''Car Town'' was a

social network game A social network game (sometimes simply referred to as a social media game, social gaming, social video game or online social game) is a type of online game that is played through social networks or social media. They typically feature multipl ...

developed by Cie Games (now

Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

). It allowed users to collect and modify virtual vehicles. The main objective of the game was to win races and build a collection of vehicles. ''Car Town'' had many licenses for different brands including the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

, which allowed users to collect selected Indy cars;

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, which gave the game a license to include the

DeLorean time machine In the ''Back to the Future'' franchise, the DeLorean time machine is a time travel device made by retrofitting a DMC DeLorean vehicle with a flux capacitor. The car requires 1.21 gigawatts ("jigawatts/jigowatts") of power and needs to travel 8 ...

from the ''Back to the Future'' series; and fully customized cars from ''

The Fast and the Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...

'' series.

Pirelli World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club si ...

and the

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

gave the game licenses to include their racing cars such as

Funny Car Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appea ...

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

also gave a license to include their shows and videos, as well as a few exclusive vehicles. Aside from the aforementioned brands, the game also featured cars from famous motorsports around the world including

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

Formula D Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

FIA GT Series The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) w ...

as well as one-make races such as Ferrari Challenge. Cie Games closed the game on August 29, 2014.

Related versions

Two years after the original's release, Cie released another version of the game named ''Car Town EX'' to appeal to Asian users. It added new features that were not seen in the original release of the game. ''Car Town EX'' has been discontinued afterwards in February 2014. Also in 2012, a version of ''Car Town'' for iOS, called ''Car Town Streets'', was released. The game's graphics are similar to that of Car Town, but its gameplay is much different. In 2014, an

Android OS Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of deve ...

port came out on the

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating syst ...

released by Miniclip. ''Car Town Streets'' was closed down in December 2015.

Reception

''Car Town'' received moderate critical praise. One reviewer from

Autoblog A spam blog, also known as an auto blog or the neologism splog, is a blog which the author uses to promote affiliated websites, to increase the search engine rankings of associated sites or to simply sell links/ads. The purpose of a splog can be ...

said that the game made "non-car people become car people", calling it inviting and accessible to newcomers. Bright Hub gave the game a rating of 3/5. ''Car Town'' was likened to the ''

Forza Motorsport ''Forza Motorsport'' is a 2005 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming system. The word ''Forza'' is Italian for strength. The game is the first installment in ...

'' franchise in terms of customizing vehicles and liveries. Both

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was f ...

and

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...

, well known automotive magazines, were sponsors of the game, often releasing promo codes and running contests.

Differences

Although they are similar, they have some differences in certain points. For example, the

Volkswagen Gol The Volkswagen Gol is a subcompact car that has been manufactured by Volkswagen do Brasil since 1980 as Volkswagen's entry-level car in the Latin American market—where it succeeded the Volkswagen Type 1 (Fusca) and the VW Brasilia. S ...

is exclusively available only in Brazilian Portuguese version, and a

Honda Prelude The Honda Prelude is a car produced by Japanese car manufacturer Honda from 1978 until 2001. The two-door coupe was loosely derived from the Honda Accord, and spanned five generations. The Prelude was used by Honda to introduce the Japanese Honda r ...

is exclusively available only in ''Car Town EX'' versions.

References

{{Portal bar, Video games Facebook games 2010 video games Browser-based multiplayer online games Life simulation games Racing video games Video games developed in the United States Video games with isometric graphics IOS games IndyCar Series video games NASCAR video games Multiplayer and single-player video games