Experimental in DirtBound

Experimental works like a normal multiplayer lobby , with the same sign-in, codes and votes, but the races have weapons. The menu describes it as “Multiplayer with power-ups”. It is played on circuits only, and collisions between cars are always on.

Boxes and pads. Rows of item boxes cross the track, roughly one row for every 10 to 20 seconds of driving, and boost pads give a short 1.5 second turbo when you drive over them. The boxes are the same for every racer and each one comes back 3 seconds after you take it.

How levels work. Your first box gives a random power-up at level 1: a Rocket, a Spark of lightning or a Turbo. Every box you take while still holding it raises the level by one, up to 3. The family never changes, so a Rocket can become a Homing rocket and then a Homing salvo, but never a Turbo. That makes holding on worth it: the level 3 Rocket and Lightning versions hit all the other drivers at once. See the power-ups table for all nine.

Getting hit. A rocket wrecks your car: it disappears for under a second and comes back on the road, stopped, with a short spell of immunity. Lightning leaves one of three effects on the car it strikes: reversed controls, a car shrunk to half size and speed, or a 2 second flash that blinds the screen. A Shield turbo protects you from all of it for its 5 seconds.

Using it. Press E or Enter on a keyboard, or B or RB on a gamepad. The power-up you hold shows in the bottom right corner with its name and what it does.