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How to play Insane City

Last updated 16 September 2026

Insane City is a free 3D open world game that runs in your browser. There is nothing to download and no account to make: you open it, and you are in a city you can walk, drive, fly, sail and shoot your way across, with everybody else who is online at the same time.

Play Insane City

Getting in

Open insane.city, confirm you are 18 or over, and the city loads. The dock along the bottom of the screen is every way to play: on foot, a car, a bike, the race circuit, an aeroplane, a helicopter, a jetpack, a yacht, an e-foil, the coaster, the metro. Pick one and you are in it - there is no loading between them, and no lobby to wait in.

Nothing here is bought, unlocked or ground for. Every vehicle, every district and every weapon is there the first time you open the page.

The city

One landmass of about a million and a half square metres, built to be walked end to end: a downtown of towers modelled on the tallest buildings in the world, a working airport with a runway long enough to take off from, a desert road, alpine peaks with a waterfall, a lake, a coast with a marina, a theme park, and an elevated metro line that runs a real circuit through it all. Traffic drives the streets, people walk the pavements, and the weather, the wind and the moon are the ones outside your own window.

Every way to play

On foot

Every mode starts and ends on your feet. You spawn somewhere in the city, and the whole map is walkable: pavements, parks, the shore, the desert road, the alpine trail. Trees, traffic and people carry on around you whether you are watching or not.

KeyWhat it does
W A S DRun
SHIFTSprint
ZTake out the rifle, and put it away
Q or XPunch, then keep tapping to chain kicks
GGrenade: tap to lob it, hold to throw further
SPACEJump
EUse a portal or get into a car
FOpen the parachute while falling
DRAGLook around
CRecentre the camera
ESCBack to the observatory
FWD / BACKRun
← →Turn
SPRINTRun faster
RIFLETake out the rifle
Q · STRIKEPunch, tap again to chain kicks
G · GRENADEHold, aim with the camera, let go to throw
SPACE · JUMPJump
E · INTERACTUse a portal or get into a car
DRAGLook around

MR-9 Carbine

The MR-9 carbine is slung on your back until you want it. It fires in third person and down the sights in first, with a cone that opens while you hold the trigger and closes when you bring the sights up, a barrel that climbs and settles, and rounds that lose half their force by 140 metres. Aim at a head and it is over at once. Everyone within earshot of where a round lands runs.

KeyWhat it does
CLICKFire, and hold it down for the rest
RIGHT CLICKDown the sights: tighter, and closer
RReload; it also reloads itself when you run dry
VFirst person, or over the shoulder
W A S DMove; standing still shoots straighter
DRAGAim
ZPut it away
FIREHold it down
AIMDown the sights
RELOADFresh magazine
JUMPJump
PUT AWAYSling it again
DRAGAim

Driving

Any car in the street can be yours: walk up to one and take it. Each has its own body, paint, engine note and handling, and the city's traffic keeps driving around you.

KeyWhat it does
WAccelerate
SBrake, then reverse
A DSteer
SPACEHandbrake, for drifting
XNitro, hold it for more
BRear view, for driving backwards
AIRW S flip, A D spin; land it on the wheels
VCockpit view
FGet out
RRecover if you get stuck
GASAccelerate
BRAKEBrake, then reverse
← →Steer
NITRONitro burst
COCKPIT VIEWSit in the driver seat
DRAGLook around

On the bike

The bike lays over into corners, wheelies under power and slides on the rear brake. It is the quickest way across town if you can keep it upright.

KeyWhat it does
WWind it on
SBrake, then reverse
A DSteer, and it lays over
SPACERear brake, for sliding it
XNitro, hold it for more
BRear view, for riding backwards
AIRW S flip, A D spin; land it on the wheels
VFirst person
FGet off
RRecover
GASWind it on
BRAKEBrake
← →Steer, and it lays over
NITRONitro
FIRST PERSONRide it from the seat

Meridian Marina Circuit

The Meridian Marina Circuit, run as a race against a field or practised alone: battery deployment, DRS zones, a live delta and a full timing board.

KeyWhat it does
W / SThrottle and the carbon brakes
A / DSteer
SHIFTDeploy the battery
EOpen DRS in the zones
VCockpit or chase camera
RRestart the race, or back on line in practice
GRace the field or practise alone
ESCLeave the circuit
GAS / BRAKEThrottle and brakes
ARROWSSteer
NITRODeploy the battery

Flying

A fighter that takes off from Meridian International, flies the whole map, loops, rolls, and lands again. Gear, a runway approach line-up, guns and missiles, and an ejection seat that leaves you under a parachute.

KeyWhat it does
W SThrottle up and down
U JNose down and up, hold it to loop
H KRoll, hold it to barrel roll
A DRudder
SPACEMachine gun, hold it: it never overheats
XMissiles
GLanding gear
LLine up with the runway
VCockpit view
FEject
RRespawn
+ THR / − THRThrottle
▼ ▲ NOSENose down and up
← →Rudder
FIREMissiles
MACHINE GUNHold to fire
COCKPIT VIEWSit in the pilot seat

Chopper

A helicopter that holds the height you leave it at, turns on the spot and can be stepped out of in mid-air. Rockets and a machine gun under the nose.

KeyWhat it does
W SClimb and descend, let go to hold height
U JNose down to fly, nose up to slow
H KRoll, hold it to barrel roll
A DTurn on the spot
SPACEMachine gun, hold it
XFire rockets
DragLook around
VCockpit view
FStep out, or bail out in the air
RStart again in the air
+ THR / − THRClimb and descend
U J H KTilt and roll
← →Turn
FIRERockets
MACHINE GUNHold to fire

Jetpack

A wearable jetpack. It hovers where you leave it, boosts, and puts you on a rooftop nobody else is standing on.

KeyWhat it does
WFly forward
SBack off
A DTurn
SPACERise
SHIFTDescend
XBoost
LET GOIt hovers where you are
FBail out, or take it off on the ground
DRAGLook around
▲ FLY / ▼ BACKForward and back
◀ ▶Turn
↑ RISE / ↓ DESCENDUp and down
BOOSTBoost
HOVERStop dead
FBail out or take it off

Yacht

A luxury yacht at the South Bay berths: open water, a wake that spreads behind you, and a helm that takes a moment to answer, the way a hull does.

KeyWhat it does
W / SThrottle, then astern
A / DHelm
SPACEAll stop
DRAGLook around
ESCStep ashore
THROTTLEHold to open her up
HELMSteer with the wheel
ALL STOPTake the way off her
ASHORELeave the boat

E-foil

An electric hydrofoil on Glasswater Lake, with a kite, jumps, loops and a timed gate course.

KeyWhat it does
W SThrottle / brake · safe to hold through a jump
U JFrontloop / backloop in the air
A DCarve · in the air, spin
SPACEPop off the water; hold it to send the kite up
KKite up or down
XBoost · in the air with the kite, kiteloop
Q EGrab the board
RBack to the start deck
ESCLeave the lake
GASE-foil throttle
BRAKEBrake
← →Carve

Vertigo Point coaster

Vertigo Point: a full coaster you can ride from the front seat or watch from the ground.

KeyWhat it does
VFront seat or watch from outside
DRAGLook around, at any angle
CFace front again
TChat with everyone
ESCGet off
DRAGLook around, at any angle
FRONT SEATRide it or watch it
EXIT RIDEGet off

On the metro

The M1 elevated line runs a real circuit through four stations. Get on, look out of the window, get off where you like.

KeyWhat it does
DRAGLook around the carriage
CRecentre the camera
ESCGet off at the next station
DRAGLook around the carriage
EXITGet off at the next station

Riding shotgun

Ride along in another player's car, look around from the passenger seat and talk to whoever is driving.

KeyWhat it does
DRAGLook around
VPassenger seat or chase camera
TTalk to the driver
FGet out
ESCGet out
DRAGLook around
GET OUTLeave the car

On a touch screen

On a phone or a tablet the game puts a thumb stick under your left thumb and a handful of large buttons under your right one, named for what they do in the mode you are in - Fire, Aim, Reload, Gas, Brake, Nitro, Throttle, Helm. No key names appear anywhere, nothing sits on top of anything else, and it works the same held upright or sideways.

With a controller

Plug in or pair an Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro or any standard gamepad and the whole game plays from it. The sticks and triggers are analogue, so a car can be feathered and an aeroplane flown smoothly; the right stick is the camera everywhere; the triggers fire what you are carrying.

Playing with other people

Everyone in the city at the same time is in the same city. You see other players on foot, in cars, in the air and on the water, and their name follows them. Press T to talk to everyone. There is nothing to join and nobody to invite.

What you need to run it

A browser with WebGL 2 - Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox - on a computer, a phone or a tablet. The game watches its own frame rate and moves detail, shadows and draw distance up or down to keep the picture smooth on whatever it finds itself on, so an old laptop and a new desktop both get a game that runs.

Questions people ask

Is Insane City free?

Yes. The whole game is free, there is nothing to buy to play it, and no account is needed. Signing in with Google is optional and only puts a name on you in multiplayer.

Do I need to download anything?

No. Insane City runs in the browser. Open insane.city and it loads; there is no installer, no plugin and no app store.

What do I need to run it?

Any reasonably modern browser with WebGL 2 - Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, on a computer, a phone or a tablet. The game measures your frame rate as it runs and moves its own detail up or down to hold a smooth picture.

Can I play it on a phone?

Yes. On a touch screen the game lays out a thumb stick and large buttons for whatever you are doing at that moment - driving, flying, shooting - and no key names appear anywhere.

Does it work with a controller?

Yes. Plug in or pair an Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro or any standard gamepad and the whole game plays from it, with analogue sticks and triggers.

Is it multiplayer?

Yes. Everyone in the world at the same time shares it: you see other players walking, driving and flying, and you can talk to them in chat. No lobby, no invite, no match to wait for.

How do I get a gun?

Press Z on foot, or the Rifle button on a touch screen. The left mouse button fires, the right one brings the sights up, and R reloads - it also reloads itself when you run dry.

How do I get a car?

Walk up to any car in the street and press F. They are all drivable, and the one you leave in the street stays where you left it.

Can I fly the aeroplane from the ground?

Yes. Choose the jet from the dock and you start on the runway at Meridian International; W takes you up to speed and J lifts the nose.

Is there an age limit?

The game is offered to adults only, 18 or over. It is confirmed once, before you play.

How big is the city?

About a million and a half square metres of land, in one piece: downtown towers, an airport, a desert, alpine peaks, a lake, a coast, a marina circuit and a theme park, with no loading between them.