Phantom Spark

A true hidden gem between Redout and Trackmania

A minimalist approach to time trial racing, entirely focused on finding the best driving lines and letting off the accelerator as little as possible. Obvious for a racing game, right? But here, top speed is so high compared to acceleration that you're unlikely to ever reach it. Several times I lost to ghosts because, while I was in front the entire time, I came out of the final turn slower, and all that built up acceleration from the ghost behind me led to a hopeless final straightaway. It's an obvious racing truth but the game being so minimalist makes it stand out. There's no drifting (outside of on specific muddy terrain) and no gears to shift, just turns, elevation, gaps in the track and how you manage your acceleration through them. With so few options to consider, it's usually easy to figure out how to improve your times. If you're new to time trial racing, the game's patient approach makes it easy to get into. There are incrementally-faster ghosts to race from the Champions in the story, so you could even race ghosts offline! It works really well on Steam Deck with a couple settings turned down, so it's a great fit. Featuring some really chill background tracks it's a great time hopping in and honing a track, shaving time down little by little. It often tries to suggest you go to another track, maybe if it thinks you're getting stuck and frustrated, but I imagine most players wouldn't tackle the game that way.