Overview
City Car Driving was developed by Forward Development Ltd, a Russian studio, and released on Steam in November 2016 as their first project on the platform. Unlike the racing simulators elsewhere in this category, City Car Driving has a single clear purpose stated in its own description: to help players "master the basic skills of car driving in different road conditions, immersing in an environment as close as possible to real."
The simulation centres on "smart" traffic — AI vehicles and pedestrians that behave unpredictably, creating genuine hazard-recognition scenarios rather than scripted obstacle courses. Rock, Paper, Shotgun captured this well: "dense, dynamic traffic flows, complicated road layouts, and unfamiliar highway codes mean the simple act of driving from A to B is often far from simple." The Gadget Show on UK Channel 5 praised its accuracy specifically as a tool for learner drivers, calling it "a very right accurate way" to introduce real-road challenges.
Traffic Rules Compliance System with International Variants
City Car Driving's defining educational feature is its traffic rules compliance monitoring system, paired with instructor hints that adapt to different countries' traffic laws. This means the simulation can be configured to reflect UK road rules and signage specifically — directly supporting Driving Theory Test preparation for sixth form and Post-16 students. The system tracks rule violations during free driving and structured exercises, giving objective feedback rather than relying solely on teacher observation.
Seven city/road environments are included, ranging from suburban residential roads to complex urban junctions and motorways, with full dynamic weather (rain, fog, snow, ice) and day/night cycles. Vehicles include recognisable analogues of BMW, Mercedes, Peugeot, Fiat, Toyota, and Soviet-era designs — reflecting the game's Russian origins, though without official manufacturer licensing.
Key Features
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"Smart" Traffic AI
Unpredictable vehicle and pedestrian behaviour creates genuine hazard perception scenarios rather than scripted routes.
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Dynamic Weather & Time of Day
Rain, fog, snow, and ice, plus full day/night cycles — covers the range of conditions real drivers encounter.
📝
Instructor Hints & Compliance Tracking
Real-time feedback on traffic rule violations, adaptable to different countries' road rules including UK driving theory content.
🏠
Seven Environments
From quiet suburban streets to complex city junctions and motorways — a genuine progression of difficulty.
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Career and Free Drive Modes
Structured progression through exercises, or open free driving to practise specific manoeuvres at will.
🔗
Steam Workshop / Moddable
Community content extends maps and vehicles further.
VR Setup Notes
Works Well on Quest 3 — With the Right Configuration
A Steam community post details successfully running City Car Driving on a Meta Quest 3 connected to a mid-range PC (RTX 3080-Ti, Ryzen 5800X, 64GB RAM). The key finding: use native SteamVR / Steam Link rather than Virtual Desktop, which the user found gave "worse performance and weird camera movements." With the correct setup, the result was described as "smooth head movements, no more weird anti-aliasing and a decent resolution" — a marked improvement over an earlier attempt with a Reverb G2 headset, which had been "very janky." For schools planning VR deployment, budget time for this configuration step and test with your specific headset before the first lesson.
Driving Theory / Road Safety fit
9.6
Realism / traffic behaviour
8.6
VR experience (configured)
8.0
Curriculum Value: Driving Theory and Road Safety
The Strongest Driving Theory Fit of Any Simulator Reviewed
Of every simulator covered on The XR School, City Car Driving is the only one whose stated purpose directly matches a curriculum subject: preparing learner drivers for real-road conditions and theory test content. For Post-16 PSHE, Citizenship, or dedicated Driving Theory enrichment programmes, the combination of unpredictable traffic AI, instructor hints, and adaptable international traffic rules makes this a genuinely useful supplementary tool. The save Or Quit review summarised it well: "while it may not provide the much needed experience new drivers require — nothing will ever replace actually driving a car in real life — it should be regarded as an auxiliary part of the whole learning process." That framing — auxiliary, not a replacement — is exactly right for school use: a safe, repeatable environment for hazard perception and rule familiarisation ahead of real lessons.
Note on City Car Driving 2.0
A sequel/relaunch, City Car Driving 2.0, entered Steam Early Access from the same developer in 2026, described as providing 6-8 hours of gameplay with traffic rules, basic economy systems, and several vehicles, with prices expected to rise after Early Access. This is worth monitoring for the future, but the original City Car Driving (reviewed here) remains the mature, fully-released, and far better-reviewed product for current purchase.
What Critics Say
Rock, Paper, ShotgunPositive
"It's a diversion where dense, dynamic traffic flows, complicated road layouts, and unfamiliar highway codes mean the simple act of driving from A to B is often far from simple. CCD's seven rides might be nippier and far easier to get round tight bends, but maximise the realism settings and a few of them can be almost as challenging to drive well."
The Gadget Show (Channel 5, UK)Endorsed for learners
"I was sure I had the winner! This is City Car Driving. This is a very right accurate way. It introduces you to some of the ridges, some of the challenges out there, like on a real road."
PC Games n News8/10
"It is their first project on Steam and they show great promise, considering that more than half of the simulators on Steam are subpar in terms of both overall quality and in the purposed simulation itself. CCD is fortunately a great simulator and one that doesn't bore its players either."
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
- 82% Steam positive from 28,000+ reviews
- Strongest Driving Theory / Road Safety curriculum fit on the site
- Adaptable traffic rules for different countries (UK theory content)
- "Smart" unpredictable traffic creates genuine hazard perception scenarios
- Full weather and day/night cycle range
- Frequently discounted to under $12
- VR confirmed working well on Quest 3 with correct setup
- All-ages suitability — no violent or mature content
Considerations
- No official car manufacturer licensing (generic vehicle designs)
- VR requires specific setup (SteamVR/Steam Link, not Virtual Desktop)
- A small number of extreme negative reviews report technical crashes
- Auxiliary tool, not a substitute for real driving lessons
- City Car Driving 2.0 (Early Access) may eventually supersede this version
