Polygon GP

Polygon GP is a love letter to the early-90s polygon arcade racers: no textures, no filler, just flat-shaded triangles, fog, and a chase camera that sits low behind the wing. Start fifth on the grid, pass seven rivals, and learn six circuits well enough to beat your own ghost.

Everything is drawn by a custom software 3D renderer on a 640x360 canvas, so it runs on practically anything with a browser. There are no image files or textures in the game at all.

Features

• Six circuits. Highlands (hilly, 2.9 km), Bay Bridge (4.1 km suspension bridge), Mesa Run (desert), Neon Nights (night city), Frostline (snow pass) and Ember Ridge (volcanic).
• Eight cars on track. Rivals have their own pace and defend and attack; they won't wait for you.
• Three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard). Rivals scale with how well you're driving.
• 1, 3 or 5 laps, standing or rolling start.
• Ghost car. Your best lap per track is saved and replayed as a translucent car, with a live gap readout.
• Championship mode. Race all six circuits for points (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4), with a standings table after each round.
• Damage and pit stops. Wall and car hits cost top speed, acceleration, grip, and pull the car sideways. Stop in the pit box for a few seconds to repair.
• Cockpit/chase camera, minimap, lap timer, best and last lap, position tracker.
• Works with keyboard, and has on-screen touch buttons on phones and tablets.
• Best times, ghosts and settings are saved in your browser (local storage only).

Instructions

Controls

Action	Keys
Accelerate	Up arrow / W
Brake / reverse	Down arrow / S
Steer	Left / Right arrows / A / D
Change camera	V or C
Reset to track	R
Mute	M
Quit to title	Esc

Touch devices get on-screen steer, gas and brake buttons.

How to play

1. Pick a circuit on the title screen, then choose mode (Single Race or Championship), AI difficulty, number of laps and start type.
2. Press Start Race. On a standing start, wait for the lights; on a rolling start you're brought up to speed behind the grid and released at GO.
3. Finish the laps in the best position you can. A finish screen shows your result, lap times and (in Championship) points.

Tips

• Brake before the corner, not in it. The car grips best when it's settled.
• Staying off the walls matters: every hit costs speed and grip, and a damaged car pulls to one side. The damage meter turns up beside the speedometer.
• At around 25% damage, consider a stop. The pit box is on the right of the road just before the finish line; stop inside it for about 2.6 seconds and you're good as new.
• Race your ghost: the gap readout shows exactly where you gain and lose time.
• On Hard, the pack stays close and doesn't make many mistakes. Pick your moment to attack.
• Lost? Press R to drop back onto the track.

Credits

Design, code and renderer: made with Claude. Fonts: Racing Sans One and Saira Semi Condensed (SIL Open Font License). No third-party game assets.

Inspired by the look of early 1990s polygon arcade racing; not affiliated with or endorsed by any publisher.