SMS Racing is a time trial arcade racer that captures the “thrill” of texting and driving.
Full Game
I’m now making this into a full game with Turbo Button, coming to VR platforms in late 2015! Check out the game’s official website for more information.
Download Game Jam Version
The original game jam version of SMS Racing was built on top of the stock Unity racing game demo in two days for Ludum Dare 27, “10 Seconds.”
Download the game below:
Windows (v1.01)
Mac (v1.0)
Linux(v1.0)
4Kidz Version
The regular version of the game contains abbreviated swearing in the text messages (such as WTF, etc). The version below contains only clean text messages and is for parents or teachers that would like to show the game to kids.
Windows (vEdu 1.01)
Press
Here are some selections from the press that show the range of responses SMS Racing generated on its release:
Games Media
- MTV Multiplayer – “…oddly addicting and even fun to play…should be a requirement at all driving schools and DMVs across the nation.”
- Kotaku – “…a more effective tool for caution than any PSA or lecture. Send it to every teenage driver you know.”
- IndieGames.com – “It’s amazing what a gloriously silly idea can do to Unity’s rather dull tutorial racing game.”
- GameReactor – “…a short little addictive social commentary game…it’s a lot harder than you think.”
- Kill Screen – “…a true next-gen racing sim.”
- Dorkly – “Text ‘mushroom’ to 5702 for extra speed boosts.”
US National Media
- Popular Mechanics – “Experience the Terror of Texting While Driving with SMS Racing”
- Boston Globe – “Want to get better at texting and driving? You probably shouldn’t, but there’s now a way to practice.”
- NBC News – “Like a growing number of’ ’empathy games,’ ‘SMS Racing’ uses its gameplay to ask its players to reflect on the decisions they make in real life.”
- New York Daily News – “Gaming designer Holden Link wants to see how good a driver you are.”
- Fast Company – “A reminder of just how bad an idea texting and driving is, in game form.”
- TIME –  “It’s not a game that should be played in real life.”
- WebProNews – “It’s impossible. It’s worse than QWOP. It’s exactly as hard as it should be.”
- Relevant Magazine – “[SMS Racing] is a maddening challenge, and it rivals Werner Herzog’s documentary for shedding light on this growing problem.”
- Zimbio – “Computer Game Demoes Doucebaggery”
International Media
- Mako (Israel)
- La Informacion (Spain)
- Techgear (Greece)
- Feber (Sweeden)
- La Tercera (Chile)
TV Coverage
- Daily Planet (Discovery Channel Canada, 2 minute mark)
- ICT Genius9 (Thailand)
VR Prototype
I’m currently working on a VR version of SMS Racing. Here’s a sneak peek!
It’s a damn hard game, but it’s so addictive…
i like to give good advise to other people
You should release this as a full game!
make it a full game! this is innovative! Release on STEAM! >:D
Damn this game is so hard. I’ll have to keep practising, damn I even took these my practise out on the street.
When I’m out of hospital, I’m back in the game baby.
LOL best comment
I agree! Plz make a full game! I’d pay money for a better, improved version!
Very educational and helpful to show people what could happen without something actually happening. Just downloaded it and I’m about to try it.
Again I love the concept and idea, keep up the good work!
Not very education tbh, you use more than your eyes to drive and not only that your FOV isn’t so narrow that you’d lose sight of the road when looking down. Not to mention the difference in speeds.
You’re an idiot. This game is just a bit of fun while teaching people that they shouldn’t text or drive.
Also the Field of View is restricted because that’s all most people see while on their phones and the roads in every city aren’t all straight. Where I live they use the city as a raceway for the V8’s in Australia as it is so windey and hard to navigate correctly.
Oh yah, don’t forget this is a racing course with turns that all need to be handled differently, you’re not just driving down a straight road like you would in any city. Tbh I doubt 80% of people could go down that race course with their full attention in a real car and even make it through without spinning off the track.
Great tool! I have been showing it to friends and family who in turn are doing the same. Get the word out! And YES should do full version
Everyone should be required to play this at the DMV before they take their driving test!!!!!! Positively thought provoking!
Everyone can make this game! Download here:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/10
Good call sharing the link. Added to the original post.
I like that people are complaining that its too difficult, they’re missing the point, it’s supposed to be informative. Although I would like a multiplayer version, I think it would add to the message.
This is too funny. Now, off to practice my texting and driving skillz.
Can’t launch the game! Do I need 64-bit to play?
You shouldn’t, but you can try playing in the browser instead:
http://holdenlink.com/smsracing/
Try playing this game whilst driving in your car! Very hard.
Dejavu. We had this exact idea fleshed out a couple of months earlier. I’m sure this is just a coincidence, we also used the unity car demo to create ours. You can check out our version here: http://pascalonprogramming.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/prototype-week1-text-n-drive
Crazy! That’s awesome!
Are the majority of people who posted comments trolling, or did that many people actually miss the point of this game? Maybe the devs need to add destructibility and AI traffic, so you could see how easy it is to completely destroy your car and others. Of course, then the player would probably just try to wreck their car as much as possible, unless there was some kind of penalty. Maybe… realistic traumatized passengers covered in blood. That would hopefully drive home the point.
This is a great training tool!
I can’t play 🙁 the game crash at the start, i see the splash picture but right after it crash .. help me please
There’s a browser-based version now…give that a try!
http://holdenlink.com/smsracing/
that dosent work
Fun stuff! A couple suggestions — The texts should come in at a more rapid pace, or at least a consistent one. This, coupled with the fact that certain responses are significantly harder than others, makes the game very dependent on luck/RNG. Maybe make it so every text variation is represented equally somehow. Secondly, the best answer strategy is to wait until the timer is on 0 to send, so that you minimize the total number of texts. Perhaps the time spent answering every text should be added to the total time, to encourage the player to answer the text as quickly as possible.
Fun game, though not an accurate reflection of texting while driving. It’s no different than any other non-driving activity someone does from behind the wheel (changing the radio station, adjusting the AC, setting down your coffee) — you pick your spots. It’s not as if anyone tries to manipulate an iPhone while turning, passing, changing lanes, approaching a light, etc.
Still. It’s a very neat game.
Damn, just got in a fender bender trying to download this. Guess i got time to try it out while i wait for the towtruck
Awesome game, very stressful and witty. I did a gameplay video if anyone is interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxrVGTEQAg&feature=share&list=UUf2ocK7dG_WFUgtDtrKR4rw
Doesn’t work Windows , Linux or web
Fail
I would love to see an urban version of this – Straighter roads with real hazards and traffic obligations like stoplights, cars pulling out from side streets/driveways, doors opening on parked cars, etc. Adding pedestrians would make it even more compelling, but perhaps a bit too graphic. Maybe inanimate objects rolling into the roadway – basketball, shopping cart, or similar.
great move man!
How do I report bugs for Linux? I’ve been running strace on the thing to try to figure out what’s causing it to crash when the Unity splash screen is displayed, but I can’t do anything useful without source code or a bug report area
When I click on Win.exe to run the game, I get an error message saying, “Unable to load mono library from “C:/Users/My Name/Downloads/SMS-Racing-Windows/Win_Data/Mono/mono.dll” (error = 126).”
What am I doing wrong?
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You cant download or play it just turns blue website it stupid
SMS is a good drift sim
Don’t text an drive…i just said gtg to the git who was texting me lol
Don’t text an drive…i just said gtg to the git who was texting me lol
I liked it and I can really see the educational side of this as a part of class in middleschools or something… Anyway, I features you game in my miniseries about cool free indiegames: http://youtu.be/Qgd5hTKghTk
Hope you like it!
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SMS Racing is a game about the thrill of texting and driving. Do you have what it takes to race at the highest level while responding to your friends’ messages? You don’t want to be rude, do you?
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Hello,
Does the VR version of the game is available today?
Thank you.
All the best,
Julian Alvarez
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