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art of rally

From its incredible soundtrack to its unbelievably fun gameplay and striking visuals, art of rally is a genuine contender for 2020’s best racer.
art of rally Game Cover
86%Game Brain Score
graphics, music
optimization, stability
93% User Score Based on 4,441 reviews
Critic Score 79%Based on 13 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox Cloud GamingXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStationLinuxXbox Series X|SPCXbox Game PassCloudMac OSXbox One
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art of rally Game Cover

About

art of rally is a single player arcade racing game. It was developed by Funselektor Labs Inc. and was released on September 23, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Race in the golden era of rally. Drive iconic cars from the 60s to Group B on challenging stages through stylized environments inspired by real worldwide locations. Will you master the art of rally?

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Play Modes
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+10
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93%
Audience ScoreBased on 4,441 reviews
graphics679 positive mentions
optimization39 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and unique art style with vibrant, low-poly visuals that create a relaxing and timeless aesthetic.
  • Robust physics model that balances arcade and simulation elements, with cars feeling weighty and distinct in handling, rewarding skillful driving and mastering of different cars.
  • Excellent soundtrack that complements gameplay and enhances the mood; synthwave tunes are highly praised and immersive.
  • Wide variety of iconic rally cars spanning multiple eras, each with unique handling characteristics and interesting lore.
  • Gameplay modes include a lengthy career mode, free roam, time trials, and leaderboards, providing replayability and different play styles.
  • Runs well on many platforms including PC and Steam Deck, with responsive controls especially when played with a controller.
  • Steep learning curve and challenging physics make the game difficult to pick up; novices may find early gameplay frustrating.
  • Camera angles can be awkward and distant, causing difficulty in judging speed, road elevation, and upcoming turns; no first-person or in-car views are available.
  • Lack of co-driver and pace notes leads to reliance on memorization and visual cues, making navigation challenging especially on blind corners.
  • Some players report inconsistent and overly punishing track boundaries, leading to frustrating resets and time penalties for minor off-road excursions.
  • Performance issues such as stuttering and frame drops occur, especially after extended play sessions or on certain maps, impacting smooth gameplay.
  • Collision and damage systems have inconsistencies; some obstacles act like supermagnets, causing sudden stops or spins, and damage effects are minimal or illogical in some cases.
  • graphics
    1,235 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of this game feature a distinctive and charming low-poly art style that is both simple and visually stunning, enhanced by excellent lighting and vibrant colors across diverse, atmospheric environments. While the minimalist aesthetic perfectly complements the game's relaxed yet challenging vibe, some users note optimization issues with high GPU usage and occasional graphical glitches, requiring adjustments to run smoothly on various systems. Overall, the art style is widely praised for its timeless appeal and ability to create an immersive rally experience despite the less detailed visuals.

    • “The art style is charming and brought me back to that old DOS game called 'Stunts'. The game is easy to play but hard to master, and the graphics/art style are just so damn charming.”
    • “The graphics and lighting are gorgeous, and the developers spent time making the environments and cars lovely to look at even at 120mph.”
    • “The simple low-poly graphics combined with the great lighting engine make the game really stand out in its genre. You could take a screenshot at any point during a race and use it as a PC wallpaper.”
    • “The game has lots of graphical glitches (a broken lighting system, broken shadows, buggy textures, glitchy models, LOD bugs all over the place).”
    • “I'd prefer to have at least a bit more details, but when the game runs like absolute caca with graphics up (especially when the game looks so low poly) I have to play with everything set to low or off.”
    • “One of the main things that turned me off of this game is the graphics.”
  • music
    948 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Art of Rally" is widely praised for its exceptional synthwave soundtrack, which perfectly complements the game's minimalist art style and immersive racing experience. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a major strength, often describing it as relaxing, engaging, and essential to the game's atmosphere, with many considering it one of the best video game soundtracks in recent memory. The continuous, seamless play of the music enhances the zen-like vibe and flow state of gameplay, making it a key factor in the game's appeal.

    • “The soundtrack is a masterpiece of over 50 tracks of brilliant 80s-inspired synthwave music, perfectly blending with the game's serene low-poly art style and making every stage a relaxing yet thrilling experience.”
    • “From the moment you hit the accelerator, you're greeted by a tailor-made soundtrack that acts as the heartbeat of the game, weaving seamlessly into gameplay and creating an immersive and euphoric rally experience.”
    • “The game's amazing and expansive synthwave soundtrack keeps you locked in with bangers that never get repetitive, turning driving sessions into a musical adventure that complements the beautiful aesthetics and engaging physics.”
    • “Only minor gripes so far -- I wish you could tell where a race was gonna be before you pick the car you'll drive in it, and the music is a bit uninspiring, if inoffensive and suitable.”
    • “To add insult to injury, the performance is trash, UI/UX is non-existent and the soundtrack is exactly what you will never want for your racing game - mindnumbing repetitive retrowave slop.”
    • “- a lot of the cars sound just poor and the music is blegh -- fun to play but as a real car guy the engine sounds really jar me out of it.”
  • gameplay
    476 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Art of Rally offers a compelling blend of accessible yet challenging gameplay, featuring tight and nuanced driving mechanics that balance arcade fun with realistic rally physics. Players appreciate the satisfying learning curve, unique car handling, and the ability to fine-tune assists to enhance the experience, though some find the gameplay repetitive or initially tough to master. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its smooth, addictive feel, high skill ceiling, and integration with the game’s distinct art style and soundtrack.

    • “The gameplay is outstanding, it's simple where it needs to be, and lovingly complex when it comes to the driver's skill and decision-making abilities!”
    • “It has all the things you expect from a rally game, like complex handling mechanics, different friction characteristics for each surface (dirt, sand, gravel, asphalt, wet roads, ice, etc.), vehicles with front-wheel, rear-wheel, and all-wheel drive, varying horsepower and gears, weather conditions like rain, fog, and night, and a vehicle damage system affecting suspension, gearbox, tires, and more.”
    • “Once you become accustomed to the nuances of the handling, you'll find that the physics and mechanics of the game provide a satisfying and rewarding driving simulation.”
    • “The gameplay can start to feel repetitive after a while, especially if you’re playing for long sessions.”
    • “Gameplay is lacking, there are no opponents, no co-driver.”
    • “It’s pretty annoying playing Kenya 500 times with different cars and not having any meaningful difference in gameplay.”
  • optimization
    143 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews consistently highlight poor optimization as a major issue, with widespread reports of stuttering, frame drops, and suboptimal performance even on high-end hardware. While graphics are praised, many users find performance suffers notably during free roam or on detailed maps, and some settings tweaks can improve but not resolve the issues entirely. Despite this, small dev team constraints and recent patches have partially alleviated problems, but optimization remains a key area needing improvement.

    • “The handling is fun, the optimization is good, and the cars look cool.”
    • “The low-poly art style is both beautiful and functional, allowing for smooth and consistent performance even on lower-end hardware.”
    • “The recent performance patch made the game much smoother.”
    • “The terrible free roam performance (stutters constantly, unplayable) was just icing on the cake.”
    • “Horrendously optimized game.”
    • “This game is in desperate need for optimization as I (and judging from other community posts, not only AMD) and many others are experiencing massive lag spikes almost every 2 to 3 seconds making this game frustrating as all heck.”
  • humor
    65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a charming, tongue-in-cheek humor that shines through its witty car names, amusing descriptions, and quirky easter eggs, adding a lighthearted and affectionate tribute to rally racing. Its blend of dry humor, playful sound effects, and humorous references enhances the engaging, stylish, and relaxed racing experience without compromising on driving authenticity. Overall, the humor is subtle yet pervasive, making the game both fun and endearing for rally fans and casual players alike.

    • “The music, the art style, the little humorous elements and easter eggs all add to the charm and beauty of this game, this game really is the art of rally.”
    • “The bios have some tongue-in-cheek humor as well, like one of the Italian cars being said to have an espresso machine installed in it to help the drivers concentrate.”
    • “The car descriptions are hilarious and filled with references, adding a good-natured, sardonic sense of humor that pairs perfectly with a satisfying and varied driving system.”
    • “The crowd's behavior makes no sense and it's not funny at all.”
  • atmosphere
    62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its distinctive, chill, and immersive vibe, combining vibrant low-poly visuals, stunning lighting effects, and a superb synthwave soundtrack that evokes a nostalgic yet modern rally experience. Its zen-like ambiance, diverse and beautiful environments, and subtle audio details create a relaxing yet engaging racing atmosphere that appeals both to casual players and rally enthusiasts. While very atmospheric overall, minor issues like occasional visual lag slightly break immersion but do not detract from its strong presentation.

    • “From the moment you enter your first track, it becomes clear that this is a game built with a keen sense of atmosphere and a strong love for the golden era of rallying.”
    • “The atmosphere, visuals, controls, sound, music, performance is all perfect and combine together to make an experience that is absolutely seamless and genuinely fulfils its name by going beyond being just a game and entering the realm of a work of art.”
    • “The atmosphere of each stage is phenomenal: the lighting, colors, dirt, tarmac—each aspect of visual enhances the entire experience.”
    • “I appreciate that the lack of co-driver callouts helps the atmosphere but it does stop it feeling like a real rally game as a result.”
    • “Especially in a game that emphasizes such an atmosphere and vibe, I don't want to be annoyed constantly.”
    • “For some reason, the trees took a while to load on the snowy levels, causing some lag and breaking the atmosphere.”
  • story
    61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a minimalistic and straightforward story that serves primarily as a backdrop to the rally racing experience, focusing on the historical progression of rally cars and eras rather than a traditional narrative. Fans appreciate its homage to rally history and the concise, non-intrusive storytelling that lets players concentrate on driving, though some wish the story were longer or more developed. Overall, the story is viewed as a charming, light contextual layer that complements the gameplay without overwhelming it.

    • “For a car enthusiast that knows the story behind Group B rally and old nostalgic rally racing, this game is perfect.”
    • “The storyline takes you through the different ages of rally, which really makes unlocking newer eras with faster cars an accomplishment.”
    • “A gorgeous tribute to the story of rally racing and the men and women who took on its challenge.”
    • “As for story, the game doesn't focus too much on that.”
    • “Playing through the story-mode was also a huge chore.”
    • “Wish the story was longer.”
  • replayability
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability largely driven by randomized career rallies, diverse car options, time trials, and competitive online leaderboards. While some players note a lack of long-term motivation after mastering certain events, the overall variety, challenge, and modes provide lasting engagement for fans of arcade and rally racing. Issues like occasional leaderboard problems can impact replay value, but the strong content and skill-based progression make it a worthwhile, replayable experience.

    • “The leaderboards give you something to endlessly compete against too so there's a lot of replayability.”
    • “As a huge 60s/70s/80s/90s rally fan, Art of Rally has absolutely hit the nail on the head... an achingly pretty, yet incredibly intuitive, and replayable rally arcade/sim that gives you both the career structure of the big title rally games, without it feeling too heavy, and too dreary, and the adventure of an indie pixel-art game, that soothes the inner big kid inside us all.”
    • “With 4WD, FWD, RWD as well as front-mid and rear-engine cars, the choice in car makes each map very re-playable, trying to get gold in every career group and better times in the time trials.”
    • “There isn't too much replayability in Absolute Drift, but thankfully I heard of Art of Rally at the same time.”
    • “This destroys a whole bunch of replay value for me; once I am #1 I don't want to touch the event again, leading to me not playing what I want.”
    • “I hit the thumbs up because it is a fun little time waster, but as of late the leaderboards, weekly, daily events don't show up anymore, so the replay value is gone.”
  • stability
    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs well across platforms like PC, Mac, and Steam Deck, often praised for solid performance and smooth gameplay. However, it suffers from recurring graphical glitches, physics bugs, occasional freezes, and crashes, with some issues more prominent during map transitions or in menus. Despite these stability concerns, ongoing developer support and updates have steadily improved the experience.

    • “Game looks and runs great on Deck.”
    • “This game runs great on Steam Deck, and really shows off the dynamic color range of the OLED screen.”
    • “Runs great on Steam Deck with the Vulkan rendering option turned on.”
    • “The game has lots of graphical glitches (a broken lighting system, broken shadows, buggy textures, glitchy models, LOD bugs all over the place).”
    • “Even with 144+ fps, 40% CPU load, 30% GPU load, and 40 GB free RAM you can achieve lots of lags and game freezes after changing countries in the game.”
    • “Only game in the entire Steam library that freezes up on the menus.”
  • grinding
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is frequently described as excessively tedious and repetitive, particularly due to lengthy achievements like completing 1000 stages or driving long distances with the same car. While some players enjoy the rhythmic challenge, many find the extended, monotonous gameplay detracts from overall fun and can feel like a chore, especially with minimal content variety and slow unlock progression. This grind-heavy design mainly appeals to dedicated rally enthusiasts who appreciate repeated playthroughs for minor improvements.

    • “The 1000 stages achievement took me 40 hours of nonstop grinding to get it.”
    • “There isn't enough content to play more than 30 hours while that achievement might take an additional 30 hours of tedious grinding on top of the 25-30 hours of base game content.”
    • “The problem for me is that the career mode is long and "grindy." I found myself later on not enjoying the seemingly repetitive races: rushing through the stages just to move on to the next one and then the next one – it eventually became a chore to work through.”
  • emotional
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a deeply emotional and nostalgic rally driving experience, emphasizing the poetic and heartfelt aspects over photorealism. Players often feel a strong personal connection—ranging from childhood memories and wholesome enjoyment to intense moments of challenge and triumph—making it a uniquely satisfying and affectionate tribute to rally racing.

    • “It builds an experience that is less concerned with photorealism and more focused on capturing the emotional poetry of rally driving.”
    • “Despite these potential hurdles, Art of Rally remains a uniquely satisfying and emotionally resonant game.”
    • “When this game has you holding the brake like your life depends on it for a corner you misjudged, when you hit the rev limiter in 5th gear in a Group B monster, when you hit a corner perfectly; no other racing game has made me feel the way this one does.”
  • monetization
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s monetization is praised for its absence of microtransactions, in-game purchases, or intrusive ads, offering a fair and enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the authentic sponsor advertisements integrated seamlessly without detracting from gameplay, alongside rich unlockable content and mod support. Overall, the monetization approach is seen as ethical and player-friendly, focusing on quality content rather than aggressive monetization practices.

    • “Not to mention, no scummy practices when it comes to DLC or microtransactions, just a solid game (the Kenya update was an extremely nice welcome, and I hear there's even more coming with a location in Indonesia where I live. Can't wait!).”
    • “Beautiful graphics, lovely sound, music, great overall atmosphere, actually challenging, no in-game purchases, just awesome racing.”
    • “I especially appreciate the number of unlockable cars and skins in the game (with mod support) and no microtransactions in sight!”
    • “These issues have been listed in the Funselektor Discord server since 2021, but instead of perfecting their game, they've decided to leave an advertisement in the Art of Rally main menu for a new game and move to that instead.”
    • “From the advertising point of view, Art of Rally looks like a light-hearted arcade rally game, perfectly fitted for the Steam Deck.”
    • “The sponsor's advertisements: the brand names are just so damned awesome.”
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79%Critics’ scoreBased on 13 critic reviews
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11h Median play time
20h Average play time
4-30h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 24 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

art of rally is a arcade racing game.

art of rally is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 20 hours playing art of rally.

art of rally was released on September 23, 2020.

art of rally was developed by Funselektor Labs Inc..

art of rally has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked art of rally for its graphics but disliked it for its optimization.

art of rally is a single player game.

Similar games include #DRIVE Rally, Absolute Drift, Speed Liner, Inertial Drift, DiRT 4 and others.