[1] The player controls a Hwiparam II car (from the North Korean manufacturer Pyeonghwa Motors),[2] using the arrow keys to accelerate, reverse and steer, as well as the space bar to sound the horn.

[3] They are tasked with driving along a pre-determined route around the city, starting and ending at Kim Il-sung Square, and visiting several of its sights, including the Ryugyong Hotel, Arch of Triumph, Chollima Statue, and Potong Gate.

[1][8] The idea emerged when Nick Bonner, the manager of Koryo Tours, asked Nosotek's Volker Eloesser for a "fun, nonviolent and nonpolitical" game designed alongside North Korean youths.

With support from the government of North Korea, the developer worked with students from the Kim Chaek University of Technology to create Pyongyang Racer in Adobe Flash.

[14] Pyongyang Racer was met with negative reviews: C. Custer of Tech in Asia criticised the "pretty awful" graphics as being "full of glitches and artefacts", also noting a repetitive scenery and low frame rate.

[1] Sayej concurred with Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik, who perceived the game as "slow, wildly boring, empty, incredibly restricted, and at least a decade behind technologically".