I was racing across an alien world, just a few seconds away from crossing the finish line, when I lost traction and hit a large hill at a strange angle. No worries, though; I could just use my thrusters to reorient my intergalactic dune buggy to save me from a nasty crash. It was at that moment that I realized I had used up the last bit of my thruster fuel. I smashed hard into the ground and had to restart. Next time, I’ll be a bit more careful. And there will be a next time because I really enjoy Exo Rally Championship, a tough but exciting rally sim that ditches the forests of Europe and the dunes of California for faraway locations on distant moons and planets. Released earlier this week on Steam, Exo Rally Championship is from the creator behind Exo One. But where that game was a somewhat relaxing intergalactic flight through alien worlds, XRC is a white-knuckle racing game all about reaching the finish line as fast as possible while avoiding crashing meteors, massive cliffs, and hostile terrain. As the kids might say, the vibes are different. But I’ve been having a blast racing through the game’s various intergalactic tracks while customizing (and repairing) my space buggy and slowly getting better at not landing upside down. And make no mistake about it: You will crash a lot in Exo Rally Championship. While the game looks very sci-fi, the inner workings of it are a tough-as-nails and highly accurate rally simulator. You have to manage fuel weight, tire quality, repairs, your vehicle’s ride height, and many other settings. The game does let you mostly ignore the real nitty-gritty settings, but you’ll need to get your hands dirty between time trials across the galaxy to ensure you have