PC gaming handhelds, including Steam Deck, are perfect for racing games. While some of the newer titles either don’t work that well or encounter frame rates lower than 60, there are loads of banging racing games that are light on resources and run wonderfully on the Steam Deck at high frame rates.
I’ve spent more than 36 hours in Rush Rally 3 and have no regrets. The game’s a love letter to the PS2-era Colin McRae Rally titles from Codemasters. It offers a fun yet challenging driving model, a good number of legendary racing cars (the names are different, but you’ll have no trouble recognizing your favorites), mountains of content, and retro-perfect visuals.
What I like the most about Rush Rally 3 is that you can finish most stages in under five minutes, and have a pace timer informing you how you’re standing at each moment of the stage (you can turn it off if you want). This allows for a quick restart once you notice you’re lagging behind considerably without thinking you wasted time because most stages are quite brief yet very well-designed.
There’s a bunch of championships to win, a good selection of rallycross races that can be quite challenging on higher difficulties, and generous cash rewards. The good news is that each car handles differently and can be upgraded to an extent, keeping things fresh. Oh yeah, you also have regular multiplayer events, as if there wasn’t enough content already. In a nutshell, this is a perfect retro rally game that works wonderfully on the Deck.
Rush Rally Origins comes from the same kitchen that cooked Rush Rally 3, but this one takes a top-down approach to racing, offering a challenging experience from the old-school isometric perspective.
The handling model has been tweaked compared to Rush Rally 3 to offer a more responsive experience from the top-down perspective, but the rest is pretty similar.
There is a great selection of classic cars, almost 50 stages to drive around from all around the world, mountains of single-player content that will make you busy for dozens of hours, and retro-perfect visuals that will immediately teleport you to the late 90s-era of gaming. Perfection.
Circuit Superstars is a modern take on classic top-down racers, featuring an enjoyable simcade driving model closer to simulation than the arcade end of the spectrum. You’ve also got stylized visuals that aren’t too demanding for the Deck as long as you don’t crank the visuals to the max.
The game includes various championships, with a steady progression system that puts you behind the wheel of 16 different car categories: from classic racers to modern GT machines to Formula 1 buzzers, you’ll get to experience racing cars from all eras of motorsport.
This is a rare top-down racer leaning more toward the simulation part of the equation. Another sim-like feature you’ll find is pit stops, meaning you must watch for tires and fuel when racing.
I like how Circuit Superstars allows drivers to develop different strategies for different car types. For example, some racing cars are easier to control and develop tire wear slowly than others, allowing you to spend one extra turn on worn tires to build an advantage over AI drivers. But if you try doing that with muscle or open-wheel cars, you’re cooked.
All in all, Circuit Superstars is one of the best top-down racers out there, and I cannot recommend it enough to every Steam Deck owner.
Similar to Rush Rally 3, Art of Rally is a love letter to rally, spanning eras from the 1960s to the days of Group B, and the game absolutely slaps. The best thing about it is that the stages are designed in a way to evoke a feeling of starring in some super-cool rally video collage.
Add the handling model that rewards powerslides in acute corners and hairpins and a unique camera angle placed quite high above and behind your car, looking like a drone filming you in real-time, and you’re going to feel like the star of some best-of retro rally video collection.
The game features a good number of rally stages and lots of classic rally racers. The selection isn’t as rich as in Rush Rally 3, but there’s enough content to keep you glued to your Steam Deck’s screen for about 20 hours.
Parking Garage Rally Circuit is a low-fi rally game that’s feels like it was made for the Steam Deck and other PC gaming handhelds. Its retro visuals nail the old-school atmosphere while allowing the game to run on a potato.
The game’s arcade driving model, rewarding drifting in every corner, is so satisfying, and its unique tracks taking place in parking garages across the USA bring a breath of fresh air compared to other rally games.
I simply love this game because it gives me the same rush as other greats from the rally genre while offering uniquely designed tracks while forgoing the genre’s core tenets and delivering a rally experience unlike any other. A definite recommendation.
Remember FlatOut and FlatOut 2? Well, the studio behind two classics, Bugbear, has made another demolition-focused racer in the form of Wreckfest. What I like the most about Wreckfest is that the game gives you reign over how to arrive at the finish line. Want to destroy everything in your path? That’s totally fine. Want to race cleanly while everyone around you destroys the bejeezus out of each other? That’s fine as well.
Another great thing about the game is there aren’t just a couple of AI drivers who drive like maniacs and always finish on the podium; everyone can win here. This removes the pressure of always having to finish among the top three to win a championship, allowing you to let loose when you want, crash into everyone, finish eighth in one race, and still win the trophy at the end.
The game includes regular races but also all kinds of demolition derby events, such as, well, demolition derbies, banger oval and figure-of-eight races, and weirdly unique events like one when you have to survive against a horde of buses while driving a Reliant Robin-like car that’s anything but stable and sturdy.
Speaking of FlatOut 2, did you know the game is still available on Steam? If you ask me, it’s an absolute must-have for Steam Deck owners. I finished it a couple of years ago on my Deck, and I had tons of fun, like every other time I’ve played it in the 19 years since the game came out (I’m old, I know).
Aside from the gameplay itself, the best thing about FlatOut 2 is the banger soundtrack that includes bands like Wolfmother (who I heard first in this game), Audioslave, Rob Zombie, Megadeth, Rise Against, and Underoath, among others. This is why I always recommend this one over FlatOut Ultimate Carnage (basically a remaster of FlatOut 2). Ultimate Carnage is fine, but has a much weaker soundtrack.
FlatOut 2 is another demolition derby-themed game. But unlike Wreckfest, which has a nice-feeling, simcadey handling model that leans slightly towards simulation, FlatOut 2 is pure arcade racing. I love it because I can destroy everything in my path and still finish first at the end. My only nitpick is that once you reach the third, fastest car class, you can’t crash into everyone else anymore and have to watch your driving to finish on the podium.
Want to play Gran Turismo 4 but from a top-down perspective? Super Woden GP 2 will grant your wish and then some. You’ll know what I’m talking about as soon as you reach the main menu of the single-player campaign. This is an awesome retro racer with a challenging driving model, a bunch of unique cars to buy, lots of upgrades for every car, and a ton of different tracks to race on.
The campaign will take you at least a couple dozen hours to finish, and the racing can be quite challenging. This is why I don’t recommend this one to casual virtual drivers. The game can be quite punishing, especially early on, because you need to earn stars to advance. At times, earning just enough to get to the next tier can be quite difficult, frustrating even. If you adore a nice challenge, though, you’ll love this one.
Yearning for an old-school arcade racer but don’t want to deal with emulators? Take a look at the Horizon Chase Turbo, which is basically a 90s arcade racer with a fresh coat of paint. The driving model is pure arcade bliss. All you’ve got to think about is overtaking opponents in front of you while maintaining as high speed as possible during the entirety of each race.
The car selection is decent enough not to get jaded from driving the same wheels over and over again. The track offering is rich, with a great variety of environments but a relatively simple track design. This is actually a strong point here, since you’ll mostly focus on finishing first and pulling off perfect overtakes. Another banger of a racer for your Steam Deck.
I remember playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit for the first time. It was so good, such a massive improvement over the bland NFS: Undercover, and a great addition to the 2009 NFS: Shift. Those were the golden years of the Need for Speed franchise.
Anyway, Criterion outdid themselves here, and the remastered version of the game is just as fun as the original and plays great on the Steam Deck. You’ve got a somewhat limited but meticulously curated selection of cars, great visuals, a superb arcade handling model, and a great campaign that puts you behind the wheel of both race drivers and law enforcement.
Burnout Paradise Remastered is another banger of an arcade racing game, with some of the best crash animations I’ve ever seen and a huge open-world map to race around. The only issue with these two games is the EA launcher. You’ve been warned.
New Star GP is an open-wheel racer with cute, low-poly visuals and an arcade driving model. Similarly to Circuit Superstars, the game includes pit stops, and tire wear; and gives you reign over your racing team, giving you something to do between races.
New Star GP doesn’t only include regular races where you race against AI opponents. You can also partake in time trials, checkpoint racing, and pit yourself against single rivals in one-on-one events.
Despite only featuring open-wheel racing, New Star GP includes a number of features that add lots of variety to racing. You will advance through multiple decades, each with different cars; you can upgrade your vehicle, take care of your team, select unique staff perks to make every race unique, and much more. This is a hidden gem and one of the best racing games for the Steam Deck.
Like racing games, but your favorite racer is Wipeout, not NFS or Colin McRae Rally? Don’t worry; I’ve got something for you and your Steam Deck. BallisticNG is a near-perfect retro-looking antigravity combat racer that doesn’t only emulate legends of the genre but plays better than most of them.
Probably the best thing about BallisticNG is the way it treats the challenge. Sure, you can race at breakneck speeds if you want, but if you’re after a less demanding experience, simply lower the base speed, turn on assists, or pick a ship more suited to your racing style, and you’re off to the races!
The game includes a nice selection of futuristic tracks, lots of single-player content, and plenty of different ships that differ in appearance and the way they handle. As for the soundtrack, it is Chef’s Kiss. Best of all, you can get it for about 15 bucks, which is a steal for a game as good as BallisticNG.
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Bonus: Most of Codemasters’s Dirt and Grid Games
Last but not least, while I cannot recommend getting any of the following games since they aren’t available on Steam anymore, I can say that if you can get ahold of the first three Dirt and Grid games from Codemasters, they all play great on the Deck and are fantastic racing games.
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Valve Steam Deck
$599 $629 Save
$30The Steam Deck LCD is, hands down, the best budget handheld gaming PC you can get, thanks to its phenomenal price, top-notch build quality, excellent software support, and pretty solid gaming performance.
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Steam Deck OLED
Elevate your gaming experience with the Steam Deck OLED. Immerse yourself in stunning visuals on the vibrant OLED display, while enjoying powerful performance and portability.
Race Driver: Grid from 2008 was the first game I played and finished on my Deck. It runs great with max settings and 4xMSAA! I also finished the first three Dirt games on my Deck, with the second one being one of my all-time favorites. The way Dirt 2 captured the late 2000s time period is unmatched.
The first Dirt game is probably the best for casual drivers because it’s quite easy, even on the highest difficulty. Grid 2, in my opinion, is not as good as Race Driver: Grid, but its arcadey handling model with lots of contact during races is tons of fun. Finally, Grid Autosport tried to ground the series in a simcade, hardcore motorsport formula with endurance racing and less arcadey handling. I quite like it, but not as much as the first two Grid titles.
Want more gamers for your Steam Deck? All but one title found on our list of 12 games you probably haven’t played run great on the Steam Deck.
