Drive Mad strips driving down to its most fundamental tension: go forward or slow down. That sounds simple until you are piloting a top-heavy truck across a collapsing bridge, or trying to land a buggy on a platform after a massive ramp launch.

The physics are realistic enough that every vehicle feels genuinely different — heavy trucks lumber and tip slowly, light cars bounce and flip on contact, and multi-part vehicles like trailers swing unpredictably behind you.

Created by Swedish indie developer Martin Magni and originally published through his Fancade platform, Drive Mad has grown into one of the most popular physics puzzle games on the web.

The browser version runs as an HTML5 game, loading instantly on desktop, tablet, and mobile without any installation.

Levels take anywhere from 10 seconds to over a minute depending on complexity, making it easy to play a few rounds during a break or burn through an entire session chasing that perfect run. Drive Mad uses only two inputs.

Press W, D, X, Up Arrow, or Right Arrow to accelerate forward. Press S, A, Z, Down Arrow, or Left Arrow to brake or reverse. On mobile, tap the right side of the screen to accelerate and the left side to brake. Press R to restart the current level instantly.

There is no steering — your vehicle moves along a fixed horizontal path, and all directional control comes from managing your speed and tilt. Each level is a standalone obstacle course with a finish line at the end.

Your goal is to drive from the starting point to the finish without crashing, flipping over, falling off the course, or losing your vehicle to a trap. There are no opponents, no lap times, and no scoring — you either reach the finish or you do not.

Completing a level unlocks the next one in sequence, with Level 1 ("First Gear") introducing the basics and Level 100 ("So Much Win") serving as the final challenge. The core mechanic is realistic physics applied to exaggerated situations.

Your vehicle reacts to acceleration, gravity, terrain angle, and obstacles exactly as you would expect from its weight and shape. A heavy monster truck requires more speed to clear a gap but is harder to stop on a narrow beam.