Carmageddon
Carmageddon is a 1997 vehicular combat game developed by Stainless Games. It subverts racing conventions by making wrong-way driving, crashing, and pedestrian killing explicit objectives. The player races a vehicle against computer-controlled competitors in city, mine and industrial areas. Time is limited but extendable by collecting bonuses, damaging opponents’ cars or running over pedestrians. A race ends when the player finishes the course, wrecks all opponent vehicles, or kills all pedestrians on the level. The game features thirty-six racetracks across eleven locations. Its fully featured physics engine — a world-first for video games — makes collisions unpredictable and tactile. Crashing feels consequential because the engine simulates damage, momentum and environmental interaction in real time. Wrong-way driving wasn’t a bug — it was the core design mandate. Pedestrian killing was added to distinguish it from Destruction Derby — and to provoke. It is worth your time if you want to experience how physics-driven chaos reshaped vehicular combat in 1997 — not as nostalgia, but as a working prototype of rule-breaking design.