4Dirt Rally 2.0
Grip Is Optional, Commitment Is Not
Dirt Rally 2.0
There’s nothing forgiving about Dirt Rally 2.0. Codemasters built it for rally purists, with laser-scanned stages that capture every bump, rut and loose patch of gravel across locations like Argentina, New Zealand and Poland. Cars don’t glide through turns – they fight players at every input, especially without assists.
The biggest challenge isn’t the terrain or even the cars, but the mental game. Listening to co-driver pace notes while reacting to the road ahead in real time means every decision counts. One missed call or delayed brake and it’s an instant restart – or worse, a rollover into a ditch with broken suspension.
There’s a full career mode with car upgrades, staff management and track condition changes based on weather and previous events. Rain transforms gravel into slush. Nighttime runs reduce visibility to the flicker of headlights bouncing off trees. The tiniest error becomes fatal in these conditions.
And yet, when everything clicks – the downshift into a hairpin, the perfectly timed Scandi flick, the moment a rear wheel grazes the edge of a cliff but stays grounded – Dirt Rally 2.0 delivers a satisfaction that most racing games don’t even aim for.
Inches from the Apex, Seconds from Disaster
F1 23 doesn’t just simulate Formula 1 racing – it simulates the pressure, the politics and the perfection that defines the sport. From Codemasters’ long-running F1 series, this entry sharpens both the on-track feel and the off-track storytelling.
The braking model has been overhauled to improve consistency and trail braking, making it easier to modulate grip at the edge of control. Each car handles with distinct behavior depending on setup, track temperature and tire compound – and yes, tire degradation is modeled lap by lap.
“Braking Point 2” returns in the story mode, bringing back fictional characters Aiden Jackson and Devon Butler in a rivalry that blends soap-opera drama with technical racing scenarios. It’s a rare story mode in a sim racer that actually works, thanks to dynamic objectives and contextual cutscenes that reflect how players perform.
Online racing is cleaner than ever too, with stricter penalties, red flags and real-life circuits like Las Vegas and Qatar joining the roster. F1 23 may not reinvent the formula, but it fine-tunes the machinery to near-perfection – just like the teams it tries to replicate.
2Assetto Corsa Competizione
Built for Sim Racers, Not Sunday Drivers
Assetto Corsa Competizione
Assetto Corsa Competizione isn’t here to entertain. It’s here to replicate GT3 racing with the kind of detail that demands actual track knowledge. Built using Unreal Engine 4 and officially licensed by the GT World Challenge, every car, track and even race rule is modeled after the real thing.
Laser-scanned circuits like Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka and Monza recreate every bump and camber. Tire pressure, brake temperature and fuel loads aren’t optional tweaks – they’re mandatory to win. Pit stops have time windows and penalties. Drivers can’t even leave the pit lane early without triggering a violation.
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Players who want to enter the sim racing genre can learn the ropes by playing any of these 7 beginner-friendly titles.
The AI adapts to driving styles and defends aggressively. Rain is fully dynamic, meaning grip changes corner by corner. And thanks to triple-screen support and VR compatibility, the immersion goes far beyond what most racing sims even attempt.
1Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t just offer a world to drive in – it creates one players want to stay in. Set in a massive, densely detailed version of Mexico, the game blends wide open exploration with tightly tuned racing that somehow caters to both casual players and sim heads.
There are dense jungles with tight dirt paths, active volcanoes with winding slopes, desert highways that stretch for miles and tiny villages filled with destructible props. And unlike its predecessors, Horizon 5 makes full use of the terrain by scattering events everywhere – street races, off-road trails, drag strips and stunt challenges that never feel like filler.
The driving model walks the line between arcade and realism, with real-world cars feeling distinct but always manageable. The Festival Playlist constantly updates with seasonal content, ensuring there’s always something to work toward – whether it’s unlocking a rare Koenigsegg or completing a drift zone in the rain.
With seamless co-op, customizable races, EventLab creations and a car roster that includes over 500 vehicles, Horizon 5 doesn’t just dominate theopen-world racinggenre – it redefines it. No racing game on Steam balances breadth and quality quite like this one.
Forza Horizon: Every Game, Ranked
Forza Horizon games are perfect for players who prefer arcade racers over sim racers, and these are all the Horizon games, ranked.
