Arcade Racers That Don't Need a Connection

Racing games got hit hard by the always-online trend, which is a shame because they're perfect for short offline bursts. A quick race is the ideal thing to fill a few minutes, no story required.

Dune Drifter X is the one I keep coming back to. The drift-heavy handling is forgiving enough to be fun immediately but has enough depth that you keep getting faster. The career mode is entirely offline, which is rarer than it should be.

If you're picky about controls, try the touch option even if you assume tilt is better. A lot of these games have surprisingly good touch steering now, and it works better on a shaky train than tilting your whole phone around.

The trick with arcade racers is to lean into the arcade part. Don't fight the loose physics — use them. Once you start deliberately drifting into corners instead of braking, everything clicks.