With 2024 in the books, BeamNG.drive heads into 2025 as one of the most popular driving games money can buy. If you are new to the game or have yet to try it, here are three free maps that offer very different play styles.
The beauty of BeamNG is that it is a sandbox. You can decide what you do and when you do it. These maps all offer very different play styles, and there are other options, but these three are some of the best in what they offer.
The Rocky Mountains provide the perfect downhill drift run. However, be careful of ascending traffic and the lack of guardrails at the edges.
Beam Mountains is designed to give you a challenging and engaging driving experience. That experience could be in a modified hatchback screaming through the narrow roads and tunnels or in a turbocharged fire-breathing 4WD rally car blasting through the rally stages and offroad tracks. However you like to drive in BeamNG, Beam Mountains is designed to accommodate you.
If the more sensible driving genres are more your style, semi-trucks and lorries are also ideally suited to this map. There is a small town at the base of the mountain that, with some imagination, can be seen as a base for deliveries. From scaling the incline of the mountain roads to navigating routes with tunnels and tight hairpin bends, Beam Mountains will test your vehicle awareness and trucking skills to the limit.
Scaling Beam Mountains is a true challenge, regardless of your chosen vehicle.
The map does not have any built-in scenarios or events, but as a solely freeroam experience, it is great to have a world to be absorbed into without any form of outside distractions. This map style might not be to everyone's taste, but that shows the depth of creativity present in BeamNG; not everything will be for everyone.
If you are still unsure if this map is for you, we encourage you to try it and form your own opinion. If not, hopefully, the following two maps will be more up your alley.
ETK I-Series sideways on the winding roads of BeamMountains.
Any unsuitable vehicle will almost immediately be caught out on any of these brutal off-roading courses.
ToughTruckMap is designed to test your patience and conservative driving style. The Jeremy Clarkson way of 'POWER' is certainly not applicable here. Instead, take your time and make sure you have your diff, drivetrain, and concentration locked in.
From big scattered pipe courses to gruelling crawling trails caked in deep mud, ToughTruckMap certainly lives up to the name. The map is inspired by some ToughTruck challenges and other offroad racing series that put real drivers and cars through these scenarios.
Taking anything but a suitable truck through some of the courses is challenging but not impossible, a crawler is advisable.
If racing and road-based driving is more your style, this map might not be precisely what you are looking for. That said, we implore you to download the map and give it a go. Traversing through these rough and bumpy terrains is an entirely new skill you could add to your driving skill belt. Personally, as a circuit racer and short oval driver predominantly, learning this whole new world has been an absolute joy.
One of the most entertaining parts of a map like this is building your own car within the BeamNG garage to tackle the courses. Adding crazy suspension and wheel combinations and an excellent camouflage livery, of course, is often just as much fun as driving the courses.
A slightly modified base configuration of the Gavril MD Series is the perfect stead for this flat but bumpy first beginner course.
The tracks at Motorsport Playground intertwine. The dirt rally stage runs alongside the two tarmac ovals and a short circuit.
With an enormous map like Motorsports Playground, deciding what to do first could be a bit overwhelming. Fear not; below is a list of each section and a car that suits it nicely so you can decide which sections to try. You can also try them all, make your own list, and compare it to ours.
The scale of this map is incredible; the usage of the 'Quick Travel' feature is almost required to make sure you can see everything this work of art has to offer. As a sim racer, this place offers some of the best places to try and make BeamNG into a racing simulator. Be aware that the map could affect your FPS because of its size. This will be determined by your level of hardware, of course.
The highspeed ovals and banked ovals are perfect for recreating classic NASCAR or CART races and crashes.
For us, the map's highlights are the amount of dirt and tarmac ovals, the rallycross tracks, and the small karting circuit. These bundled together produce hours of fun with interesting layouts that encourage you to push hard.
Motorsports Playground is a giant expanse of racing heaven. From Baja to NASCAR, there is something for everyone. But how does it compare to the other two maps mentioned in this article? Is it something that interests you, or are you more of an open-world freedom-orientated BeamNG player?
Ibishu Covet drifting on skidplates with the mega ramp in the background.
Let us know what you think in the comments below, and give your top three maps for new or returning players to BeamNG in 2025.
The beauty of BeamNG is that it is a sandbox. You can decide what you do and when you do it. These maps all offer very different play styles, and there are other options, but these three are some of the best in what they offer.
Beam Mountains
To begin with, we go to the United States of America with Beam Mountains. This map offers a variety of terrains, from dry deserts to lush grasslands. The elevation change is significant, with an intricate system of roads leading up and down the mountains.The Rocky Mountains provide the perfect downhill drift run. However, be careful of ascending traffic and the lack of guardrails at the edges.
Beam Mountains is designed to give you a challenging and engaging driving experience. That experience could be in a modified hatchback screaming through the narrow roads and tunnels or in a turbocharged fire-breathing 4WD rally car blasting through the rally stages and offroad tracks. However you like to drive in BeamNG, Beam Mountains is designed to accommodate you.
If the more sensible driving genres are more your style, semi-trucks and lorries are also ideally suited to this map. There is a small town at the base of the mountain that, with some imagination, can be seen as a base for deliveries. From scaling the incline of the mountain roads to navigating routes with tunnels and tight hairpin bends, Beam Mountains will test your vehicle awareness and trucking skills to the limit.
Scaling Beam Mountains is a true challenge, regardless of your chosen vehicle.
The map does not have any built-in scenarios or events, but as a solely freeroam experience, it is great to have a world to be absorbed into without any form of outside distractions. This map style might not be to everyone's taste, but that shows the depth of creativity present in BeamNG; not everything will be for everyone.
If you are still unsure if this map is for you, we encourage you to try it and form your own opinion. If not, hopefully, the following two maps will be more up your alley.
ETK I-Series sideways on the winding roads of BeamMountains.
ToughTruckMap
From the fast, elevation-based driving experience of Beam Mountains, we move now to an authentic off-roading experience that will test even your best vehicle configurations. Somewhat of a BeamNG veteran, the ToughTruckMap is a gruelling crawling experience with various courses to challenge yourself on.Any unsuitable vehicle will almost immediately be caught out on any of these brutal off-roading courses.
ToughTruckMap is designed to test your patience and conservative driving style. The Jeremy Clarkson way of 'POWER' is certainly not applicable here. Instead, take your time and make sure you have your diff, drivetrain, and concentration locked in.
From big scattered pipe courses to gruelling crawling trails caked in deep mud, ToughTruckMap certainly lives up to the name. The map is inspired by some ToughTruck challenges and other offroad racing series that put real drivers and cars through these scenarios.
Taking anything but a suitable truck through some of the courses is challenging but not impossible, a crawler is advisable.
If racing and road-based driving is more your style, this map might not be precisely what you are looking for. That said, we implore you to download the map and give it a go. Traversing through these rough and bumpy terrains is an entirely new skill you could add to your driving skill belt. Personally, as a circuit racer and short oval driver predominantly, learning this whole new world has been an absolute joy.
One of the most entertaining parts of a map like this is building your own car within the BeamNG garage to tackle the courses. Adding crazy suspension and wheel combinations and an excellent camouflage livery, of course, is often just as much fun as driving the courses.
A slightly modified base configuration of the Gavril MD Series is the perfect stead for this flat but bumpy first beginner course.
Motorsports Playground
Perhaps worthy of an entire piece of its own, the infamous Motorsports Playground Map is undoubtedly the top pick of maps to get you started in BeamNG as a sim racer in 2025. As a brief summary, this map has just about every form of motorsport you could think of, from circuit racing and rallycross to a car football arena and a monster truck course.The tracks at Motorsport Playground intertwine. The dirt rally stage runs alongside the two tarmac ovals and a short circuit.
With an enormous map like Motorsports Playground, deciding what to do first could be a bit overwhelming. Fear not; below is a list of each section and a car that suits it nicely so you can decide which sections to try. You can also try them all, make your own list, and compare it to ours.
The scale of this map is incredible; the usage of the 'Quick Travel' feature is almost required to make sure you can see everything this work of art has to offer. As a sim racer, this place offers some of the best places to try and make BeamNG into a racing simulator. Be aware that the map could affect your FPS because of its size. This will be determined by your level of hardware, of course.
The highspeed ovals and banked ovals are perfect for recreating classic NASCAR or CART races and crashes.
For us, the map's highlights are the amount of dirt and tarmac ovals, the rallycross tracks, and the small karting circuit. These bundled together produce hours of fun with interesting layouts that encourage you to push hard.
Motorsports Playground is a giant expanse of racing heaven. From Baja to NASCAR, there is something for everyone. But how does it compare to the other two maps mentioned in this article? Is it something that interests you, or are you more of an open-world freedom-orientated BeamNG player?
Ibishu Covet drifting on skidplates with the mega ramp in the background.
Let us know what you think in the comments below, and give your top three maps for new or returning players to BeamNG in 2025.
