Zeepkist Soapbox racing, zero brakes

You sit in a soapbox at the top of a hill and gravity does the rest. There is no engine, so the whole game is about planning: where to brake, when to lift, which line through a corner keeps your speed. Some adventure levels look friendly and then turn out to be brutal. The gap between a decent time and a great one is all skill.

The level editor gives you the same tools the developer uses for the official tracks. That means over 2000 different blocks, dynamic physics props, and NPC cats, because obviously. Paint levels any way you like, pick your skybox, and use the tree gun to scatter greenery across the hills in seconds. If you run out of levels, the answer is to build a worse one.

Couch multiplayer fits this game perfectly: up to four players on one screen, crashing into each other down hills that were clearly not designed with dignity in mind. The rules take a minute to explain, a run takes even less, and the physics make sure no two races play out the same way. Someone flies off a ramp, someone clips a physics prop, someone wins by accident. With unlockable hats and soapboxes to show off between rounds, there is always a reason for one more race.

Take it online and the lobby grows: rooms hold up to 64 players, all racing the same downhill courses for the best times. Queue up workshop tracks, race official adventure levels together, or just try to beat strangers who have clearly practised more than you. The community has a reputation for being welcoming, and the Workshop keeps the track pool growing every day, so the online game never runs out of new hills to fail on. Public or private rooms, your choice.