Drive Mad — Play Free Online

Drive Mad is a physics driving game from Fancade in which the goal of each stage is simply to reach the finish with the car still on its wheels. Speed is rarely the problem. The car is light, the tracks are full of ramps, gaps and odd machines, and the real test is keeping the body level while it is in the air and when it comes back down.

Controls

There are only two inputs. On a computer, the right arrow key pushes the car forward and the left arrow key brakes and then reverses. On a phone or tablet the same two actions sit on on-screen arrows that you tap and hold.

Those two buttons also steer the car's angle. Accelerating tips the nose down, braking tips it back. That turns every jump into a small balancing act: a short tap of gas or brake while airborne rotates the car so it lands flat, while holding a button too long lets momentum spin it onto its roof. Learning to use brief taps rather than long presses is most of the skill.

Worlds and levels

The game holds 365 levels spread across 8 worlds. The Classic world is the largest, with 200 levels that start gently and get harder as you go. The Winter world gives 25 levels a snowy look, and the Monster Truck world swaps in a heavy truck with oversized wheels for another 25. That extra weight makes a small error much harder to correct. Poki notes that the first 10-15 levels mainly teach balance and timing before the difficulty climbs.

Level types you will meet

• Magnets that drag the car toward them if you pass too close.
• Low or zero gravity, where braking shifts the car's weight rather than slowing it.
• Moving machinery such as spinning wheels, conveyors and swinging parts that knock you off line if you arrive at the wrong moment.
• Timed hazards like lasers, shockwaves and falling objects that punish rushing.
• Puzzle stages where you push objects around to build a way forward.

Trophies and gold times

Beyond simply finishing, Drive Mad tracks 24 trophies. Some reward persistence, such as reaching 100 total crashes, and others reward precision, such as clearing 50 levels in a row without a crash or finishing level 1 balanced on the back wheels. Each level also has a gold time. A gold-coloured bar along the lower edge drains as you drive, and reaching the finish while some of it is left marks that stage as gold.

Background

Drive Mad first appeared as a mobile app in 2019 and has been on Poki as a web exclusive since 2022. The browser version builds on mechanics first made in Fancade's engine, and the app is still available on iOS and Android.

Tips

• Treat the brake as a rotation control in the air, not only as a way to stop.
• When a magnet, gravity or machinery level keeps beating you, change the approach rather than repeating the same run.
• Chase gold times only after a level is cleared; a clean landing matters more than a fast one.