Race Anywhere
- Brand
- Volkswagen
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Aperto AG
Objective
Volkswagen wanted to carry its Polo R WRC rally success beyond the racetrack, turning championship momentum into something ordinary phone owners could actually play with. Race Anywhere let fans get behind the wheel of a virtual Polo between rally rounds, timed to launch ahead of the 2016 Monte Carlo Rally as part of the wider Rally the World campaign. The personal, photo-based hook was meant to keep the brand present in everyday moments and spark friendly competition through Facebook.
Solution
The player opens the camera or picks a photo from their gallery — a tabletop, a carpet, a pizza, a beach towel — anything nearby works as a track. Tracing a finger over the image draws a closed loop, and the game instantly turns that doodle into a racecourse, using the photo itself as the backdrop. Before the race, the player picks a surface — asphalt, gravel, dirt, or snow — and one of three cars: the Polo, Polo GTI, or Polo R WRC, each handling differently depending on both car and surface. Racing is one-touch: tapping at the right moment triggers a boost or a drift as the car laps its own hand-drawn circuit against the clock. When the run ends, the player can post their track and best time to Facebook and challenge friends to beat it.
- 1
Players download Volkswagen's "Race Anywhere" for free and open it straight into play, with no account required.
- 2
Before racing, players pick one of four preset practice tracks to learn the controls, then choose one of three Volkswagen Polo models — Polo, Polo GTI, or Polo R WRC — each with noticeably different handling.
- 3
Races are shown from a top-down view over three laps. Control is a single finger tapping the screen at the right moment to grab acceleration boosts and carry drifts through corners, rather than steering directly.
- 4
To build a custom track, players open the Track Editor and either shoot a photo with the phone's camera or pick one from their gallery — any real-world scene becomes the track's backdrop. They then trace a closed loop on top of the image with a finger, and the drawing is converted into a playable racing circuit.
- 5
Players assign their custom track a surface — asphalt, gravel, dirt, or snow — which changes how the car behaves over the course.
- 6
Players race their own custom track, collecting boosts and drifting through corners to set a personal best lap time.
- 7
Players can log in with Facebook to publish a custom track along with their record time, challenging friends to beat it; friends who accept race the same track chasing a faster time, and the original creator can return to defend the record against new challengers.
