Gravel

A completely ok arcade racing game, one of those games that's good to just put your feet up and play with a controller when you're tired without needing to think too much or deal with any deep, meaningful gameplay.

The career is just one race after another with a fair amount of repetition involved, the driving feels okay, the cars feel weighty and responsive etc. I think the AI use a catch-up mechanic to keep up, because I found I was blowing past them after the first couple of corners, but then they'd stick with me right until the end of the race, as if they gain a speed boost when they need to catch up kind of thing.

Some of the tracks are decent, others not so much, and the commentary tries to make it all sound very exciting, using words like EXTREME and BREATHTAKING every time you start a new race, when in reality your breathe will not be taken, nor will you see anything particularly extreme.

Reminded me a bit of Forza Horizon without the open world element. Completely fine for a few quid.

I had a bit of a rough start with this one because of many minor but very obvious bugs and some design decisions that I can only describe as an acquired taste. Fortunately, I quickly got over it, because the driving part was just that well done!
Between arcade and sim, Gravel is closer to arcade, but there's enough depth to keep one entertained. Each car handles differently. The variety of elevation and terrain types on each stage affect the cars differently. The physics and the driving experience are believable without being overwhelming or becoming boring. Visual feedback is also really good - I could instantly see the car struggling in some sections and speeding up like mad in others. The feeling of speed was satisfying too. Cars handled well and did what I expected them to do. That's even after turning off assists, which made cars more responsive and drifting much easier.
Honestly, my only complaint about the game is that 2 of the achievements require you to play online. While it's commendable that multiplayer still works 7 years after release, it's hard to find a buddy to play with. If you're an achievement hunter, keep that in mind.
At the time of writing, Gravel runs well in Kubuntu 24.04 with Proton Experimental (Dec.2025), and the DLC is recognised as long as you run the Windows version in Proton. Going through the game with a keyboard was smooth! I did a few races with a controller as well and had no issues.
I didn't do a longer playthrough without Steam, but Gravel also appears to be DRM-free (runs without Steam after installation), which I very much appreciate! Unfortunately, none of the DLC works in this case, but there's still plenty to enjoy in the base game.
In any case, I could recklessly drive all my favourite rally cars (and more!) in unusual and beautiful locations, and it was a ton of fun! Yay!

It is a fun arcade-racing game! Cars you don't usually see in racing games, different and wild locations, crazy driving physics. You WILL have fun with it, which is the main objective! Our gaming industry needs this kind of games back.

For Achievement Hunters:
- Easy and fast except for one. It's grindy but I've seen WAY worse!

This is a hidden gem.
I discovered this game in 2026 and I can't believe I missed this at launch.
The level of detail when it comes to car tuning is sim level.
Handling is great for a simcade.
Absolutely an amazing game for the car guys, at the same level as Dirt 2, Dirt 3 and Grid games.

Overall one of the best racing games I ever played!
The tracks look amazing (being built in Unreal Engine, Gravel looks great even for today's standards), it features a huge selection of cars across a large variety of classes and eras, has nice arcady controls, etc etc. The soundtrack rocks, too. The only thing it doesn't do well is locking a large portion of the content behind a paywall of DLCs. Apart from that it's just plain awesome. You can race on ice, see northern lights, race on runways with aircraft around, jump dunes, see shipwrecks, race on beautiful beaches, blast through ice caves, compete in stadiums, race on official race tracks, in quarries and so much more. There are multiple game modes, from standard races, over multiplayer, time attack, weekly challenges and so on. It really offers a lot to keep you interested and coming back for a quick race every now and then. I especially like the classic cars like the Lancia Stratos and love blasting around with it. You can choose the time of day and weather conditions for each track once you've unlocked them, which is a nice plus. All in all this game is just so much fun if you don't expect a hyper-realistic sim and take it for what it is. I love it and would happily recommend it to anyone.

Interesting racing game, good graphics, cool car paints, Wouldn't think too much if this was more less popular than other most popular played racing/driving games franchise

Class. Works nicely on SteamDeck if you change the settings a bit - can get mostly high, but need to set a frame cap to 30fps, and select PROTON EXPERIMENTAL otherwise there will be crashes.