Kosmic Kart: Mario Kart-Style Racing with Friends, in Your Browser

A free kart racer you play online with friends. Drift for boosts, throw bananas, fire rockets and race up to eight people on four tracks, with video chat — no download, no console.

1 Create a room
2 Send the link
3 Race!
Kosmic Kart on Kosmi: a green kart chasing three rivals past item boxes on Canopy Chase, a jungle track with monkeys in the trees
Start Racing Powered by Kosmi

Mario Kart with friends, without the console

Everyone on the couch used to need a controller and the same TV. Kosmic Kart is the kart racer you played on the couch, rebuilt to run in a browser tab — so the friends you race can be anywhere, on a laptop or a phone.

Drift, boost, repeat

Hold a drift through a corner and it pays out a boost when you let go — hold it longer for a bigger one. Nail the start for a rocket start, do a trick off a jump, draft behind the kart ahead, and hit the dash panels.

18 items

Bananas, homing seekers, a hunter that goes after the leader, rockets, lightning, ink, a star, a ghost that steals your item, boomerangs, fireballs and more. The further back you are, the better the box.

Your face on your driver

Turn your camera on and your driver wears it, so the kart that just hit you with a banana has a grin behind it. Voice chat runs the whole race, trash talk included.

Nothing to install

No console, no game download, no copies to buy. The race loads in the browser on a laptop or a phone, and your friends join from a link without making an account.

Three karts, four engine classes

A nimble Bike, an all-round Kart or a heavy Quad that's hard to push around. Race at 50cc while everyone learns the tracks, or turn it up to 200cc.

Your phone is a controller

Race on the big screen and open the room on your phone too, signed in as you: it becomes a controller for your kart. Or race on the phone itself, held sideways like a handheld.

How a race works

Grand prix rules, one race at a time.

Up to eight racers take a seat and each picks a kart. The room's admin picks the track, the number of laps — 3 unless you change it, anywhere from 1 to 9 — the engine class from 50cc to 200cc, and whether items are on. Then they press Start: a five-second countdown, and you're off. Press the gas at just the right moment before the lights go out for a rocket start; too early and you'll stall on the line.

Drive through the item boxes to pick something up, and use it when the moment's right — drop a banana on the racing line, send a seeker at the kart ahead, or save the horn for when a hunter comes for you in first place. Pick up batteries along the way for a little extra top speed, and hold on to them: get hit and you drop a few.

Fall off the track and you're put straight back on it. Once the first racer crosses the line, everyone else has a little while to finish, and then the standings go up. Head back to the lobby, keep your seats, and go again.

Anyone who'd rather watch can spectate, and new arrivals take a seat for the next race.

The race at a glance

What you're signing up for.

Game3D kart racing, Mario Kart-style
Racers1 to 8 in a race; everyone else in the room can spectate
TracksStorybook Isle, Canopy Chase, Frostbite Pass, and the Summit Run sprint
Laps1–9, default 3
Engine classes50cc, 100cc, 150cc, 200cc
KartsBike (light), Kart (all-round), Quad (heavy)
Items18, dealt by race position, or switch items off for a clean race
BoostsDrift boosts, rocket starts, tricks off jumps, slipstream, dash panels
KeyboardW/↑ gas, S/↓ brake, A/D or ←/→ steer, Space or Shift drift, Enter/E/F item, B look back, Tab standings, Y chat
PhoneOn-screen gas, brake, drift and item buttons; or use your phone as a controller for a race on your computer
CPU racersNot yet — bring friends
Video chatBuilt into the room; your camera is your driver's face
DownloadNone, runs in the browser
CostFree

The tracks

Four courses, all built by Kosmi.

Storybook Isle

Flower-covered hills, candy-coloured trees and a seaside run round a little island.

Canopy Chase

A jungle track under the trees, with monkeys overhead, parrots in the leaves and dash panels on the straights.

Frostbite Pass

A snowy mountain pass with icy walls, rolling boulders and rising air to glide on.

Summit Run

A one-way sprint through a sun-baked canyon: no laps, just start to finish in sections.

Kosmic Kart is made by Kosmi and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo; Mario Kart is a trademark of its owner.

Questions

Can I play Mario Kart online with friends in my browser?

Kosmic Kart is the closest thing: a Mario Kart-style kart racer that runs in the browser with nothing to install and no console to own. It isn't Nintendo's Mario Kart — the karts, drivers, tracks and items are all Kosmi's own — but it plays the way you'd expect: drift round the corners for a boost, grab items from the boxes and throw them at whoever is in front.

How do I race with friends?

Create a Kosmi room with Kosmic Kart in it and send your friends the room link. Everyone takes a seat and picks a kart, the room's admin chooses the track, laps and engine class, and presses Start. No account is needed to join.

Is it free?

Yes. Every track, every kart, every item and the video chat are free, with no limit on races. Kosmi Premium exists for other things, but nothing in Kosmic Kart is paywalled.

How many players can race?

Up to eight in a race. Anyone else in the room can spectate, and you can start a race on your own to learn a track.

What are the controls?

W or the up arrow for gas, S or down to brake, A and D or the left and right arrows to steer, Space or Shift to drift, and Enter, E or F to use your item. B looks behind you, Tab shows the standings and Y opens chat. On a phone there are on-screen buttons, and held sideways the race sits between two controllers like a handheld console.

What items are there?

Eighteen, all Kosmi's own designs: bananas, bombs, a bouncing ball, a seeker that homes on the kart ahead, a hunter that flies to the leader, a rocket that drives for you, zippers, a turbo, a star, lightning that shrinks everyone else, ink, a ghost that steals, a fake item box, fireballs, a boomerang, a chomper, a horn that clears everything around you, and coins. What you get depends on where you are: the back of the pack gets the good stuff.

Can I use my phone as a controller?

Yes. Open the same room on your phone, signed in to the same account, while you race on your computer, and your phone becomes a controller for your kart, with gas, drift and item buttons. You can also just race on the phone itself.

Are there CPU racers?

Not yet. Kosmic Kart is for racing people you invite, which is what the room link is for.

Is Kosmic Kart affiliated with Nintendo?

No. Kosmic Kart is made by Kosmi and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo. Mario Kart is a trademark of Nintendo; we only use the name to describe the kind of game this is.