RC Car, Truck Sports Games

RC Car in dirt

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What can you do with your RC car or RC truck after you've grown tired of driving around and around the track or up and down the sidewalk? You've raced all your friends and you know you're the fastest. What now?

Play soccer. Go bowling. Try the long jump. Exercise your creativity. And do it with your RC. Each of these RC games can be pursued by itself or combine them into all-day competitions. Adapt these general guidelines for all ages, all skill levels, and both toy and hobby-grade RC car and truck owners.

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RC Bowling

Illustration of RC car and Bowling pins

Mike James

Tired of the same old backyard bashing? Turn your RC into a bowling ball on wheels.


Your RC bowling alley can be on grass or paved surface. Choose what is suitable for your RCs. If doing this somewhere other than your own property, get permission.

  • Mark a lane with rope, string, rows of small rocks, or even spray paint (get permission if necessary). Make the lane long enough to get some good speed going and wide enough to accommodate your RC and the bowling pins (but not too wide).
  • Set plastic pins up in a 10-pin triangle or any variation you want. Don't have any plastic bowling pins? Try quart size milk jugs, plastic soda bottles, or tin cans (for added noise). Put a little sand in them so they don't fall too easily.

Basic Rules

Follow the general rules and scoring of real bowling. Or just count the pins and declare a winner after X number of times.

  • Try to drive your RC as straight as you can down the lane to knock down as many pins as you can on the first run.
  • No turning around after you've gone through the pins. Any pins left standing? Try to take them out on your second throw.
  • A gutter ball is when your tires go outside the lane at any point. You can decide ahead of time if it's a gutter ball if just one tire or more than one tire crosses the line.

Extra Points

Want to make it more challenging? Try these variations:

  • Add some stunt requirements such as hitting the pins while doing a wheelie or driving backward.
  • Add a ramp in the middle of the lane. Try different placements. Time the jump just right so just before your front tires leave the ramp, turn left or right to put a spin on your RC; or do a flip before hitting the pins.
  • Try bowling with an RC motorcycle like the Thunder Tiger Ducati and not lay it on its side when you hit the pins. Now that takes skill.
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RC Soccer

Illustration of RC car and Soccer ball and cones

Mike James

Go one-on-one or set up teams like in real soccer with a goalie, forwards, and so on. As long as you can avoid frequency issues, you can have as many players as you want.

Try to score goals by using your RC to push the ball up and down your scaled-down soccer field. Of course, the other team will be trying to push the ball the other direction. The great thing about this game is that both beginners and more skilled drivers can all play together. Speed isn't a big factor.

  • Use a soccer ball, a beach ball, or any type of ball that all of the RCs can push. If playing with very small RCs, try a tennis ball or something of similar size.
  • Mark your field boundaries with plastic traffic cones, rope, string, rocks, or spray paint (get permission).
  • Use large boxes (the bigger the ball, the bigger the box) for your goals or use child-sized soccer goals or just place two plastic traffic cones a short distance apart—score by getting the ball between the cones.
  • Make your own rules or try to follow real soccer, football, or even basketball rules. Use half-time as a chance to change batteries or refuel and do minor maintenance.
  • Need a battery break during the game? Call a time-out or call in another player from the sideline. Yes, you can hear it now, "Put me in coach, I won't disappoint you!" Everyone gets to play.
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RC Stunt Competitions

Illustration of RC car and ramp for a Stunt Competition

Mike James

You don't have to be the fastest to jump the farthest. You may think you can do the wildest flips, the longest wheelies, and the highest jumps, but can you do a series of stunts all in a row faster than the other guy?

Take your typical backyard bashing to new levels with a series of back-to-back stunts and scoring.


  • Decide what types of stunts are going to be performed and make sure you have all the needed equipment such as ramps and boundary markers, a tape measure for distance events, and a stopwatch for timed events.
  • Stunts you might include in the competition include wheelies, flips, donuts, obstacle course, driving on two side wheels, reverse 180s, backward driving, and jumps.

Stunt Selection

There are dozens of ways you can set up your competition. Here are a few ideas you can use or adapt to your own situation.

  • Write out all the stunts on individual slips of paper and put in a container. Competitors draw a predetermined number of stunts from the container.
  • Write down 12, 36, or 24 different stunts. Number each one. Using six-sided dice (a pair for a list of 12 stunts, 3 for 36, 4 for 24) each player rolls the dice. The number rolled determines the stunt to be performed. Each player rolls until they have a list of six (or whatever number you want) stunts to perform.


Whichever method you use to choose the stunts, each player now has a set number of stunts to perform. Decide ahead of time if the order of stunts is the player's choice or some other set order. Decide how many rounds will make up the entire competition (selecting new stunts for each round).


A simple scoring method might be one point for each successful stunt. No points for failing the stunt or going out of bounds. Give an extra point to the winner of each round. Do a set number of rounds or have a goal of "first player to 30 wins."

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RC Art Competition

Illustration of RC car and spray paint cans

Mike James

You may think you can't do brush strokes like Andy Warhol or Picasso, but if you can drive an RC you can make art. RC art is a fun family activity with no pressure to perform. Or, add the element of competition.


You'll need really big sheets or rolls of paper or several sheets of poster board. The bigger the RC, the bigger the paper you'll need. Get some tubes or jars of paint. You'll probably want the cheap stuff. You may want to use a set of old tires on your RCs because this could get messy. For timed competitions, you'll need a watch or a stopwatch.

  • Spread your paper out on the ground outside. Weigh down the paper edges so it doesn't move too much. Grass might be okay but a hard surface will probably work better.
  • Put some more paper down where you can pour out paint to roll your RC through in order to coat the tires.


Execution is easy. Simply drive your RC (with paint on one or more tires) back and forth across the paper to paint a picture or spell out words.

Competitive RC Painting

You'll need to designate a judge (or a panel of judges) who will score your artwork. Decide if multiple colors are allowed. Decide if it's OK to lift and reposition the RC while painting.

  • Write down a series of things to paint. Have each person draw from a container or choose one item that everyone will paint. Ideas:
    • Shapes: square, circle, triangle
    • Objects: cat, tree, fork, shirt
    • Words: burnout, wheelie, jump
    • Scenes: field of flowers, house, mountains
  • Set a time limit (say 3-10 minutes depending on the type of picture) and have everyone start painting at the same time. When time is up, everyone stops—finished or not.
  • Judges award points based on whether or not the painting was finished, whether or not they can tell what it is supposed to be, and any other criteria you want to use. Repeat for however many rounds you choose.