Mario Kart Tour is a free-to-play Mario-themed racing game from Nintendo. In each race there are eight racers, kind of simulated as other players though I don't think it's real-time competition. The objective is not necessarily to finish first but to get the most points, though finishing first, second or third gives bonus points.

First you choose a racer, then a kart, then a parafoil. There are two of each which give the most bonus, another four or six of each which give some bonus, and the rest give no bonus. You collect (or buy) racers, karts and parafoil and if you get duplicates they combine to become a bit more powerful.

A tour lasts a couple of weeks. Several races are open at the start and one is opened each day and there is also a daily bonus, so two ways to get you to come back. As you play the racer and items you use get experience. Going up in levels means they give you a few more bonus points at the start of each race. Each kart and parafoil also has a special power though I never took them into account.

Each race can give you up to five stars and this is based on the points you got in the race. You don't really get to the fifth star until you have racers and items with lots of points. Stars unlock races (ok, when I said races are "open" I meant you can play them if you get the stars, but that's pretty easy) and unlock bonus gifts (and you get more gifts if you have a monthly pass, which is $5, and there are rubies and coins you can buy to level up faster).

The races are fairly fun. Although only a limited number of courses, they are modified a little for each race so each race is still distinct. In general it's not hard to get first place and getting items and leveling them up is kind of nice. Overall a fun game and after a couple of months I've had no impulse to pay money.