Bumper Cars guide
How to play Bumper Cars
Bumper Cars is a logic puzzle in an arena full of bumper cars. Tap a car and it drives off in the direction it faces, trains and all. Clear the arena without a single crash. Like every game in Beasties, it plays offline and has no ads.
Bumper Cars rules
The rules of Bumper Cars in one minute
Every car has a monster at the wheel and an arrow on its bonnet. Some pull a few wagons. One tap sends a car on its way:
- Tap a car. It drives off the board in the direction its bonnet points, cell by cell, until it is out.
- Trains stick together. Tap the driver or any wagon. The wagons follow the driver round every corner.
- Something in the way? Crash. The car bumps into it and rolls back. That costs one of your three stars.
- Clear the whole arena. Every car leaving makes room for the others. When the last one is out, the level is done.
You can’t get stuck: leaving only ever makes room, so there is always a way to clear the arena. The puzzle is the order. Each crash costs a star, and a car that crashes stays where it was, so look before you tap.
Oil spots
Oil spots turn the cars
Some cells hold a puddle of oil with a white arrow. A car that slides onto it leaves in the arrow’s direction, and its wagons follow round the bend.
- An oil spot with an arrow. It never moves and its arrow never changes. You can always see where it sends a car.
- Slide over it, turn with it. A car that rolls onto the spot turns where the arrow points. The wagons take the same turn.
- Read the whole way. Before you tap, follow the arrow, then the oil, to the edge. Only that way counts.
Oil spots never move and never change direction, so every route is fixed from the start. A car that looks free straight ahead can still end up in a jam after the turn, and a car facing a wall of trains may slip out sideways.
Colour gates
Colour gates wait for their colour
A gate is a barrier in the colour of one monster family. It stays shut as long as a car of that colour is still in the arena. Anything that drives into a shut gate crashes.
- A gate in one colour. The barrier stays down while a car of its colour is in the arena. Anyone else who drives into it crashes.
- Send that colour home. Clear every car of the gate's colour, trains included.
- The barrier swings up. Now the gate is open for everyone, and the waiting car drives straight through.
- And the rest. The gate stays open for the rest of the level.
Cars of the gate’s own colour never have to pass it, so the gate is really a question of order: clear that colour first, and the barrier swings up for everyone. On Devilish there are two gates.
From Normal on
Holes, the button and the bridge
From Normal on, the floor has a hole. A car that rolls into it falls in, and the level is lost on the spot. Somewhere else there is a round blue button.
- A hole in the floor. From Normal on, there is a hole somewhere on the way out.
- Roll in and it is over. A car that drives into the open hole falls in, and the level is lost at once, stars or not.
- Find the button. Send a car over the blue button. It sinks in, turns green, and a metal bridge drops over every hole.
- Then cross the bridge. With the bridge down, the same car rolls safely across.
Once any car rolls over the button, a metal bridge drops over every hole and stays there. A car whose route crosses the button before it reaches the hole is safe too. So look for the car that can reach the button, and send it early.
How to play
How to play Bumper Cars in Beasties
The arena in the middle, Restart below it, and on top the stars at stake and how many cars are left. Gnatz peeks over the edge and watches every car you send.
- Tap a car to send it off. Under the stars the app counts the cars still in the arena.
- A crash costs a star. The car bumps, rolls back to where it was, and waits. Nothing else changes.
- Restart: all stars back. Restart puts every car back where it started and gives you all three stars again.
- Clear it without a bump. When the last car is out, the stars you kept fly into your counter.
Stars
Three stars, three chances
Every level puts three stars at stake. In Bumper Cars they only depend on crashes, not on time or the number of taps.
- Three stars at stake. Every crash takes one away, whichever car it was.
- Third crash: level lost. With no stars left the level is over. Falling into a hole ends it straight away.
- Try again, fresh start. Restart and the arena is back as it was, with all three stars.
- Finish and keep what is left. One crash this time: two stars fly into your counter.
A clean run keeps all three stars. Each crash costs one, and the third crash ends the level. A fall into a hole ends it at once. Restart is free and gives you all three stars back.
Difficulty levels
Bumper Cars difficulty levels
The boards below are level 1 of each difficulty. Each step up makes the arena bigger and fuller, the trains longer and the routes more tangled. Holes come in on Normal, a second gate on Devilish.
Chill
5×5 · 6–15 cars
A 5×5 arena, short trains, two oil spots and one colour gate. Good for learning to read the routes.
Normal
6×6 · 6–17 cars
Six by six, longer trains and a hole in the floor. Find the car that rolls over the button first.
Tricky
7×7 · 6–18 cars
Seven by seven, trains up to eight cars long and three oil spots. The order matters more than ever.
Devilish
8×8 · 8–22 cars
A packed 8×8 arena with two colour gates, a hole and trains of up to ten. Think it through.
Within one difficulty, level 1 and level 999 ask for the same. Chill, Normal and Tricky have 150 free levels each. You unlock the rest for free with the stars you win, or all at once with Pro. All of them are the same for every player in the same order, so the solutions on this site match your app, from level 1 to 999 on every difficulty.
Bumper Cars strategy
Three habits for a clean run
Every arena can be cleared without a crash. These three habits get you there.
Tip 1
Follow the whole route
Don’t just look straight ahead. Follow the arrow to the first oil spot, take the turn, and keep going to the edge. Only that route counts.
- Looks free? Straight ahead there is nothing in the way. But the car crosses an oil spot first.
- The oil sends it into a train. So the car it would hit has to go first.
- Now the whole way is clear. Same oil, same turn, and this time it drives out.
Tip 2
Work from the outside in
When a car is blocked, ask who blocks it, and who blocks that one. The end of the chain is a car with a free route. Start there.
- Who waits for whom? This train can't get past another train, and that one is stuck behind a third.
- Start at the end of the chain. The one with a free way out goes first.
- Then work your way back. Each car that leaves frees the next one. No guessing, no crash.
- The rest follows. Most arenas are a few chains like this, side by side.
Tip 3 · Normal
Press the button early
Holes only matter until someone rolls over the button. Find that car, clear its way, and send it before anything heads for a hole.
- A car heads for the hole. Its way out runs straight across it. Tapped now, it falls in.
- Look for the button car. One way out rolls over the button. Clear what stands in its way, then send it.
- Bridge down, carry on. From now on every hole is safe, for the rest of the level.
Not sure? A car with a free route never hurts: leaving only makes room. The one exception is a route into an open hole. Lost a star? Restart costs nothing and puts all three back.
Solutions
Stuck on a level?
Every level has its own solution page, free and Pro. You see the start of the level and the order of taps, one car at a time, without a single crash.
FAQ
Bumper Cars questions, short answers
What is the goal in Bumper Cars?
Get every car and every train out of the arena. Tap one and it drives off in the direction of its arrow. When the last one is out, the level is done.
Can I look up the rules during a round?
Yes. Tap the gear at the top left of the round: Settings open, and their Game guide row takes you straight to the rules of this game, what is special in it and how the stars work. You also find the guide behind the ? on the level start and in Settings on the home screen.
Which way does a car go?
Where its bonnet and the white arrow point, cell by cell, until it leaves the board. An oil spot on the way turns it to the spot’s arrow. A train goes the same way, the wagons follow the driver.
What happens when I tap a blocked car?
It drives up to whatever is in the way, crashes and rolls back to where it was. You lose one of your three stars, and everything else stays as it was.
Can I tap a wagon instead of the driver?
Yes. Tapping any part of a train sends the whole train.
How do oil spots work?
An oil spot is a fixed puddle with an arrow. A car that slides onto it turns in that direction, and so do its wagons. The arrow never changes.
How do colour gates work?
A gate stays shut while any car of its colour is in the arena. Clear that colour and the barrier swings up, and from then on every car can drive through.
What do the holes and the button do?
From Normal on there is a hole in the floor. A car that rolls into it falls in and the level is lost straight away. Once a car rolls over the button, a metal bridge covers every hole for the rest of the level.
How do I keep all three stars?
Don’t crash. The stars only depend on crashes: each one costs a star, and the third one ends the level. How long you take and how many taps you need doesn’t matter.
Can I get stuck?
No. Cars that leave only make room, so there is always an order that clears the arena. The only way to lose without crashing is the hole.
Is there an undo?
No, but there is Restart. It puts every car back and gives you all three stars again.
Can I play Bumper Cars offline?
Yes. Bumper Cars and every other game in Beasties work without an internet connection, and there are no ads.
Is level 37 the same for everyone?
Yes. The levels are fixed and come with the app: the same arenas in the same order for every player. New levels are only added at the end.