Kart

My youngest son, Aleksander (10) and I are crazy about Mario Kart. I guess we have played every version of it emulated from every console. When in London this summer, we also played the actual consoles in the cellar at the Science Museum where they have a huge collection of consoles.

Time for the Mario Kart tribute. I asked Claude for a game in the spirit of the game for funkey. Called simply “kart”. Play it in your browser.

The game

• Eight karts on four tracks: a meadow, a beach, an icy pass and a desert.
• The road is flat and painted the way Super Mario Kart painted it. The karts on it are 3D.
• Up is the gas, Down the brake. Left and Right steer.
• Space hops. Hold it through a bend and the kart drifts. Let go when the sparks turn blue or orange for a push.
• Boxes hand out six items. Kinder ones to those at the back. X uses the item.
• A cup is four races of three laps, at 50, 100 or 150cc.
• Ice has little grip.

Three iterations

Three messages from me. Three versions. Each picture below is three seconds into a race on the meadow.

One: the game

“Could we make a funkeys game in the spirit of Mario Kart called simply “kart”?”

55 minutes later it was all there. The tracks, the items, the drift, the cup, seven karts that drive themselves. The karts were boxes.

Two: the karts

“Is it possible to achieve better graphics - especially for the karts?”

28 minutes. Round bodies, drivers with helmets, wheels that roll and steer. Sunlight on the paint and a soft shadow under each kart.

Absolutely astonishing.

Three: the trees and the road

Claude asked if I wanted the trees and the road improved next. My answer: “y”.

27 minutes. Oaks and birches. Palms. Firs under snow. Cactus and red rock. Long shadows that reach across the road. Grain in the asphalt, painted boxes on the start grid.

And the game got faster. A frame in the browser went from 27 to 22 milliseconds.

Summary

Built with Claude on funkey in three goes: 55, 28 and 27 minutes. The game is one file of Rust. Public Domain, like everything I make.

• kart

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Link to this post: https://isene.org/2026/10/Kart.html