Traffic Rider — Play Free Online

Traffic Rider puts you behind the handlebars of a motorbike in first person, weaving through a stream of cars and trucks on a busy highway. There is no track to learn and no lap to beat. The road is simply fast, crowded and always getting faster, and the whole game is about finding gaps before they close.

It is a different kind of game from most of what sits on Doodle Jump. The headline jumper asks you to climb, while this one asks you to hold a line and keep your nerve. Sessions are short: a run lasts until you clip a vehicle, and then you are straight back on the road for another attempt.

How to play

The page lists the arrow keys or WASD for movement, with the mouse for menu selection and tap and swipe on a phone. In practice that means steering left and right across the lanes, and, in the versions of this game I know, accelerating and braking. If the bike does not speed up by itself, hold the forward key. Since this is a browser port, click inside the game window first so it receives the keys.

A round is a simple loop. You pick up speed, read the traffic ahead, and slide into whichever lane is open. Passing a car at very close range earns bonus points, and riding in the lane of oncoming traffic is usually rewarded more than staying safe. The risk grows with speed, since you see each gap for a shorter time.

Tips

• Look past the car directly in front of you. Watching two or three vehicles ahead gives you time to choose a lane rather than swerve at the last moment.
• Make small steering inputs. Tapping a direction briefly shifts you a little, while holding it can throw you into the next lane and into a bumper.
• Take bonuses when they are cheap. A close pass on an empty stretch is worth it; the same pass in dense traffic is not.
• Brake early when a wall of vehicles fills the road. Dropping speed for a moment costs far less than a crash.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

If you like the reflex-driven pace, Helix Jump also has you reacting to what is just ahead, though it is about falling rather than speeding. Bird Jumper and OvO game are other quick-restart challenges where one mistake ends the run. Traffic Rider is the one on the site that feels like driving.

It suits a few minutes at a time on a keyboard, and it also works on a touchscreen with swipes. There is nothing to install, as it runs right in the browser.