Launching on Indiegogo — 3D Print Your Own Race Cars, Remote & Track from 3DRacers for $49

If you’re down with racing games, grab your smartphone and let’s go! 3D Racers is about imagination, and their team has put a lot of their own to use in creating an indoor modern racing game based on Arduino software.

Created by Rome-based Marco D’Alia and Davide Marcoccio, 3DRacers propels both the user and the toy/gaming industry one step further by taking an old fashioned game and firing it up with the turbo spark of 3D printing, virtual technology, and a smartphone app for controlling teams of colorful 3D printed mini race cars—all leading up to a very tangible game of cars buzzing around the track in your home.

As the cars motor through the foyer, over the laundry basket, and into the terrain of the family room, 3DRacers is a game that has the potential to amp up your home with fun—and an enthusiastic crowd—racing on the official racetrack that you can 3D print yourself.

Beginning February 2, 3DRacers is launching an Indiegogo campaign, which is a great way for you to order your own 3DRacers game for only $49 if you are 3D printing it yourself—or for $75 if you need it 3D printed by an outside source, like 3DHubs.

We’ve been following these guys for a while now, and they’ve made a lot of progress with their design which reminds me of Mario Kart but brought to life. If you’ve ever gotten into Mario Kart or had kids playing the game in your home, you know it’s completely addictive and wildly fun. 3DRacers radio-controlled mini-cars present a great way to combine your love for video games with 3D printing, or to teach your kids about it and integrate STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education into their lives while they aren’t looking.

The 3D printed cars are each unique in that the users are able to customize them using the free online editor.

The game is designed for group play and competing, with the following features:

• Online scoreboard
• Automatic lap times
• Group competition against existing track records
• Pit-stops with simulated information regarding fuel and tires
• Battle mode with turbo lanes and power-ups

Using radio controllers that allow you to ‘drive’ the cars with your smartphone or use the remote control that you can also 3D print, this is a game you can have a blast playing with friends, as well as hacking and developing the design further on your own, enjoying an open source code and electronics run by Arduino software.

You can choose from accessories, car bodies, and colors—or take it to the next level and use the open source design to create your own inimitable race car. According to 3DRacers, they have an enthusiastic community who are using the open source files to tweak the game and cars constantly.

D’Alia and Murru put 3DRacers on display to the public last year at Rome Maker Faire 2014. Since then, they’ve been in the spotlight adding new features and functions to 3DRacers, including one very unique new program with 3DHubs for the game, making the small race cars available for 3D printing via an international network of 10,000 printing hubs.

They are also offfering an educational package that includes a ten-lesson guide presenting a great method for motivating kids to get interested in programming and 3D printing, while having an enormous amount of fun at the same time.

Is this a game you’d be into 3D printing and playing in your home? Discuss in the 3DRacers forum over at 3DPB.com.