City Rider

Observed in play

You start behind the wheel on a city street. There is no countdown and no set course to follow. Traffic moves in both directions, junctions come up, and beyond the city the road opens into highway where you can hold a high speed for longer.

Money is earned while driving and spent between drives on upgrades and on other cars. Because nothing forces a restart, a session tends to end when you decide it has, rather than when you crash.

The car controls are deeper than the game first suggests. There is a handbrake on Space, a camera key, and indicators on Q and E, which do nothing for your earnings but change how you drive.

You can switch between cars with the 1 and 2 keys without leaving the road, which is the quickest way to feel the difference an upgrade actually makes.

Because there is no objective, the game asks you to set your own. Most people settle on one of three: learn the city well enough to drive it fast, earn steadily towards a specific car, or simply drive the highway and see how long a clean run lasts. The game supports all three equally and suggests none of them.

The traffic is the only real opposition. It does not behave like a racing game’s traffic, which parts politely. Cars change lanes, sit in junctions and turn across you. Driving well here means reading the road two cars ahead rather than steering quickly.

Notes for a first attempt

• Try the camera key early. The inside view and the chase view suit different speeds, and most people settle on one within a minute.
• Brake before a junction rather than steering around traffic at speed. The cars ahead change lanes without warning.
• Head for the highway once you want to earn rather than explore. Long stretches at speed are worth more than city driving.
• Spend on the first upgrade before buying a second car. The difference in how the car drives is more noticeable than the extra model.
• The indicators are cosmetic. Use them if you enjoy driving properly, but they will not change anything on the road.