Funselektor Lab has announced that its new racing game "Art of Rally" will be released on both Steam and GOG on September 23. The game is a stylish racer with minimalist design, pop colors, and vintage cars from the 60s to the 80s.

Whereas Funselektor's previous title, "Absolute Drift," required players to navigate blocky, futuristic courses, "Art of Rally" will have you gliding through tracks in Japan, Germany, Norway, and more. Don't get too distracted by the pretty environment; Art of Rally takes car handling quite seriously, and playing the free demo on itch.io made me keenly aware of that.

I don't have a driver's license yet, so the clutch, handbrake, and shift stick are pretty alien to me, but mastering them is essential if you want to grasp driving tricks. I attempted several handbrake turns, many of which ended with the car flipping over or running into a tree trunk. I don't expect to be on the daily leaderboard anytime soon, but drifting the circuit's meandering curves in the Finnish countryside as the sun was setting was a dream come true.

There are still a few weeks until September 23, so I have some time to see if I can master the perfect handbrake turn for the release of the full game. Countersteering and left foot breaking will have to wait for another time.