What Is the Best Sim Racing Game for a Beginner?

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The holiday season always brings with it a new group of sim racers. Here are some great titles to try if you are new to sim racing.

Sim racing is a rapidly growing hobby, and the holiday season is among the the most popular times of year to try it for the first time. If you received a new wheel, a new computer, or a console for Christmas, or perhaps just have a bit more free time over this period to try a new hobby, here are some sim racing games to try if you are a beginner.
  • RaceRoom Racing Experience - RaceRoom is a great way to dip your toes into the sim racing world without spending any money. This title is well-loved by even hardcore sim racers, and has the bonus of being a free-to-play model with optional add-on content. You'll need a PC and a Steam account, and then you can download and play RaceRoom for free. There is a huge selection of cars and tracks that can be added later a la carte, but the free cars and tracks included with your download will be enough for you to try your hand at sim racing and have hours of fun for no cost.
  • Gran Turismo Sport - If you own a PlayStation 4 or 5, GT Sport is a solid option for trying out sim racing. PS compatible wheels are supported by the title, and there is a license test mode that will train you in the fundamentals of performance driving.
  • Assetto Corsa - Assetto Corsa is offered on PC, PlayStation and Xbox, and offers drivers a great selection of cars and tracks. The driving physics are very realistic, and when combined with a wheel and pedal set it offers an outstanding virtual driving experience with both road cars and race cars. Assetto Corsa is a huge value these days thanks to its age, making it a well-rounded starting point for new sim racers that doesn't break the bank.
  • F1 2021 - The official game of the most popular motorsport series in the world is a logical starting point for sim racers. The 2021 edition of the F1 series has an immersive story mode, which allows you to drop into the life of a race driver making the jump from Formula 2 to Formula 1. The story is engaging and fun, and the game offers forgiving driving assists for those feeling overwhelmed while learning to drive racing simulators.
These are just four options in the sim racing game genre, but these selections should be good starting points for those new to the hobby. Above all, pick a title that you have fun playing.

If you have questions about sim racing, the RaceDepartment Forums are a great place to ask, or find advice from replies to other, similar issues.

If you're an experienced sim racer, let us know which racing sim you would recommend to those starting out. If you're new to the hobby, let us know which title you might start with and why.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Andor
Get started with GTR 2 and GT Legends, with HQ Anniversary mods from Racedepartment :thumbsup: (+1: Just for fun GP Legends/Nascar Legends) very cool old programs (or skip), then Assetto Corsa (and just for fun check the Live for Speed) and then Assetto Corsa Competizione, rFactor 2 and/or iRacing!
 
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D
Cote Dazur said:
Easy Peasy:

On play station; Gran Turismo
On xbox; Forza 7
On PC; AC
Click to expand...
Forza 7 works on PC, would be my first recommendation for noobs.
AMS2 is similarly forgiving, but not as polished and has much less content.
 
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Wilko Jones
Premium
If you are on console, pick that consoles the big exclusive racing franchise. If you are on PC, I went the R3E route.
 
Tony 93
Go straight to the game that,s going to keep bringing back time and time again i racing
 
pumpkineater23
Andrew_WOT said:
Forza 7 works on PC, would be my first recommendation for noobs.
AMS2 is similarly forgiving, but not as polished and much less content.
Click to expand...
Interesting, I've never tried a 'Forza'. I assumed it was more of a, fancy graphics, arcade type of thing where you use a controller and drive though 'boost ups' etc?
 
Jason Chamberlain
Premium
pumpkineater23 said:
Interesting, I've never tried a 'Forza'. I assumed it was more of a, fancy graphics, arcade type of thing where you use a controller and drive though 'boost ups' etc?
Click to expand...
No. They call it a sim, but it's really "simcade," if I can use that term. You earn currency to buy cars, but you don't go through boosts and stuff. The graphics are very nice. Their goal was to model reality, but in a way that was approachable. It's also probably the best experience with a controller on PC or XBox.
 
G
Andrew_WOT said:
Forza 7 works on PC, would be my first recommendation for noobs.
AMS2 is similarly forgiving, but not as polished and much less content.
Click to expand...

pumpkineater23 said:
Interesting, I've never tried a 'Forza'. I assumed it was more of a, fancy graphics, arcade type of thing where you use a controller and drive though 'boost ups' etc?
Click to expand...

It surely is pumpkineater23, Andrew_WOT clearly likes to bash AMS2.

AMS2 is way WAY more sim then Forza, they cannot even be compared in terms of physics/handling.
If AMS2 is as forgiving as Forza, then ACC is also. They are quite similair in terms of difficultness(I play both with quite similair skill/racing positions), but I think that Andrew won't agree with this because he's an hardcore ACC player/fan and he sees this sim as way above AMS2 somehow.
 
M
Premium
there could be a lot of context to this question, main one being what do you want to do in this hobby? If it's just play another genre of game then f1, forza etc. works on pc, xbox, xontroller and wheel.

If you want to get more serious about it then something like iracing. Mostly because it has a lot of support for it at all sorts of levels. Racing against people is nothing like racing against AI in most games. iracing has support at the beginner level through its official rookie series and beginner leagues for which there are numerous. It has good forums that are helpful, it has a lot of youtube content aimed at helping you get better. There is a lot of paid coaching if you wanted to go that far.

If I take any other sport or activity I wouldnt normally offer up the cheapest or easiest alternative unless specifically asked.
 
D
TurboT said:
It surely is pumpkineater23, Andrew_WOT clearly likes to bash AMS2.

AMS2 is way WAY more sim then Forza, they cannot even be compared in terms of physics/handling.
If AMS2 is as forgiving as Forza, then ACC is also. They are quite similair in terms of difficultness(I play both with quite similair skill/racing positions), but I think that Andrew won't agree with this because he's an hardcore ACC player/fan and he sees this sim as way above AMS2 somehow.
Click to expand...
You should read through the thread to see how many people recommend AMS2 as easy to get into racing game.
Nothing wrong with being accessible, fun, and newb friendly, not sure why it offends you.
 
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D
pumpkineater23 said:
Interesting, I've never tried a 'Forza'. I assumed it was more of a, fancy graphics, arcade type of thing where you use a controller and drive though 'boost ups' etc?
Click to expand...
Give it a try, it actually surprised me as I had the same opinion. Motorsport Forza branch is more like Gran Turismo, when Horizon is balls out arcade with very good simcade physics. Both work just fine with steering wheels, even with direct drive if using EmuWheel.
 
G
Andrew_WOT said:
You should read through the thread to see how many people recommend AMS2 as easy to get into racing game.
Nothing wrong with being accessible, fun, and newb friendly, not sure why it offends you.
Click to expand...
Yes it's indeed accessible, fun, and newb friendly... That's what others said(and I fully agree with that!), that's not what you said: You said: "AMS2 is similarly forgiving". And that's what we replied to.

Because it's NOT as forgiving as Forza, it's completely different. Forza is an pure arcade racegame that forgives simply everything, AMS2 is clearly not purely an arcade racer. So it's also not as forgiving as Forza. AMS2 is as forgiving as ACC for example but not as "arcade racers".

That's the reason that I replied like that (and I suspect pumpkineater23 too but I'm not sure since I cannot talk for others).
 
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TurboT said:
Because it's NOT as forgiving as Forza, it's completely different. Forza is an pure arcade racegame that forgives simply everything, AMS2 is clearly not purely an arcade racer. So it's also not as forgiving as Forza. AMS2 is as forgiving as ACC for example but not as "arcade racers".
Click to expand...
I was referring to FM7 which is by no means purely arcade racer, that would be Horizon.
It's been a while since I raced FM7 but from memory driving physics was quite good, AMS2 should not be ashamed by this comparison.
 
schlitty
As a former, and in a lot of ways current, complete "noob" beginner I can say quite confidently that there isn't a good answer to this question sadly.

The F1 series is the only one willing to teach somebody completely new and is close enough to sims to be a "gateway drug". F1 2013 is the only reason I ended up getting a wheel and then into sims. It's a specific kind of racing/racecraft, but it teaches you everything you need to know to enjoy it. It has a basics driving school system. It makes you start with a slower team/car if you're bad out of the gate. It emphasizes practice and learning the tracks in those practices. And all the settings and difficulty sliders make sense and come with labels and often 'basic' versions. And it has a true game experience that builds up with you as you get better.

No sim in the last decade cares to teach from the ground up. Dunno if it is community egos bleeding upward or if it is just too much trouble. But a basic 2hr~ driving course in any random 'hardcore' sim would easily double their sales with a little word of mouth. Not everybody is a gear head or rabid fan of racecraft that knows what "the limit" or "trail braking" remotely is. I had to quietly watch YouTube videos explaining something as simple as racing lines and work up the courage to ask simple "dumb" questions on random forums when I was getting into AMS1 and rF2 (and later others). Took me way longer than it should've to learn the basics. Was quite the stark difference coming from F1 2013. And it wasn't just because it was "harder" or more "real".

I was a typical American that didn't follow F1, at all. By the end of a single season in F1 2013 I knew enough to fully understand and follow the real life product and be willing to drop leisure money on an entry level wheel. Years of sim racing and I feel like I'm barely getting started still. Which is admittedly a good thing in some ways too, but not in this context. I've seen some details of older sims that did a lot more, but it's too late. Both for my personal journey and in the grand scheme of things. "Oh you want to get into sim racing? I recommend this ~15yo game you should play instead of all these shiny new things. Here's the torrent link to the mods you need to make it look okayish. And then read this about how to install it on modern systems. And then this is how to make it work with your wheel...". I guess I could say ACC gives you on the fly feedback ratings when you're getting started. That's something. And it's new enough and plug n play enough but I dunno.

I'm willing to admit I'm slow and might be a naturally bad driver so I may be operating on a steeper curve. But no sim seems to want to help anybody that started in a similar situation to me coming in completely green. So it has to be the F1 series for me. Even if it isn't always considered a "sim". It's the only one that actually wants to indoctrinate new fans. Albeit like I mentioned; For a very specific kind of racing. Which doesn't completely translate to all that sim racing has to offer. But it can still make you want to dive in.
 

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