Your driver is approaching the final corner, the car ahead is struggling with worn tires, and there’s a chance to steal another position before the finish line. You’ve got enough boost left to attempt an overtake, although there’s also a worrying amount of rain appearing on the track. One wrong decision could send your driver sliding into the barriers. Unfortunately, you can’t grab the steering wheel and sort things out yourself. You’re the race engineer, and your job is to make the decisions while somebody else does the driving.
Backseat Champions is a racing roguelite autobattler from solo developer Ivar “f13rce” Slotboom, launching into Steam Early Access today. Rather than controlling a car directly, you’ll manage its performance through upgrades, tire choices, pit stops, and tactical decisions during races. The drivers are controlled by machine-learning AI, meaning overtakes, mistakes, and crashes happen without scripted outcomes. With short races, changing weather, and multiplayer championships, there’s plenty of opportunity to discover whether you’re a racing genius or just very good at blaming the driver.
All the Responsibility, None of the Steering
Every race puts you in charge of the decisions that could turn an ordinary driver into a championship winner. You’ll select upgrades as the race progresses, improving your car’s performance and developing a build capable of competing with the rest of the field.
These upgrades appear randomly, introducing the roguelite element. You may concentrate on improving speed, strengthening your car’s ability to overtake, or finding bonuses that work together. There are also opportunities to gamble on instantly maximizing an upgrade, although doing so risks an engine failure that sends your driver into the pits.
You’ll need to manage boost and aerodynamic bonuses, choosing when to help your driver attack another car or defend against someone closing in from behind. Races last around ten minutes by default, so there’s little time to spend admiring your decisions. While you’re deciding whether to take another upgrade, the rest of the grid is still racing.
Seven Tire Compounds and One Very Bad Weather Forecast
Choosing the right tires can make an enormous difference, especially when the weather decides to interfere with your plans. Backseat Champions features seven tire compounds, each offering different advantages. Some favor outright speed, while others become more useful as the race progresses. Their effectiveness also depends on what your opponents are using, creating a strategic contest where the fastest option isn’t necessarily the smartest.
Dynamic weather introduces another problem. A dry track could suddenly become wet, leaving you wondering whether to make an early pit stop or risk staying out for another lap. You’ll also need to consider tire wear, punctures, and the possibility of a safety car bringing the field back together after a crash.
Imagine spending several laps building a comfortable lead, only for another driver to hit the barriers and erase your advantage. You might have made every decision correctly, but that doesn’t mean the other competitors will cooperate.
Your Driver Has a Mind of Their Own
The game’s drivers use reinforcement learning, trained on the developer’s own racing environments rather than following predetermined racing scripts. That means they’ll attempt overtakes, defend positions, make mistakes, and occasionally have spectacular accidents without waiting for a scripted event to tell them what to do.
Everyone begins on equal footing, leaving your strategic decisions to influence the outcome. Of course, even the best strategy can’t guarantee your driver won’t find an inventive way to throw away a podium finish.
There are eight car types at Early Access launch, alongside 53 track layouts. Multi-class racing also lets different types of cars compete on the same circuit, introducing another challenge when faster and slower vehicles begin sharing the road.
Bring Your Friends, Then Blame Them for Everything
If managing one unpredictable driver isn’t stressful enough, you can compete with friends through online multiplayer, cooperative championships, and local split-screen. Online matchmaking supports up to 12 players, while local split-screen accommodates four. You can even bring split-screen players into online races, giving everyone an opportunity to demonstrate their questionable tactical abilities.
There’s also TrackForge, a track editor where you can draw your own circuits, decorate them, and race on them immediately. Custom tracks and liveries can be shared through Steam Workshop.
Backseat Champions launches into Early Access today. The developer expects Early Access to last roughly two years, with more cars, tracks, upgrades, and a story mode planned. For racing fans who enjoy the strategy behind motorsport as much as the driving itself, this could be an interesting change of pace.