Hill Climb Racing

Racing

7.3~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.2 Google Play·1B+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-09-07

Screenshots

Red car climbing a grassy hill with fuel cans ahead

Vehicle mid-flip over a straw field with coins above

Golden car soaring over a canyon with gems below

Stadium stage with rows of ramps and a bike jumping

Monster truck driving across a lava landscape

Small car on a rainbow road with clouds around it

About Hill Climb Racing

Two pedals, one hill and a fuel gauge: press gas, press brake, keep the vehicle upright as the terrain rolls under it, and see how far the petrol lasts. A billion installs later it still runs on almost any phone. Free with advertising, coin packs from $1.99, and Apple rates it 13+ with loot boxes listed.

Game information

DeveloperFingersoft

Version1.71.1

Size162.5 MB (Android) · 210 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsYes

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating13+

Requires (Android)Android 7.0+

Requires (iOS)iOS 15.0+

Offline modeFull — runs, upgrades and vehicles all work without a connection

Interface languagesAR, NL, EN, FI, FR, DE + 14 more

Store rating (Google Play)4.2 from 10,589,836 ratings

Installs1B+

Updated by developer2026-08-15

Data checked2026-09-07

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-09-07. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Hill Climb Racing Review: Two Pedals, One Billion Installs

Balance, Not Speed

The controls are a brake on the left and an accelerator on the right, and the whole skill is weight: too much throttle on a rise flips the car backwards, too little and it rolls back down. Fuel cans on the track set the real limit, so a run ends when the tank does rather than when you crash — though crashing ends it faster. Coins are collected along the way and spent on upgrades to engine, suspension, tyres and four-wheel drive, each of which changes how the vehicle behaves on a slope.

Stages and Vehicles Change the Physics

Terrain rotates through countryside, desert, arctic, a stadium of ramps, a moon with low gravity and a rainbow road, and each surface reacts differently to the same throttle. Vehicles range from a hatchback to a monster truck, a motorbike and stranger things, with distinct weight distribution and gearing. That variety is what turned a one-idea game into a decade-long one: the same two pedals produce a genuinely different problem on ice than they do on tarmac. Vehicles are unlocked with coins earned in runs, so the collection grows without any purchase being necessary.

Adverts, Coins and a Billion Installs

Google Play carries an advertising badge alongside purchases, against a billion installs and 4.2 stars from 10.6 million reviews — one of the largest install counts in this catalogue. Apple shows 4.6 from 136,000 ratings, rates the game 13+ and lists frequent cartoon violence, advertising and loot boxes. Coin packs run $1.99 to $14.99 with an occasional bulk offer at $3.99, and the install is only 209.5 MB, which is why it runs on phones a decade old. Fingersoft has kept it updated since 2012, which for a game this simple is a decision rather than an obligation.

Pros

Two pedals and a physics problem anyone understands
Terrain and vehicles change how the same input behaves
A 209.5 MB install that runs on old phones
Runs entirely offline once it is installed
A billion installs across fourteen years

Cons

Advertising interrupts between runs on the free tier
Apple lists loot boxes among the contents
Upgrade grind slows sharply after early stages
Rated 4.2 on Play despite the install count

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Verdict

Fourteen years on, the idea still works: two pedals, a hill, and a physics problem that anyone can read in three seconds. Terrain and vehicles keep it varied enough to return to, and 209.5 MB means it runs where nothing else will. The adverts are the price, and playing offline removes them entirely. A reasonable first game for a child's old tablet.

Gameplay7.5A single physics idea executed cleanly, with terrain doing the variation.

Controls8.5Two pedals, nothing else — the least ambiguous input in this catalogue.

Replay value7.5Distance records, vehicles and stages, with the loop unchanged throughout.

Graphics & sound7.0Simple cartoon art that has aged into charm rather than obsolescence.

Monetisation5.5Adverts between runs, loot boxes listed, and coin packs to $14.99.

7.3out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Can it be played offline?

Yes. Runs, upgrades and vehicles all work on the device, which is why it became a standard install on children's tablets and old phones. Adverts cannot load offline, so aeroplane mode removes them for free.

What does it sell?

Coin and gem packs from $1.99 to $14.99, with occasional bulk offers, spent on upgrades and vehicle unlocks. Apple lists loot boxes among the contents, and everything sold can also be earned by playing — slowly, once the early stages are behind you.

What does it need to run?

209.5 MB and very little processing power. It works on phones and tablets a decade old, which explains how a game from 2012 accumulated a billion installs — it runs on hardware nothing else in this catalogue will start on.

Is there multiplayer?

Only through leaderboards and timed events comparing distances between players. Nobody drives at the same time, and there is no head-to-head mode — the competition is entirely about beating a number someone else posted.

How long is a run?

Anything from twenty seconds to several minutes, decided by fuel and how well you balance the vehicle. Nothing is timed externally and progress saves between runs, which makes it the archetypal filler game for a queue or a waiting room.