Free · open source · experimental

Minkowski Kart

Relativistic kart racing

A 3D arcade racer where adjustable light speed, proper-time telemetry, aberration, Doppler colour effects, and spacetime-inspired power-ups reshape the track.

Download version_1.92 View source on GitHub
  • GPLv3+
  • Windows · macOS · Linux · Android
  • Keyboard + gamepad
  • Split-screen + LAN
Two karts racing on the Möbius Trip track while the HUD shows velocity, beta, proper time, and the configured speed of light
Genuine in-game capture on Möbius Trip. The right-hand telemetry shows velocity, β, proper time τ, and the configured in-game speed of light c.

The game

Physics you can race through

Minkowski Kart is an open-source relativistic kart-racing game created by Robson Christie. It extends SuperTuxKart with special-relativistic visual transforms, time-related mechanics, live physics telemetry, and a new family of arcade power-ups.

Optics

Aberration and apparent position

The renderer derives a Lorentz-based aberration transform and estimates retarded emission positions for moving geometry.

Time

Proper-time telemetry

Each kart tracks proper time from its Lorentz factor, while a radius-limited Time Dilation item changes nearby opponents' effective light speed.

Colour

Conditional Doppler effects

A directional spectral approximation brings vivid colour shifts to selected item and status effects.

Power-ups

Black holes and wormholes

Homing black-hole projectiles create screen-space lensing; paired wormholes teleport karts between linked endpoints.

Play

Solo, split-screen, and LAN

Race AI opponents, configure multiple local input devices, or bring several players together over a local network.

Controls

Keyboard and gamepad

Keyboard and configurable gamepad or joystick input are implemented. Bind controls from the in-game Options menu.

Under the bonnet

Relativity tuned for arcade racing

Minkowski Kart uses special-relativistic equations for beta, gamma, proper-time bookkeeping, aberration, retarded apparent position, and a Doppler/searchlight colour model. Bullet-based kart physics and a relativistic velocity cap keep the handling immediate and fun.

Black holes, wormholes, and gravitational visual effects turn curved-spacetime ideas into readable hazards, shortcuts, and spectacular racing moments.

Read the physics guide Read the technical manuscript
Kart approaching a black-hole power-up while the track and background are distorted by the game's lensing effect
Analytic screen-space lensing bends the track around an in-game black hole.

version_1.92

Download and start racing

Working public builds are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Choose your platform, grab the latest package, and get onto the grid.

Best verified

Windows x64

The exact 1.09 GB release archive passes SHA-256, ZIP integrity, extraction, required-asset, and 44-second headless race-initialisation checks.

Download the Windows archive

Working platforms

macOS and Android

Both packages run. macOS also passes headless CI tests; the Android 5.0+ ARM64 package also passes structural and alignment checks.

Download and review CI evidence

Working platform

Linux

The x86-64 package runs and bundles the complete stk-assets pack. CI also compiles client and server configurations with GCC and Clang. The iOS IPA remains a separate ad-hoc developer package.

Download Linux or review iOS