On weekend nights in Saudi Arabia, highways once turned into arenas for hajwala – underground street drifting defined by skill, nerve and showmanship. Crowds gathered to watch modified Japanese sedans slide sideways in long, smoky drifts, with each driver chasing fame and style.
At its peak in the mid-2000s to early 2010s, hajwala was more than a hobby: it was youth culture and creative expression in places with few official motorsport options. Videos of daring drifts went viral, and cars grew ever more customised.
But as authorities cracked down and new entertainment options like official motorsport events appeared, public hajwala gatherings faded. Today, the culture survives in fragments: in legal drifting competitions, private desert meets – and especially in mobile games that let millions of players drift virtual cars down digital highways.
These mobile games bring hajwala nostalgia to your screen:
(Note: Ratings and download figures are from the Google Play Store at the time of writing.)
By RABABA Games
Rating: 4.2
Downloads: 50 million
Drift هجولة is by far the most popular hajwala game, and it makes a strong first impression. It opens with a clear warning not to attempt these stunts in real life, and offers multiple languages and adjustable quality settings.
Players can go solo or play with others, and the graphics are polished. There are plenty of car customisation options, including for the weather – from sunny or rainy days to clear or rainy evenings.
There are 16 different modes to choose from, including desert maps, cityscapes, custom maps and a dedicated hajwala map, which I tested. Turning on traffic adds an extra layer of challenge – in which I did not partake.
The controls are straightforward, and drifting feels both easy and satisfying. Some of the other maps might be more entertaining than the hajwala map, which is the traditional strip of highway in the desert, but overall it was a sleek experience. While there are a fair amount of ads, they don’t get in the way of the gameplay or UI.
By Mad Hook
Rating: 3.8
Downloads: 10 million
An ad appears as soon as the game launches, which is off-putting, and is generally an issue with this game. Players can customise both their character and car.
The graphics are simpler than Mad Hook’s other title (next on this list) and the interface is pared down and easy to use.
There are three modes: single player, online and police chase. The police-chase mode is an exercise in chaos, with new police cars spawning regularly to bring the driver to justice. An ad popped up mid-game, allowing the police to catch me – a solid reminder that crime doesn’t pay.
For other modes, multiple maps are available, but they are presented without description so it can be difficult to tell the difference between them as a first-time player. Driving is slightly clunky, with the car’s boost on the opposite side of its gas pedal, making it difficult to control the car and the boost at the same time.
By Mad Hook
Rating: 4.4
Downloads: 5 million
This game stands out for its sleek graphics – it opens with shots of the vehicle and the driver from multiple cinematic angles, and it’s clearly well produced. It is the best-looking of the bunch.
Players can customise both their car and driver, though there is a separate, paid customisation menu which allows further tuning. The game advertises its own version available on PlayStation, though I was not able to try it.
Gameplay includes solo and online modes across four maps and two weather options (sunny or rainy), including a demolition mode where your car faces a series of obstacles and gets destroyed – an interesting addition beyond regular racing tracks. Car repair is unlocked by watching ads, which quickly gets annoying, but I can see the chaos playing out well with friends.
Driving and drifting are simple, if unexciting, and gameplay doesn’t feature as many features as other games on this list.
By Nescie
Rating: 4.1
Downloads: 5 million
The game opens with car selection, followed by customisation and map options. The graphics are simple but acceptable, and the clean interface keeps the screen uncluttered. It includes three modes: police chase, free play and multiplayer.
Players can choose between 10 maps, including city settings, ring roads, drifting tracks, desert landscapes and more.
I found the controls difficult on the closed racing track, but I can see how playing with friends could be chaotic fun. It might just be my skills holding me back. After trying an open map, the driving controls are definitely much easier, and a hidden menu contains additional options allowing players to execute more complex manoeuvres in-game.
By MATAB Games
Rating: 4.3
Downloads: 5 million
The graphics are very simple but look fine, and the UI is alright, though a bit basic. There are both offline and online modes. The ads take up a large part of the screen, but don’t intrude on the game’s UI.
Ads play on each navigation, which is slightly annoying but to be expected. The game allows players to test-drive new cars in exchange for watching an ad, and exclusive cars can be bought for cash – one deal for 97.99 AED.
There are five maps, but three of them need to be unlocked by watching ads, so first-time players only have two options – highway and city centre. The map of the city centre is surprisingly well fleshed out, and looks and feels sleek. The driving experience is easy and it feels satisfying to drift.
However, this does feel like more of a regular drifting game, especially because the desert map is closed to first-time players.
By Hamzah Ahmad Yousef Alheet
Rating: 4.5
Downloads: 1 million
The game opens with an unknown error message, but it still works fine. The graphics and the UI are clean.
Players can customise both their character and car – the car customisation options are the most detailed I’ve seen, with separate categories for different parts clearly presented on the opening screen. Players can choose between day and night, rainy or clear weather and chase mode or free play.
This game has the most maps of any I tried, with 22 options. I tested the city night map, which was pared down graphically but still enjoyable. The driving experience is very smooth, and car customisation options in-game make it easy to pull off more interesting tricks.
Ads play between almost every navigation, but there’s also a loading screen that warns users not to try these stunts in real life, which is much-appreciated advice.
