How to play Urban Chaos .io
Urban Chaos .io is a free multiplayer city driving game that plays in your browser. You start as a tiny car in a huge city full of traffic, bots and other players. Crush smaller vehicles to grow, dodge bigger ones to survive, and climb all the way to the BIGFOOT monster truck. Think of it as Pac-Man in rush hour: the roads are the maze and everything on them is either food or a threat.
The goal
Every vehicle in the city has a level (from the level-0 scooters of the traffic up to the level-11 BIGFOOT) and a number of coins. Both are written above every vehicle. When you touch a vehicle that is smaller than you, you crush it: you earn points, coins and progress toward the next level. When a bigger vehicle touches you, your run ends. Your score is saved to the leaderboards, so the real goal is simple: grow as big as you can and stay alive as long as you can.
Controls
Keyboard (computer)
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ↑ Up arrow | Accelerate |
| ↓ Down arrow | Brake, then reverse. At a stop line: U-turn (when the street allows it) |
| ← / → alone | Choose your turn at the next intersection. Press again to pick the next lane of the new road; the opposite arrow cancels |
| ↑ + ← / → | Change lane on the road you are driving on |
| B | Boost: +25% speed and acceleration for $1 per second |
| M (or tap the minimap) | Open the full city map |
| R | Giant Radar |
| N | Sound on / off |
| Esc | Pause menu |
Touch (phone and tablet)
On mobile your car accelerates on its own. Swipe left or right to change lane, tap the left or right half of the screen to choose your next turn, swipe up to switch the boost on or off, and touch and hold to brake. Tap the minimap in the top-left corner to open the full map. A short help screen appears the first time you play on a touch screen.
Who crushes whom
- Bigger always wins. A higher-level vehicle crushes a lower-level one on any contact, from any side.
- Same level: coins decide. When two vehicles of the same level collide, the one that rams the other crushes it only if it carries more coins. At level 1, a tie also goes to the rammer.
- Smaller never wins. A smaller vehicle cannot crush a bigger one, however fast it goes.
- Traffic bites too. About 35% of the city traffic is aggressive (marked ⚠): those cars hunt smaller players and bots. Every bigger vehicle, traffic included, crushes you on contact.
- Spawn protection. For the first 3 seconds of a run you cannot be crushed, so you have time to get your bearings.
The labels above vehicles are colored to help you decide in a split second: green means you can crush it, red means it can crush you, yellow means same level (look at the coins).
Coins
You start every run with 20 coins. You collect more by driving over the gold coins scattered on the roads and by crushing other vehicles (a crushed player or bot drops part of its coins to you). Coins matter for three reasons: they win same-level collisions, they pay for the boost, the tolls and the radar, and they are your safety margin in the oncoming lane.
Lanes, oncoming traffic and tolls
- Lane patterns change everywhere. Each road has its own layout: two-way streets, one-way streets, 2+2 boulevards, 5+3 highways and the 8+8 lanes of the ring mega highway. One-way streets cannot be entered against the traffic.
- The oncoming lane costs coins: $1 every 0.5 second while you drive against the traffic. It is a great shortcut to pass a jam or reach a prey, but if you run out of coins you are pushed back into your lane. Roads with a concrete median do not allow it at all.
- Tolls: the toll expressway and the underground tunnel shortcuts cost $15 to enter. They are the fastest roads in the city.
- Alleys are only wide enough for vehicles up to level 3. They are the perfect escape route when something huge is chasing you.
Intersections
Choose your direction before the intersection with the left or right arrow, or decide at the very last moment: as long as you have not crossed the middle of the intersection, an arrow still turns you into that street. When only one road continues (a corner), your car follows it on its own. Intersections are reserved: two vehicles never drive through each other. If neither of you can crush the other, one gives way; if one of you can, the crash happens and the bigger one wins.
Levels and growing
Each level needs more crushes than the previous one, and small prey counts less when you are big: a vehicle up to two levels below you counts fully, three or four levels below counts half, and anything smaller counts for 0.2. In total it takes about 431 full crushes to go from level 1 to the BIGFOOT. The vehicles page lists every level with its size, speed and requirements.
Boost, Giant Radar and the map
- Boost (B): +25% top speed and acceleration, paid $1 per second. Use it to escape or to catch a prey, not all the time.
- Giant Radar (R): for 25 seconds, the five biggest players of the arena appear on your map with their direction and distance. It costs $40, or a short rewarded video when available.
- Full map (M or tap the minimap): every player and bot of the arena as a colored dot (green: you can crush it, red: it can crush you, yellow: same level). Real players have a white ring.
Leaderboards and accounts
You can play as a guest without any sign-up. Your best score appears on the leaderboards (last 24 hours, this month, this year and all time). A free account reserves your nickname so nobody else can use it, and keeps your statistics and history on all your devices.
▶ PLAY FREE NOWNo download · browser and mobile