Pixel Kart

About Pixel Kart

Pixel Kart is a deliberately old-looking kart racer, made for anyone who misses the retro pixel-styled kart races played on game consoles years ago. You compete in pixel cars against a friend on a mobile or desktop device, and races run to five laps — the developer says the winner becomes clear in the fifth.

The two-player layout is unusually light: on a keyboard the developer lists only A and D and the left and right arrow keys, so both of you can sit at one keyboard without a control diagram taped to the desk.

How to play

On a keyboard the developer lists A and D and the left and right arrow keys, so each player can take one pair — agree who takes which before the start. Hold your line through the corners and complete five laps ahead of your opponent. On touch devices, play by touching the screen.

Controls

• A and D — left and right
• Left and Right arrow keys — left and right
• The developer lists both pairs but does not say which player uses which
• Five-lap races, touch supported

Tips to win

• Turn in early; a smooth line through a corner is easier to hold than a late correction.
• When you are ahead, the inside line through a corner is the hardest one to pass on.
• Five laps is long enough to recover from one mistake, but not two.

Pixel Kart strategy guide

Two keys per player. The developer lists A and D and the left and right arrow keys for keyboards, and touch controls on phones and tablets. The listing does not assign a pair to each player, so agree before the first race — the two pairs sit at opposite ends of the keyboard, which leaves both of you room. No other keys are listed, so there is no control diagram anyone needs to memorise.

Five laps decides it. Races run to five laps, and the developer says the winner becomes clear in the fifth. That is long enough that a single mistake is recoverable, and short enough that two mistakes are hard to come back from. Play the first lap as a settling lap rather than trying to win the race in the opening corner.

Steer early, not mid-corner. With only left and right listed, the line you take is the thing you control most directly. Correcting halfway through a turn is usually slower and riskier than committing to a smooth entry. Turn in before the corner looks like it needs it. This single habit is worth more than anything else in a racer this simple.

The inside line is for defending. When you are ahead, holding the inside of a corner makes you hard to pass. When you are behind, forcing your way down the inside is the move most likely to end in contact. From second place, the smoother line onto the next straight is usually the better bet — let the leader defend a corner you were never going to win.

Retro on purpose. Chunky pixel cars and a five-lap race against a friend — this is a deliberate throwback to the console kart racers of years ago, which is exactly what the developer is selling. Whoever makes fewer mistakes over five laps wins, which is a refreshingly honest thing for a racing game to be.

Pixel Kart FAQ