There are a lot of arcade racing games in the market right now. Sure, they vary somewhat in function and form. But ultimately you’re typically at the wheel of a car, either racing someone or trying to reach a checkpoint in the least amount of time.
This makes it hard to stand out from the pack — but standing out is exactly what Driving Rogue does. Driving Rogue is not content to simply be an arcade racer. Instead, it bolts a roguelite deckbuilder onto the chassis, creating something that feels really fresh, while not forgetting to also be fun behind the wheel.
Drifting is King
As a straight arcade racer, Driving Rogue is perfectly solid. Particularly the aesthetics — the thick outlines, high-contrast, sketchy visuals and comic book flourishes are a delight.
Runs are divided into stages containing several races, ranging from short sprints to longer endurance events. The cars can feel a little cumbersome at first, but that’s because the game’s standout mechanic is its drift mode.
Most racers take the more ‘realistic’ route — you wrestle the car into a drift with a combination of steering lock and a bootful of throttle. Driving Rogue gives you a drift button — once engaged,it stays active until you switch it off.
The amount of control you have while drifting is genuinely impressive. You can throw the car into absurd angles, carve through corners at ridiculous speeds and dance around traffic with a precision that makes you feel considerably more talented than you actually are.
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The catch is that drifting isn’t always the fastest way around a course. Maintaining momentum and meeting stage requirements means finding a good balance between style and outright pace.
Your deck is faster than you are
Driving Rogue holds its own as a standalone racer, but the roguelite structure is where it really shines.
As you race, you earn points through drifting, slipstreaming, near misses and maintaining top speed. The more points you earn, the more credits you’ll have to spend building your deck between events.
Your run is over if you either fail to score the minimum number of points, or fail to reach the end of the run in the designated timeframe.
Your deck is everything. Some cards boost core stats like handling and top speed, whereas others increase your score multiplier or amplify your skills.
The score requirements ramp up quickly, becoming a far bigger concern than the stage timer. This means that success typically depends less on raw driving ability and more on the deck you’ve built.
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Like any good roguelite, synergies between cards are crucial. But the added layer of complication is that your deck needs to work to your strengths as a driver. A deck focused on near misses is worthless if you’re incapable of threading through traffic without redecorating your bumper (your combo is instantly over upon any contact). Likewise, a drift-heavy build can become an absolute points-printing machine in the right hands (certainly not mine).
Thankfully, runs in Driving Rogue are short enough that failure never feels particularly punishing.
Roguelite, or Roguelike?
Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, technically Driving Rogue is a roguelite — some things do carry over between runs. But these things are typically not meaningful — like aesthetic car upgrades.
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You do unlock new card types as you earn experience, but really the only meaningful permanent upgrades are the cars you unlock as you work through the various bosses that pop up after a handful of stages.
To me it has the spirit of a roguelike, which is why I enjoy it so much. There’s an immense sense of satisfaction when you work through stages, and the game in no way coddles you along the way. You need to test, try, fail and try again as you find the strategy that works for you.
Final Thoughts
Good arcade racers aren’t exactly rare these days, but very few carry the unique point of difference of Driving Rogue. The solid arcade racing underpinnings might get you through the door, but the roguelite deckbuilding overlay is what will keep you coming back for more, well after you would have otherwise put down the controller.
Quest Daily Scores Driving Rogue:
9/10
Driving Rogue is out now on PC via Steam.
A review copy Driving Rogue was supplied to Quest Daily by the publisher.
