Racing. That’s one thing that gets your heart pounding, be it in real life, on the TV, or while gaming on your phone. There’s no better way to while away the time than going head to head in a race on your phone, either against computer components or real ones. Android has a huge amount of racing games available for it that let you batter it out against others locally or online, so if racing games are your thing, you can be sure you always have one to play on your Android phone or tablet.

This roundup compiles a list of some of the best racing games available on Google Play Store (formerly Android Market), from stunt racers to circuit track racers to all-out death match racers. With quite a lot of racing games available on Android, the list below is not exhaustive but only contains a few we thought were worth a look at, so continue reading on find out about them.

Jet Car Stunts

Jet Car Stunts is more of a platformer than a racing game, as there are no opponents to race against. You have to get to the end of each track, performing stunts along the way while boosting your car’s speed or jumping through the air. There are two game modes, Platforming and Time Trial, in which you must get to the end of each track (a total of 36 are available), or reach the next point in a limited time, respectively. Jet Car Stunts has great physics, fast paced gameplay that are complemented by the very good driving controls.

Drag Racing

Drag Racing has only race mode: drag racing. You can drag race against computer opponents or go online for racing against real opponents, with more than 50 cars to choose from. In addition, you can also customize each car with performance upgrades to tune and upgrade them. The Pro League mode sees you participate in 10-player league races. The game boasts 40+ million online players, which means you’ll always find someone to play against. If drag racing is your thing, look no further than this game.

Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit

Play as a racer running from the cops, or play a cop trying to bust racers in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. As a racer, you can make use of oil slicks and radar jamming to outrun the cops. As a cop, you can lay down spike strips, call in roadblocks, or use EMP to take out the racer’s electrical systems. With a total of 48 Cop and Racer career events, 20 cars, and 24 day and night tracks, Hot Pursuit is great fun to play no matter which side of the law you choose to play on.

GT Racing: Motor Academy

GT Racing: Motor Academy sees you join a motor academy in career mode, where you must pass different license tests and enter racing events and win to progress further. The game features 26 manufacturers and 111 licensed cars that can be bought and upgraded as you see fit. Each car has a unique physics engine providing for realistic driving simulation. You can race against other players in the multiplayer mode (up to 6), both locally and online. The amazing amount of races, cars and tracks make this one a winner.

Shine Runner

In Shine Runner, you take your fanboat and race it out in the water against other fanboats. The game features fully destructive environments that you can crash through, with a variety of obstacles that you can break apart. A 10-day race mode sees you racing and collecting items that you can sell to the highest bidder. Cause too much destruction and the cops will come after you, making it challenging and even more fun to play.

Reckless Racing

Reckless Racing is a dirt-road racer with a top down view that sees you racing on visually detailed race tracks ranging from dirt tracks to asphalt tracks, using rally cars or trucks. Three game modes — Dirt Rally, Hot Lap time trial and Delivery time trial see you racing against other components (online or offline) or against the clock. Bronze, silver and gold difficulty levels keep things interesting as you progress through the races. In short, good graphics, great controls along with fun gameplay are what make up Reckless Racing.

Reckless Getaway

Reckless Getaway is the more chaotic version of Reckless Racing. As the name suggests, you need to make getaways from cops, but this isn’t easy as you need to dodge your way through incoming traffic, outrun cop cars or smash into incoming ones. 16 different tracks, which you need to unlock as you progress through the game, ensure the chaotic fun never stops as you try to leave the cops behind looking at your tail lights disappear. The car physics are pretty good, along with simple yet effective controls that make the game all the more fun to play.

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline

Asphalt 6 gives you 42 cars and bikes to choose from as you race it out on the streets of L.A., Tokyo, the Bahamas and more. Use nitrous to get a boost of speed and leave other opponents behind, or boost and crash into them to take them out. Online and local multiplayer modes for up to 6 racers let you race against your friends. Cars can be customized and tuned for better performance and can be given a personal look as you see fit. Around 11 different leagues with a total of 55 events ensure that Asphalt 6 has a lot to offer.

Road Warrior

Road Warrior is a side-scrolling racing game where you have to perform stunts like front and back flips when in the air, shoot other cars to remove them from the race, and make money while you’re at it. It becomes fun to try and perform stunts while in the air while at the same time try to shoot other cars. There’s a huge variety of cars available, from sedans to monster trucks to GT racing cars. Cars can be upgraded with weapons and other add-ons. Both single player and multiplayer modes are available, which ensure you always have someone to race against.

Real Racing 2

Real Racing 2 sees you getting behind the wheel of one of 30 officially licensed cars on over 15 different tracks with 40 miles of highly detailed race tracks, speedways and city circuits, in day time, night-time or at twilight. The career mode sees you go from a rookie to a pro in 10 hours of touted gameplay time, while quick race and time trial modes see you battle it out either against 15 skilled computer components or against time. The graphics of the game are really sharp thanks to the Mint3D engine, with complement the fun circuit racing even further.

Bonus Games

There are a few other racing games available on the Play Store listed below that you may like, so do try them out as well.

So there you have it. Listed above are some of the best racing games available for Android that you should definitely try out, and as you can see, there’s one for every taste and preference. There are plenty more racing games available on the Play Store, so if you think we missed a game that should be on the list, do leave a comment below.

You can also find out about the best photo editing apps, browsers, data monitoring apps or expense tracking apps by checking out our other roundups here.