Drive Mad Race Mode: Cups, Upgrades and How to Beat the Bots

Most people who play Drive Mad never press the crossed-flags button in the top corner. That button opens Race mode, a completely different way to play: instead of one truck against a puzzle, it is your car against three bots on a proper track. It is also a good break when a campaign level has beaten you ten times in a row.

How a race works

You pick a cup, and a cup is a short series of tracks. On each one you line up with three bots and race to the end. The controls do not change — forward, reverse, and the same keys to tilt in the air — but the goal does. In the campaign, slow and careful usually wins. In Race mode you have to be quick and still stay on your wheels.

The three upgrades

Races pay coins, and coins buy upgrades for your car. There are three:

• Speed — a higher top speed on the straights.
• Grip — the tyres hold the track better, so the car climbs hills and takes bumps without sliding back or bouncing.
• Stability — the car is harder to tip over, on landings and on steep slopes.

It is tempting to put everything into speed, because the bots look fast. Don't. Early tracks are full of bumps and small jumps, and a fast car that flips loses more time than a slow car that stays upright. Buy grip first, then stability, and only then start on speed.

Where races are lost

The start. Holding forward from the first second can lift your nose on the first slope. Give it short taps for the first couple of seconds, then hold.

Jumps. The bots take jumps cleanly. If you land nose-first you bounce and lose several places at once. Tilt in the air so you land flat, even if it means a slightly shorter jump.

Crowds. When all four cars arrive at a jump together, they can knock into each other. If you are right behind a bot, let it go first and take the jump a moment later.

The last hill. Many tracks finish on a climb. This is where a car without grip slides back and gets passed. Another reason to buy grip first.

When to go back to the campaign

Race mode teaches something the campaign needs: how much throttle a slope can take. After a few races you get a feel for exactly how long you can hold forward before the nose starts to lift. Take that back to the level that was beating you and it often suddenly works.

Race mode coins and upgrades are saved in your browser, just like the campaign, so you can leave a cup halfway and come back to it later on the same device.