Getting started
How to Race Friends Online in Your Browser
In short
The fastest way to get a group racing together: create a room, share one link, and line up on the same grid in real time, no installs and no waiting.
Key takeaways
- Create a lobby, share its link, and friends join straight from the link in a browser.
- Each driver needs a free account; nothing is downloaded or installed.
- The host sets the circuit, laps, grid size, PI limit, AI difficulty and race mode.
- AI fills every empty grid slot, so the race is full even if two of you turn up.
Racing is more fun with people you know. The good news is that getting a group onto the same track no longer means everyone buying the same game and downloading gigabytes first. In a browser racing game, the whole thing happens behind a single link.
This guide walks through the short path from an empty tab to a full grid of friends, and what to do when not everyone can make it.
Every tip here works in ApexMidnight, a free racing game that runs right in your browser.
Start racing freeCreate a lobby
Start by creating a room, sometimes called a lobby. This is the private grid your group will race on. You pick the track, and the room waits for players to join before the countdown begins.
Because everything runs in the browser, there is nothing to install on your side or theirs. Each driver needs a free account, which takes a few seconds with Google or a sign-in code sent by email, and then anyone with a modern browser and the link can take a spot on the grid.
A lobby has three visibility settings. Public lobbies are listed in the lobby browser for anyone to join. Private lobbies are hidden from the browser, so only people with the link can reach them, which is the right choice for a group of friends. Password lobbies are listed, but joining asks for the password you set.
The host also shapes the race itself: the circuit, from one to ten laps, a grid of up to eight cars, an optional Performance Index limit so nobody brings a maxed-out supercar, and how hard the AI drives, on easy, normal or hard. Only the host can start the race.
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Public, private or password |
| Laps | 1 to 10 |
| Grid size | Up to 8 cars |
| Performance Index limit | Off, or any cap from 100 to 999 |
| AI difficulty | Easy, normal or hard |
| Race mode | Standard, time trial, elimination or checkpoint rush |
| Modifiers | Low grip, double weapons, no nitro, mirrored circuit, and more |
Share the link
Copy the room link and send it however you already talk, a group chat, a voice call, or a pasted message. Each friend who opens it lands directly in your lobby, picks a car, and is ready to race.
There are no friend codes to type out and no one has to be on your friends list first. The link is the invite.
Fill the grid and go
Real life means people show up late or not at all. Competitive AI fills any empty spots so the grid is always full and the race still feels like a real field, even if only two of you make it.
When everyone is in, a shared countdown drops and you all launch from the same line at the same moment. From there it is wheel to wheel to the finish. If your group wants more than one race, a championship keeps the same lobby together across several rounds.
Want something other than a straight race? Time trial drops the AI so each driver races a ghost of their own best lap, and elimination knocks out the last car at the end of every lap until one is left. Modifiers such as low grip or a mirrored circuit stop a group that knows a track by heart from coasting on memory.
Racing friends also counts for more than bragging rights. The competitive rating only moves in races with at least two human drivers, so a lobby full of friends is a reliable way to race for points on the leaderboard.
Frequently asked questions
- Do my friends need to download or install anything?
- No. The game runs entirely in the browser, with no install, launcher or plugin. Each friend only needs a free account, then they can join from the lobby link in any modern browser.
- What happens if not enough friends join?
- Empty spots on the grid are filled with competitive AI, so the race is always full and stays fun even when only one or two human players turn up.