LaserKart: drift, boost and zap your friends into a spin

How a race works

Eight karts line up on the grid: you and seven others, robots or friends. The lights count down, and then it's three laps to the finish line. Your place, your lap, the race order and a map of the circuit are always on screen.

Hold the gas from the “2” of the countdown and you get a rocket start. Press it too early and your engine stalls for a moment — so watch the lights.

A laser on every kart

Every kart carries a laser with three charges, and a used charge comes back after a second and a half. It aims by itself at whatever is in front of you. Zap a kart and it spins out for a moment: you get an energy chip, and the kart you zapped drops two.

The laser also pops balloons (three chips), breaks crates (two) and grabs a bonus orb from far away, so you don't have to steer into it. Every energy chip makes your kart a little faster, up to ten.

Drift for turbo

Hold the drift button and steer into a bend: the kart hops and slides, and sparks fly from its wheels — blue, then orange, then pink. Let go for a turbo; the longer the drift, the bigger it is. Press drift in the air off a ramp for a trick and a little extra speed.

Bonuses

Drive through a bonus orb — or zap it — and you get one of six: a turbo (sometimes three), the mega beam that spins everyone in front of you, a prism shield that blocks one hit, a homing disc that chases the kart ahead, goo to drop behind you, and rainbow overdrive: super fast, and nothing can stop you.

🎁The further back you are, the bigger the bonus — so a bad start is never the end of the race.

Eight racers, four circuits

Choose Blaze the fox, Nova the little robot, Pip the penguin, Kiwi the frog, Luma the axolotl, Rex the dino, Mochi the panda or Sunny the lion cub. Every racer has a kart of their own.

Sunset Coast has palm trees, the sea and a big striped sun. Neon City has glowing towers and laser tunnels. Cloud Circuit is a road in the sky with open edges — drive off and a friendly drone puts you back. Crystal Canyon has red rocks, cactus and shining crystals. Every circuit has its own music, in the style of a 90s arcade.

The Laser Cup, single races and friends

The Laser Cup is four races in a row, with points for every place and a podium at the end. A single race is one circuit of your choice. The robots come in Easy, Normal and Hard.

To race with friends, open a race room and send them its four-letter code or the invite link. Everybody picks a racer, robots fill the empty places on the grid, and up to eight karts race together.

Five tips for your first race

1. Hold the gas from the “2” of the countdown for a rocket start.
2. Drift through every long bend: pink sparks mean the biggest turbo.
3. Zap balloons and crates as you go. More chips, more speed.
4. Keep the prism shield for when somebody is right behind you.
5. On Cloud Circuit, mind the edges. The drone always catches you, but it costs time.

For parents

LaserKart is made for young children. Nobody crashes, nobody gets hurt and there is no blood: a laser hit is a dizzy spin, and the kart drives on. There is no account, no download and no real name — every racer is one of the game's animals.

Racing with friends asks for a made-up name, which only the people in that race room see, and the race is relayed between the players as it happens and never stored. There is no chat, and the game shows no ads.