How to play City Drive

You drive a small car, seen from above, through the real streets of a city. Pass through the numbered checkpoints in order and finish at the checkered ring. The clock starts when you first press the gas and stops at the finish. Restart as often as you like.

Gas and brake: the up and down arrows (or W and S), the Gas and Brake buttons on a phone, or the triggers on a controller. Hold the brake when you’re stopped to reverse.
Steer: the left and right arrows (or A and D). The faster you go, the less the wheels turn, as in a real car.
Handbrake: Space (or Shift), the Drift button on a phone, or X on a controller. It locks the rear wheels so the back of the car slides round: good for tight corners.
Restart: R, Enter or Backspace, the Restart button, or Y on a controller.
Map: north stays up unless you tick “Turn the map with the car” (or press M). The small map in the corner shows the whole area and your checkpoints, and an arrow at the edge points to the next one.

How the car handles

The car has weight and grip. Its tires hold the road up to a limit and then slide, so going into a corner too fast makes the front wash wide, and too much gas mid-corner can kick the back out. Braking moves weight onto the front wheels, and the car keeps its momentum when it slides. Let go of the steering and the front wheels line up with the way you’re moving, which catches most slides.

Streets give the best grip. Pavements, plazas and grass are slower and slipperier, and water slows you right down. Buildings are solid, and so is the edge of the map.

Modes

Today’s route is the same for everyone and changes at midnight; the city takes turns day by day. Practice gives you a new route in any of the four cities whenever you want one, and you can share its link. Free drive has no clock: just explore.

Medals

Every route has four target times. Bronze, silver and gold get harder in turn. The author time is what our test driver did: it sticks to the streets, keeps to a safe speed for every corner and never drifts, so you can beat it by taking braver lines.

Tips

Brake in a straight line before a corner, then turn. Braking hard while turning is when the car slides.
For a sharp corner at speed, tap the handbrake as you turn in, then get back on the gas.
Watch the faint car. It’s your best run so far, played again, so you can see where you lose time.
Parks and plazas can be shortcuts, but they’re slippery, and they don’t always lead through.

Questions

Are these the real streets? Yes. The streets, buildings and parks come from OpenStreetMap, a map made by volunteers, for Downtown San Francisco, Midtown Manhattan, the area around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Westminster in London. One-way streets and traffic lights are left out.

Can every route be finished? Yes. Before you see a route, our test driver drives it, and a route it can’t finish is replaced.

Where are my times saved? In your browser on this device, along with the ghost of your best run. Clearing your site data resets them.

Can I play on a phone? Yes. Hold it sideways for the biggest view, with the steering on the left and the pedals on the right.