Driving games that are not racing games: 9 open-road picks on PC
Many driving games on PC have no races at all. In the games below, you drive to deliver cargo, cross deep mud, work a farm, finish a road trip, or stay alive. Each entry says what the goal is, and why it is not a racing game.
Six kinds of driving without races
| Game | Type | Your goal |
|---|---|---|
| Route 48 | Driving survival | Survive in an endless world |
| Euro Truck Simulator 2 | Truck sim | Deliver cargo, grow a company |
| SnowRunner | Off-road sim | Cross mud, snow, and water |
| Expeditions: A MudRunner Game | Off-road sim | Finish research missions |
| BeamNG.drive | Physics sandbox | Explore and test vehicles |
| Farming Simulator 25 | Work sim | Run a farm |
| The Long Drive | Road trip | Cross an almost endless desert |
| Jalopy | Road trip | Keep an old car on the road |
| Pacific Drive | Driving survival | Survive trips into a zone |
Route 48 (our game)
Full disclosure: we made Route 48, so we put it first.
Developer: HOLY STUDIOS. Released: Early Access since 2026. Players: Single-player.
Type: Driving survival. You drive into a procedurally generated open world, and every new game has a new world. You manage fuel, repair damaged parts, and search abandoned buildings for supplies. You fight zombies and armed hostile survivors in first person.
Why it is not a racing game: There is no finish line. The goal is to survive and continue the journey. Route 48 is in Early Access now.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Developer: SCS Software. Released: 2012. Players: Single-player or online co-op.
Type: Truck sim. You transport many kinds of cargo between cities across Europe. As you deliver, your business grows. You buy garages, hire drivers, and build a fleet of trucks. The Convoy mode lets you deliver cargo together with friends online.
Why it is not a racing game: The goal is a safe delivery and a bigger company. If you prefer roads in the United States, the same studio makes American Truck Simulator. It adds weigh stations for heavy loads and fines for speed.
SnowRunner
Developer: Saber Interactive. Released: 2020 (Steam version in 2021). Players: Single-player or online co-op (up to 4).
Type: Off-road sim. You drive heavy trucks through mud, deep water, snow, and frozen lakes. The trucks react to their weight, speed, and momentum. You add upgrades such as a snorkel for deep water or chains for snow, and you complete missions in large wild areas.
Why it is not a racing game: The terrain is the opponent. Deep water and mud can stop a truck, so a slow and careful approach works best. You can play solo or with up to three friends.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game
Developer: Saber Interactive. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player or online co-op (up to 4).
Type: Off-road sim. You drive off-road vehicles on scientific research missions in Arizona and the Carpathians. Before each trip, you plan the mission and hire specialists. A drone and a metal detector help you scout the route.
Why it is not a racing game: The challenge is to get through, not to get there first. When you are stuck, you use a winch, portable anchors, or a jackscrew. You use the money from each expedition to upgrade your bases and unlock new vehicles.
BeamNG.drive
Developer: BeamNG. Released: Early Access since 2015. Players: Single-player.
Type: Physics sandbox. BeamNG.drive uses a soft-body physics engine that simulates each part of a vehicle in real time. So crashes and vehicle control act in a realistic way. In Free Roam, you take any vehicle to any place on the map.
Why it is not a racing game: Most of the game is free exploration and tests. Scenarios give you tasks such as truck deliveries and police pursuits. The game also has time trials, but there you only race against your own best time.
Farming Simulator 25
Developer: GIANTS Software. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player or online co-op.
Type: Work sim. You run a farm alone or with other players. You drive hundreds of licensed vehicles and tools from brands such as John Deere, Fendt, CLAAS, and Case IH. You grow crops, keep animals, and run productions and forestry.
Why it is not a racing game: The machines are tools for work. You drive to plant and harvest crops, at the slow pace of a real farm.
The Long Drive
Developer: Genesz. Released: Early Access since 2019. Players: Single-player.
Type: Road trip. You drive across a desert that the game generates at random, and the desert is almost endless. Car maintenance and survival are light. There are no invisible walls, so you can leave the road at any time.
Why it is not a racing game: There is no fixed goal. The drive itself is the game. Read our list of games like The Long Drive for more open-road games.
Jalopy
Developer: Minskworks. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player.
Type: Road trip. You drive an old Laika 601 Deluxe through countries of the former Eastern Bloc. You repair the tires, the engine, and the carburettor, and you refuel on the way. The world is procedurally generated.
Why it is not a racing game: The trip matters more than the speed. You earn money when you scavenge or when you smuggle goods past border patrols.
Pacific Drive
Developer: Ironwood Studios. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player.
Type: Driving survival. You drive an old station wagon into a zone with anomalies, radiation, and storms. You take resources, open a way home, and leave fast when the area becomes unstable. In your garage, you repair and upgrade the car.
Why it is not a racing game: You race against danger, not against other drivers. For more games of this type, read games like Pacific Drive.
How we picked these games
We looked for PC games where driving is the main activity, but races are not the goal. We chose games from six types: truck sims, off-road sims, a sandbox, a work sim, road trips, and driving survival. We checked every fact on the store pages and other public sources.
Which one should you play first?
- For calm drives with a job, start with Euro Truck Simulator 2.
- For a slow fight against mud and snow, play SnowRunner.
- For crashes and physics, play BeamNG.drive.
- For machines and a farm, play Farming Simulator 25.
- For a road trip, play Jalopy or The Long Drive.
- For a drive with danger, play Pacific Drive or Route 48.
New to the survival side? Read what a driving survival game is.