Racing Games
Fifty racing games, weighted heavily towards drifting and stunt riding rather than circuit racing. Most run at a solid frame rate in a browser tab and need nothing more than the arrow keys.
All 50 games run in a browser tab with nothing to install.
Drift, stunt and arcade racing
Browser racing has settled into three shapes. Drift games ask you to hold a controlled slide through a corner for as long as possible and score you on it. Stunt games give you a bike or a car and a course full of ramps and hazards, and expect you to fail repeatedly. Arcade racers are the closest to traditional racing, with a track, opponents and a finish line.
The drift games are the strongest group here. Drift Hunters is the one to try first: a proper garage of tuneable cars, a scoring system that rewards holding a slide rather than just going fast, and enough progression to keep you coming back. Drift Hunters Pro and Drift Hunters 2024 are variations on the same idea.
The Moto X3M series
Moto X3M is the most complete series in the category, and all the main entries are here: the original, Moto X3M 3, and the Winter, Pool Party and Spooky Land seasonal versions. Each is a side-on motorbike stunt game where the course is built to kill you and the only real skill is learning how much to lean going into each jump.
They are best played for time rather than survival. Every level can be finished slowly, but the three-star rating pushes you to take the fast line, and the fast line is usually the one that flips you into a saw blade the first six times you try it.
Where to start
Drift Boss is the gentlest entry point: one button, one endless road, and a rhythm you pick up in about thirty seconds. Smash Karts is the most fun with other people, being a kart game with weapons and short round-based matches. Highway Traffic and Highway Racer Pro are the best of the traffic-weaving games, where the challenge is reading gaps at speed rather than steering precisely.
For something closer to a real driving game, Super Car Driving and Edy's Car Simulator both give you an open area and a car with reasonably modelled handling, and no objective at all. They are the ones to pick when you want to drive rather than compete.
Two players on one keyboard
2 Player Crazy Racer and Car Football are built for two people sharing a keyboard. Car Football in particular is worth a look: it is a simplified take on the vehicle football idea, and it works far better in a browser than it has any right to.