Golden Lap

Golden Lap is an addictive racing sim that has plenty of strategical elements for such a stripped back experience, making it fun to play.

If the stress and time investment of F1 Manager games put you off of them but you still want the thrill of leading a motorsport team to victory by racing on familiar tracks with familiar sounding corners and landmarks and familiar teams and drivers then Golden Lap does enough right to make this a top choice.

Overall, the release version of Golden Lap, even with those couple of areas where it could be better, is still very much the game I enjoyed in a short burst earlier in the year. It knows exactly what it wants to deliver, and does so in the wonderfully characterful manner that’s come to define Funselektor’s games and help them stand out from the racing crowd. Without giving you an actual whiff of the petrol fumes, properly deafening you with engine roar from behind the wheel or offering you a mouthful of podium bubbly, it manages to capture the spirit of what it depicts, and with a few tweaks, its pull could be even more irresistible.

A largely straightforward motorsport management game with a distinct visual style, Golden Lap manages to offer tactical race simulation with off-the-track drama in a minimalist package. It may not satisfy hardcore petrolheads, but for slightly more relaxed race enjoyers, it’s a fine sim experience.

Golden Lap aims to bring sports management to those who have never played such games before. It's an accessible and simple game that captures the F1 era of the 1970s well. Unfortunately, it's too simple, and after a few hours you'll be wishing for something a little more complex.