Compete
The Arena
Ranked one-on-one duels against recorded runs, decided by raw time, with strict fair matching, leagues and monthly seasons.
The idea#
The Arena is where you race another player's recorded run for a wager. There are no dice in a race, so the result comes from your driving and your car. The faster raw time wins, and the winner takes both wagers minus a small fee. You are only ever matched with cars in your performance range.
How to get in#
- Clear stage 5 of region 1 on the world tour.
- Lock an entry stake of TORQ. It is a deposit, not a fee: it comes back when you leave. The level you pick opens the wager tiers (see below).
- Lock one car into the Arena.
The Arena car#
While your car is in the Arena it is locked: it cannot race world-tour stages, be listed on the Market, scrapped, tuned, rebuilt or serviced. It can still be used in the Daily Tournament. Arena duels use the car at full condition: no fuel, tyres, engine wear or odometer are used, but its tune counts.
Leaving#
You can leave once your started duels and saved challenges are settled. After a 24-hour cooldown the car and the stake are released. You can change your mind and stay while the cooldown runs. Your rating is kept if you come back.
Wager tiers and limits#
A tier is a fixed wager, referenced in dollars and paid in TORQ at the game's reference rate (in the beta, a test price). A bigger stake level unlocks bigger tiers.
| Tier | Wager (test price) | Duels per day | Stake level needed (test price) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US$ 0.25 | 6 | US$ 10 |
| 2 | US$ 1 | 2 | US$ 10 |
| 3 | US$ 3 | 1 | US$ 25 |
| 4 | US$ 10 | 1 | US$ 75 |
At launch only tiers 1 and 2 are open. To protect you there are also overall limits (all US$ figures are test prices: test TORQ has no value):
- At most US$ 15 of wagers per UTC day, across all tiers.
- A loss lock: if your net losses reach US$ 10 in a day or US$ 20 in a rolling 7 days, duels pause until the window moves on.
- Accounts younger than 14 days have a lower daily limit (US$ 5).
The lobby shows what you have left today.
Fair matching: cars in your range#
Every car has a Performance Rating on the Arena track, based on how fast a reference driver is in it. You are only matched with cars within a strict range of yours (about 30 rating points). That range never widens, however long you wait: a Common is never matched against a Legendary. Inside the range, you can still meet a better or worse car, and if you drive well that can be you winning in the slower one.
The lobby shows your rating and the range you face, for example "Performance 370, races cars rated 340 to 400". Waiting never widens the car range.
A duel, step by step#
- Pick a tier and press Find an opponent. Your wager is locked at that moment.
- The game searches. A timer shows how long. You can cancel the search any time for a full refund with no penalty.
- Opponent found. A 10-second countdown with a sound lets you get ready; the race starts by itself when it ends.
- You race a ghost. You see the other player's recorded run on screen, but not their time. The track is fixed for the tier; the conditions (grip, launch window, wind) are the same as in their run and are revealed at the green light.
- The faster raw time wins. The winner receives both wagers minus the fee. A tie returns both wagers with no fee.
If nobody is there: challenges#
If nobody compatible is there, you can press Race now, result later at any time (after 5 minutes of searching the game suggests it). Your run is saved as a challenge and your wager stays locked. The next compatible player who searches races it, and you are notified with a replay. A challenge never expires by itself: it stays open until a compatible player races it, or you cancel it and get a full refund. A cancelled challenge still counts as one of today's duels, so a bad run cannot be retried for free.
If you quit#
Leaving a duel or not finishing it within 5 minutes is a loss. You lose the wager and a little rating. If you were racing someone's saved challenge, its owner is normally paid as the winner. If the anti-abuse limits apply, the wager goes to the daily pot instead. A run that does not reach the finish, or whose time is far off the pace of a real attempt, is treated the same way.
The fee#
The winner gets the two wagers combined minus 6%. That 6% is split 4% to the daily pot, 1% to the treasury and 1% burned. The game never takes the other side of a duel: there are no house bots wagering against players.
Rating, leagues and seasons#
- Everyone starts at 1000 rating. Each duel moves it up or down by how surprising the result was.
- Leagues: Bronze, Silver (1050), Gold (1150), Platinum (1300) and Elite (1450).
- A season is a calendar month (UTC). The season board ranks players by rating, if they played at least 5 duels that month. The board shows duels and rating, not money.
- To stop losing on purpose from pulling your rating down, your matching rating cannot fall far below your best.
Fair play#
You are never matched with an account that looks linked to yours, and the same two accounts cannot meet more than twice in 24 hours. Bots, scripts and exploits are against the rules (see Safety); an account that is proven to abuse the Arena can lose its stake. Limit: 2 accounts per person; using more to get around Arena caps is against the rules. If you share a home or a connection with another player and hit a limit, ask in Discord #support.