I still remember the first time I fired up Forza Horizon 5’s EventLab back in 2021. Even now in 2026, the thrill of building custom race tracks in Mexico hasn’t faded. The rush of placing a jump right after a hairpin turn, then watching my friends attempt it with supercars that have zero chance of sticking the landing – pure joy. But after nearly five years, a thought crossed my mind: what if I want to take that creative spark beyond supercars and realistic physics? Are there other games out there that let me shape entire worlds, not just race lines? The answer is a resounding yes. My journey led me through chaotic combat racers, insane motorcycle trials, retro editors, and even puzzle-game madness. Here’s what I found, and why you should give these creative modes a try too.
10. Blood Rally Show – Vehicular Mayhem and Custom Cars
When I stumbled upon Blood Rally Show, I thought, “Do I really need more violence in my racing?” The answer turned out to be an emphatic yes. This top-down racer sends you careening through randomly generated tracks while you blast opponents with rockets and machine guns – it’s like Mario Kart went to a revenge party. What hooked me wasn’t just the carnage, though. The game includes a level editor where you can craft your own tracks, sure, but you can also design your own cars from scratch and share them online. I spent an entire evening making a rolling death machine shaped like a pizza slice. If the gore ever gets too much, you can tone down the violent aspects; the editor still shines. Did I ever expect a game about vehicular homicide to make me feel like an artist? Not at all.
9. Trials Fusion – Master of Two Wheels and a Mountain of Parts
I’ll admit, motorcycles have always scared me a little. Then I met Trials Fusion, and now I’m addicted to pain. The game is notoriously difficult – one wrong tilt of the thumbstick and your rider faceplants into a crate of explosives. Yet the editor mode is what truly held my attention. With over 1000 different parts, I could build obstacle courses that even the game’s career levels wouldn’t dare throw at you. The learning curve is steep; I had to watch three different online guides just to make a functioning loop-de-loop. But once it clicked, the satisfaction of uploading a track that dozens of players cursed at was unmatched. Is it easier than EventLab? No. Is it worth the trouble if you love creating punishing trials? Absolutely.
8. Hot Wheels Unleashed – Childhood Dreams, One Orange Track at a Time
Remember those orange plastic tracks you’d snap together as a kid? Hot Wheels Unleashed bottles that feeling and injects it with a dose of video game magic. The track editor here is a treat: you drag and drop booster pads, loops, and environmental hazards onto a tabletop-like surface. I built a track that launched cars through a bedroom window, across a kitchen table, and straight into a cereal bowl. The catch? You must complete your own creation before you can share it. When I finally nailed the impossible spiral I’d designed, I felt a surge of pride that rivaled finishing a Horizon story mission. If you ever dreamt of turning your living room into a racing kingdom, this is your playground.
7. 80’s Overdrive – Retro Synthwave and the Track Builder You Always Wanted
I have a soft spot for the era of pixelated sprites and synthwave soundtracks. 80’s Overdrive doesn’t try to be a deep sim; with only six cars and two modes, it seems sparse at first. But then you discover the racing track editor. Suddenly, those limited assets become a canvas for recreating OutRun-style coastal highways or neon-lit city sprints. I spent a rainy afternoon crafting a winding mountain pass set to the cheesiest ‘80s beats I could find. The editor might not be as robust as modern tools, but for long-time fans of 16-bit racers, it feels like a lost feature finally delivered.
6. Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Forge Mode, the S-tier Sandbox
Wait, Halo isn’t a racing game? You’re right, but the Forge mode is a creative titan that transcends genre. I’ve spent more hours in Forge than in any actual campaign. Drop in a Warthog, some Fusion Coils, a gravity lift, and suddenly you have a vehicle-jousting arena on the deck of a Covenant cruiser. The Master Chief Collection bundles years of Forge evolution into one package, giving you every enemy, weapon, and vehicle to play with. I once made a race track where Ghosts and Mongeese had to dodge falling shipping containers, all scripted with simple logic. If you’ve ever wanted to build your own Halo mini-game, why haven’t you started yet?
5. Doom (2016) – SnapMap’s Modular Monster Box
Before Doom Eternal’s horde mode, Doom 2016 gifted us SnapMap – a level editor that lets you snap premade rooms together like LEGO bricks. My first thought was, “That sounds limited.” Then I played a user-made map that recreated a classic horror survival experience, using only Doom’s demons and logic chains. You can string together arenas, environmental effects, and even script custom enemy behaviors. I built a small maze where one player is a Baron of Hell chasing three unarmed marines. It wasn’t polished, but the laughter it generated was real. If you still have Doom 2016 sitting in your library, give SnapMap a chance – there are still clever creations being uploaded.
4. Grand Theft Auto Online – A World of Your Own Design
Even in 2026, GTA Online refuses to die, and its Content Creator is a big reason why. You can design races, deathmatches, captures, and stunt races across the streets of Los Santos. I once built an airborne race that started on top of Maze Bank and ended inside the military base, forcing players to thread through explosive barrels. The sheer variety of activities means your creative muscle can flex constantly. Whether it’s a off-road rally through the Grand Senora Desert or a last-team-standing paintball match in a luxury apartment, someone has probably made it. Have you checked the creator menu lately? You might be surprised how much you can shape the criminal underworld.
3. Wargroove – Turn-Based Tactics, Endless Campaigns
Switching gears completely, I dove into Wargroove, a turn-based strategy RPG that happens to have a map editor so deep it’s basically a game development kit. You can place terrain, assign commanders, script dialogue, and build entire custom campaigns. My friend and I played through a co-op campaign I designed over a weekend – a story about knights versus necromancers that I wrote during lunch breaks. The ability to craft narrative-driven maps and then share them with the community gave me the same kind of buzz that crafting the perfect blind corner in EventLab did. Who knew strategy and racing could scratch the identical creative itch?
2. Portal 2 – Thinking with Portals, Building with Logic
Portal 2 already sits near the top of my favorite games pile, but the Perpetual Testing Initiative (the puzzle creator) adds infinite replayability. You get a modest set of panels, cubes, turrets, and gels, and the challenge becomes designing something that makes your tester feel clever. I made a chamber where you had to use aerial faith plates to launch yourself across a pit of lasers while a turret choir sang. The co-op editor is where friendships go to die or thrive, depending on how patient your partner is. Do you need a physics degree to make great puzzles? Not really, but a love for trial-and-error helps.
1. What The Golf? – When Absurdity Meets the Editor
I saved the weirdest for last. What The Golf? starts as a golf game, then turns into a physics comedy where the ball is a house, the club is a car, and the hole keeps running away. Its level editor embraces that madness entirely. I created a stage where a sentient toaster had to reach a toast-shaped portal while dodging angry watermelons. Nothing makes sense, and that’s the point. After hundreds of hours in Forza’s realistic editor, this felt like a palate cleanser that reminded me creativity doesn’t need rules. If you’ve never asked yourself, “Can I make a golf game a platformer about a doughnut?” – now’s the time.
From vehicular violence to sugary puzzles, each of these games proved that the joy of building something never gets old. Am I still returning to EventLab regularly in 2026? Of course – Mexico’s roads hold a special place in my heart. But branching out reminded me that the games we create inside these worlds can be as memorable as the ones developers ship. Grab a controller, open an editor, and let your imagination run wild. You never know what you’ll build next.