Garfield Kart

Lore & Background

Garfield Kart is a kart racing game similar to the Mario Kart series. Players compete on various tracks, collect items, and use power-ups to interfere with other racers.

Vehicles can be customized, and online play is available only on Windows, though it remains in beta. Garfield and Jon are the only playable characters at the start; Odie, Liz, Arlene, Nermal, Harry, and Squeak can be unlocked. Daily challenges reward players with vehicle customization options.

The game features three cups: Lasagna, Pizza, and Hamburger, each containing four tracks for a total of 16. A hidden Ice Cream Cup is unlocked by completing all other cups on 150cc difficulty. Three difficulty levels are available: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. The Lasagna Cup is always free; the Pizza Cup is free at 50cc but requires unlocking or payment with in-game coins at higher difficulties.

Garfield Kart received mostly negative reception from critics, who cited unimaginative gameplay, low production value, and poorly designed mechanics. Nintendo Life gave it a 3/10, calling it "a bland, horribly un-balanced Kart game." Hardcore Gamer rated it 1.5/5, describing it as "absolutely dreadful." However, user reviews on Steam and other platforms were very positive, many of them sarcastic or purposely inaccurate, likely due to the game's status as an internet meme.

Reader's Guide

Garfield Kart's significance lies primarily in its stark contrast between critical and user reception. While professional reviewers dismissed it as a low-quality Mario Kart clone with poor balance and production values, the game found a second life as an internet meme, attracting a wave of sarcastic and intentionally misleading positive user reviews on Steam and other platforms. This ironic appreciation turned a forgettable licensed title into a cult curiosity, demonstrating how online communities can reframe a mediocre product as a source of humor and shared experience.

The game's legacy includes a remake, Garfield Kart: Furious Racing, announced in July 2019 and released in November 2019 for Windows, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A sequel, Garfield Kart 2 – All You Can Drift, was announced in June 2025, developed by Eden Games, and released on September 10, 2025, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows. These follow-ups suggest that the original game's notoriety, however ironic, sustained enough interest to warrant further entries in the series.