The best drifting games are a bit niche because they are also often considered the best racing games as well. However, we have curated a list of great racing games that focuses on the drifting aspect rather than a hyper-realistic racing simulation.
These games are still well-done as they stay true to the drifting physics you see in real sports events.
Drifting games are quite arcadey compared to other racing games, and this is usually why racing enthusiasts enjoy these types of games every now and then.
You will truly find a good drifting game on this list and keep you entertained for hundreds of hours.
Quick Navigation show
Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best racing games available on Steam right now, and it boasts a very dynamic and rewarding aspect to its fast-paced driving.
Developed by Playground Games, it was released in November 2021 and has been flooded with very positive reviews.
The game can be played solo, where you can roam the open world heavily inspired by the Mexican landscape as you drift past both cacti and lush forests that are recreated with stunning graphics and immersive background sound.
Going multiplayer is also possible, where you flaunt your skills and cars while also being given the freedom to share your own racing modes.
Forza Horizon 5’s beauty is not limited to its sharply detailed vehicles or visually captivating world; the driving experience is equally impressive and is well complemented by various aspects of gameplay.
The open-world system blends seamlessly with the player’s desire just to roam or finish different challenges littered throughout the game’s world.
Forza Horizon 5 is not as deep as other racing simulations as it borders on arcade-like gameplay, but it knows its strengths and executes them masterfully.
You can also consider Forza Horizon as one of the best sports games out there since it is one of the best games for its genre.
Absolute Drift
Absolute Drift is a matchbox-sized racing gem of a game that will satisfy the deepest of your drifting urges. Developed and published by Funselektor Labs Inc., the game was released in July 2015 and has enjoyed very positive reviews on the Steam store.
The game is a great entry point for beginners to drift racing and has enough depth in its gameplay and controls to impress the flashiest drift kings.
Shifting away from the usual first-person-view or third-person-view racing games, Absolute Drift lets you burn tires from an aerial perspective which is quite refreshing.
Absolute Drift lets you drive and customize up to six different cars in three different game modes with thirty-four levels each.
The small-sized vehicles are overshadowed by their large gaming content, and in addition, you can also roam and drift around various areas from airports to docks.
The main success of the game would probably be in how well the driving controls feel, especially during drifting as your tiny car leaves tire marks along your path.
These are actually helpful in guiding players with appropriate angles needed to drift efficiently. At the end of the day, driving in a racing game should feel great and Absolute Drift would leave other drifting games in the dust.
Torque Drift
Torque Drift is a fast-paced, realistic drifting simulation you can enjoy with your friends. Developed and published by Grease Monkey Games, the game was released in April 2021 and has received mostly positive reviews on Steam.
You can drift and burn your tires solo in single-player or race it out against other drivers in online multiplayer modes.
Torque Drift is a great platform to realize your dreams of being a drift king as you start off with your own car to tune and max out and eventually line it with stickers from sponsors as your rise to the top.
Torque Drift handles greatly and boasts realistic drifting physics that would Impress the most avid drift-heads. Mastering how to drift in-game can be very satisfying as you can test your skills in online tournaments against up to thirty-two other players.
The game also offers drifting fans an opportunity to buy real and licensed car parts, which will surely satiate any JDM car-building dreams.
Torque Drift offers the complete drifting experience, from crisp controls to iconic drift-car parts, and will shine the most to enthusiasts of the sport.
CarX Drift Racing Online
CarX Drift Racing Online is one of the most immersive drift racing games you can experience on PC. Developed and published by CarX Technologies, the game was released in November 2017 and has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews on the Steam store.
The game is visually impressive and is full of colors, from the scenic background of the tracks to the bright neon decals you can adorn your car with.
CarX Drift Racing Online lets you tune the heck out of your car in order to get any advantage you can in battling it out with other players online.
CarX Drift Racing Online feels and drives like real-life, with the game camera giving bigger-than-life angles that will surely impress anyone.
This perfect combination of pure drifting simulation goodness and jaw-dropping camera angles makes the game a favorite among drifting game fans as the online community is very much alive and thriving.
CarX Drift Racing Online knows what fans of the genre want, and it delivers these exceedingly well.
DRIFT21
DRIFT21 is a comprehensive racing simulation set in the birthplace of drifting, Japan. Developed by ECC Games S.A., the game was released in June 2021 and has garnered mostly positive reviews.
It can be played either in single-player career mode, where you can strive to be a drifting legend as you build and tune your own car to perfection.
Changing parts in DRIFT21 is also visually pleasing, with realistic animations of almost two thousand specific parts available to be fitted in your car.
DRIFT21 is filled with iconic drifting cars that are officially licensed to be used in-game. You can burn the tires of the most popular car in the drifting scene, the grandaddy, the Trueno AE86.
Aside from famous cars, you are also given access to legendary circuits in Japan that were faithfully recreated using LaserScan technology.
DRIFT21 is full of drifting content with seven different single-player modes and five main multiplayer game modes. The game is a great blend of car mechanic simulation and drift racing, and it will be a great purchase for any drift race gaming fan.
Drift King
Drift King is one of the flashiest racing games of drifting fun. Developed and published by Giorgi Abelashvili, the game was released in August 2021 and received very positive reviews.
It features most of the favored drifting cars and also supports most racing wheels for a more enjoyable and immersive driving experience.
Drift King can be played in single-player or with other people in multiplayer mode, where you can test your skills as you race downhill in style.
Drift King is full of color and flair as you paint your car with a neon pink or dull grey. From bumpers to rims, the visual customization is impressive and will probably be half of the fun.
If the loud car paint color is not enough, you can make use of an enormous collection of quirky decals to truly personalize your ride.
Although Drift King is packaged simpler compared to other racing games, it is a well-crafted drifting experience that gives it a proper place among the greats.
Initial Drift Online
Initial Drift Online is an Initial D’s fan’s dream come true. Developed and published by Rewind Amp, the game was released in December 2020 and has enjoyed mostly positive reviews from the SteamStore website.
It is an online multiplayer drift racing game that makes use of iconic Japanese mountain passes, the road to Irohazaka, Mt. Haruna, and Mt. Akagi, as its courses. Initial Drift Online aims to be a massively multiplayer online drifting game where anyone can join any server without hassle.
Initial Drift Online allows players to earn the money they need to upgrade their cars by doing deliveries. This is an obvious homage to Takumi’s legendary tofu runs and is also a great opportunity to sharpen your drifting skills.
Using your hard-earned cash, you can buy new cars at the Irohazaka dealership, and further upgrade them in your own garage.
Adding to the Initial D experience is the essential Eurobeat soundtrack, but you can also opt to play Phonk soundtracks as well.
Initial Drift Online is a simple yet ambitious drifting simulation that rides on the title’s popularity and drifts itself to victory.
Art of Rally
Art of Rally is a uniquely-styled drifting game experience that relives the golden era of rally racing. Developed and published by Funselektor Labs Inc., the game was released in September 2020 and has garnered very positive reviews.
It can only be played in single-player mode and offers full controller support for more fun and immersive driving experience.
Although the Art of Rally focuses more on style and creative art, the mechanics and gameplay leave nothing more to be desired as you drive and drift across beautiful maps from a wide aerial view.
Art of Rally boasts an extensive career mode that spans over seventy-two rally stages that would start from Finland all the way to Kenya.
The game’s world is visually appealing, with warm tones of sunsets that evoke nostalgia for the golden age of rally racing.
You can choose among more than fifty famous rally cars from the sixties all the way to the eighties. Art of Rally is beautiful and full of charm, and it sets itself apart from others and is definitely a must-buy for drift enthusiasts.
DiRT Rally
DiRT Rally is one of the most immersive drift racing experiences available on Steam. Developed and published by Codemaster, the game was released in December 2015 and has garnered very positive reviews from Steam.
It is a single-player-only racing simulation that gives the player an authentic and grimy rally experience while offering full controller support and Oculus VR.
Adding to the immersion are its beautiful graphics and crisp and realistic sounds that will make you feel like you’re actually behind the wheel.
DiRT Rally is not only pretty, but it’s also hefty and full of content as it features more than forty iconic rally cars.
The career mode spans a lengthy six-rally campaign with more than seventy stages that would see you fling mud with your tires across the paths of Wales to the snowy roads of Monte Carlo.
At its heart, DiRT Rally boasts a great physics engine that realizes different driving input reactions from different terrains you will drive on and how your car is set up. This game is a rally racing game on steroids and will be acknowledged as one of the best drifting games.
RDS – The Official Drift Videogame
RDS – The Official Drift Videogame is a beast of a drift racing simulation game with its stunning graphics and next-gen physics engine that pushes for full player immersion.
Developed and published by Drift Physics Crew, the game was released in June 2019 and has been blessed with very positive reviews.
It offers both single-player and multiplayer PVP online modes and has partial controller support for racing wheels, pedals, and shifters.
RDS – The Official Drift Videogame makes drifting in-game more immersive by being able to support most virtual reality headsets from Valve, HTC, and Oculus.
RDS – The Official Drift Videogame aims to deliver more than the usual multiplayer racing experience by using TryTime network latency minimization technology that would help reduce lag which would greatly help in tandem drifting and serious online competition.
For a lighter experience, you can just drift and train with your friends or have a race with your own ghost. RDS is a distinct drifting race experience that will cater more to gamers looking for drifting fun over realism.
Drift86
Drift86 is another well-created drifting racing game that rides upon the iconic Trueno AE86. Developed and published by RewindApp, the game was released in November 2019 and has enjoyed very positive reviews from the Steam store.
It can be played solo with seven different map courses that you can drift around with thirteen different cars, which include the game’s namesake, the AE86.
For those more interested in battling it out with other people, online PVP is available to test your drifting skills against other drivers.
Drift86 is simple but has a lot of heart and the essential Eurobeat that the famous Initial D anime is known for. Simplicity is not equal to easy, as you need to invest hours or even days to fully master the great drifting system of the game.
The controls are leaned more toward dynamic drifting over realism, with the former being relatively more fun. Drift86 is minimalistic but is able to maximize drifting fun and is a great recommendation to Initial D fans.
FURIDASHI: Drift Cyber Sport
FURIDASHI: Drift Cyber Sport is a next-gen drifting simulation heavy on player immersion and realism. Developed and published by Drift Physics Crew, the game was released in November 2017 and has been met with very positive reviews on the Steam store.
Focusing on being immersive, FURIDASHI supports VR headsets from Valve, HTC, and Oculus. Adding to this, you can also use steering wheels, Motion Simulator Support, and triple screen set-ups to have a wider view.
You can play solo in a single-player mode where you can race against AI or a ghost that mirrors your driving style. Playing multiplayer requires going online, where you can share your skills and customized cars with other players all over the world.
FURIDASHI: Drift Cyber Sport boasts next-gen car physics and VR support, which puts the gamer as close to real life as drifting in a game could get.
Over twenty cars can be bought and customized with forty an impressive forty garage slots for your tricked-out rides.
Adding to the realism, changing car parts will impact your driving experience. Changing engines would yield different sounds and control, while suspension tuning will heavily affect vehicle turning. FURIDASHI is a hardcore drifter’s dream and is a must-bay for enthusiasts.
Assetto Corsa
Assetto Corsa is one of the most popular racing games on Steam today. It has very positive reviews thanks to its steady stream of fresh updates, excellent driving mechanics, and a wide variety of ways to play.
This isn’t really a drifting game. It’s more of a racing game that allows you to drift if you want to. That means it’s a good fit for people who want to do some drifting but are also interested in completing road races and special events that may or may not include drifting from time to time.
(Check out our list of the top 13 racing games on Steam for more games like this).
Another cool thing about this is that there are tons of mods available for it since it’s so widely played. So once you get bored of the base game, you can download some mods if you want to experiment with new ways to play.
The Drift Challenge
The Drift Challenge is a more in-depth drifting game than you would probably expect for its low price point. It has lots of cars, many different game modes, and even an upcoming free roam mode to let you explore the Drift Challenge World however you want.
It’s worth mentioning that this game is still in early access, so you may experience some bugs and a lack of functionality from time to time. But unlike other games that are in early development, the developers for this one are super active. So if you report the problems that you’re experiencing there’s a good chance they’ll resolve them for you with some speed.
Which Drifting Game on Steam Is Right For You?
Our list is full of drifting games that are worth trying out. But maybe you’re just looking for one to get started with. In that case, the best option for your interests is going to come down to what, specifically, you’re looking for in a drifting game.
For Budget Buyers
If you’re looking for a cheap way to satisfy your drifting itch, then games like The Drift Challenge, Drift86, and Torque Drift should be near the top of your list. You can pick all three of these games up for $5 or less and they have enough variety in them to give you back more than your money’s worth in entertainment value.
For Drivers Who Prefer Realistic Racing Sims
Even though drifting is often turned into an arcade-style racing simulator, there are some options out there that are more realistic than that. The best in this category is Assetto Corsa. It’s a realistic racing sim that offers drifting alongside a robust road-racing game.
For Arcade Drivers
Maybe your interest in a drifting game is centered around simply being able to pull off the coolest drifts possible. In that case, you’d probably want to go with one of the arcade-style drifting simulators on our list. Options like CarX Drift Racing Online and Intertial Drift will be great for you.
