Night City Racing

You start Night City Racing with 2 cars. There are 10. The other 8 have to be bought.

That's the whole game in one sentence, and it's why the smartest thing you can do in your first ten minutes isn't racing — it's learning which mode pays best. There's a money farm sitting in the menu that most players never touch.

Here's the complete control scheme (including the split-screen keys, which get mangled almost everywhere), how the economy actually works, and the one key that'll save you a hundred restarts.

What Is Night City Racing?

Night City Racing is a free 3D arcade racer by RHM Interactive, released in January 2023 and last updated in November 2024. It's built on Unity 2021 and runs in your browser with no download.

The catch worth knowing up front: it's desktop-only in the browser. You need a keyboard. There's an Android version if you want it on a phone, but the browser build isn't made for touchscreens, whatever some listings claim.

You get a neon night city, ten supercars, and three modes: Race, Challenge, and Free Drive.

Complete Controls

One player

Two players (split screen)

You'll see control lists written as "M / L-Shift = NOS" — as if those are two options for the same player. They aren't. M is Player 1's nitro and L-Shift is Player 2's nitro. Here's the real split:

Both players share one keyboard on the same computer. A full-size keyboard makes this far more comfortable — on a compact laptop keyboard, two people fighting over the same space gets awkward fast.

The key nobody mentions: R

R restarts your car's position without restarting the race.

Flipped onto your roof? Wedged against a barrier? Launched off the track into scenery? Press R and you're back on the road, upright, still in the race. Most players quit and reload the whole event instead.

In split screen it's O for Player 1 and R for Player 2, so both of you can recover independently without ruining the other's race.

T is look back, which sounds minor until you're leading with four AI cars behind you and want to know how close second place actually is.

The Three Modes

Race — 16 races that get progressively harder. Each one puts you against four AI opponents. Tracks range from tight city streets to wide-open airfield runs, so the same car can feel completely different depending on the event.

Challenge — 5 separate challenges. These are the odd, fun ones: racing an actual aeroplane to the finish line, or beating the clock on obstacle-covered tracks. This is also where the money is (more below).

Free Drive — An open arena packed with ramps and stunt objects. No race, no timer, no opponents. Pull off stunts and drive stupidly fast, and you earn cash for it. Most people treat this as a sandbox and don't realise it pays.

How to Actually Earn Money

This is the part that changes how you play.

You need cash for two things: buying the 8 locked cars, and upgrading whatever you're driving. Race wins pay, but they're slow and they get harder as the 16 events escalate.

The challenges are repeatable indefinitely.

That's the money farm. The 5 challenges aren't especially difficult, they pay well, and nothing stops you running the same one over and over. Find the challenge you're fastest at, learn it properly, and grind it until you can afford what you want.

Free Drive also pays. Stunts in the open arena earn cash with zero risk of losing a race. If you're stuck on a hard event and short on money, go do backflips off ramps for five minutes instead.

Practical order: run the early races until they get tough, switch to farming your best challenge, buy upgrades, then go back and clear the races that were beating you. Grinding upgrades is faster than grinding skill in this game.

Upgrades: What to Buy First

There are 7 upgrade categories:

Buy in this order: Engine → Agility → Brake → Turbo/Booster → cosmetics.

Engine first because raw speed wins races against AI. Agility second, and don't skip it — the city tracks are tight, and a fast car you can't turn is slower in practice than a balanced one. Rims and paint look great and win you nothing, so save them for when money stops being a problem.

Cars: You Start With 2 of 10

Eight of the ten cars are locked behind in-game money. There's no premium currency and nothing to pay real money for — just race, challenge, and stunt your way there.

Don't buy a new car too early. A fully upgraded starter car will beat a stock expensive one. If you've got a modest amount of cash, put it into Engine and Agility on what you already own rather than half-affording something new.

Race Tactics

Save NOS for straights. Nitro on a corner entry sends you into a wall. The airfield tracks have long open stretches — that's where boost pays.

Slow in, fast out. Enter corners too hot and you'll wash wide, lose the exit, and give up the whole following straight. Coming in a little slower and getting on the power early is faster over a lap.

Use T to manage your lead. With four AI cars chasing, knowing whether you can afford a safe line or need to defend changes your driving.

Learn one track properly. Since the 16 races escalate, having one circuit you know cold — braking points, boost zones, where the AI usually makes mistakes — is worth more than being average everywhere.

Press R instead of quitting. Worth repeating. A recovered race is still a race you can win.

Common Problems

It won't work on my phone. The browser version is desktop-only and needs a keyboard. Use the Android app if you want it mobile.

Nitro isn't firing. In one-player it's L-Shift or R-Shift. In two-player, Player 1 uses M and Player 2 uses L-Shift.

My car is stuck or flipped. Press R (or O if you're Player 1 in split screen). It resets your position mid-race.

Races are getting too hard. You're under-upgraded, not under-skilled. Go farm a challenge and buy Engine and Agility.

Two-player controls feel cramped. That's the nature of two people on one keyboard. A full-size external keyboard genuinely helps.

Keyboard doesn't respond. Click once directly on the game window first. Browser games need focus before they register keystrokes.

It runs slowly. It's a Unity 3D build, so it's heavier than a simple arcade game. Close other tabs, especially video ones. First load is always the slowest.