Demolition Derby

Demolition Derby is a top-down car-bashing game set in a walled arena. You drive one car against five to seven AI rivals, and everyone rams everyone until only one car is still running. You can play this demolition derby game online free in your browser with no download, on a keyboard, a mouse or a phone’s touch screen.

How to play

Pick an arena, start the round and go looking for trouble. Every car has 100 HP, shown on the bar above it. A car that reaches 0 HP is wrecked: it stops, smokes, and stays in the arena as a heavy obstacle. The last car running wins.

• Drive: Up or W is the gas, Down or S brakes and then reverses, and Left/Right or A/D steer. On a phone, push the on-screen stick the way you want to go, or drag a finger on the arena. With a mouse, hold the button on the arena and drag.
• Hit the weak spots: your car’s steel front bumper is armored and takes less than a third of normal damage. Sides take full damage and the rear takes the most. Damage depends on how fast the two cars close along the line of impact, so a fast T-bone hurts far more than a glancing scrape, and a gentle nudge does nothing.
• Boost: press Space or the BOOST button for a short burst that pushes you about 50 percent past your normal top speed. You start with one charge and can hold up to three.
• Pickups: lightning-bolt pickups add a boost charge, and wrenches repair 35 HP. A new pickup appears every 6 to 10 seconds, with up to three on the ground at once.
• Sudden death: after 100 seconds, every car still running starts to lose HP slowly, so no round drags on forever.

Your score is 1 point for each HP of damage you deal, 150 for every rival you wreck (if you landed one of the last hits on it) and 500 for winning. Your best score and your number of wins are saved in your browser.

The cars and arenas

The cars feel heavy. They carry momentum, slide in hard turns and spin when hit off-center. Rivals come in three sizes: light compacts that are quick but get shoved around, mid-size sedans like yours, and heavy wagons that are slower but hit harder and barely move when you hit them. Battered cars dent where they were hit, leak gray smoke under 60 HP and black smoke under 30, and lose some top speed.

• Mud Pit: an open dirt bowl against five rivals. Two mud patches slow you down and kill your grip, so cars slide right through them.
• Tire Ring: six rivals around a big pile of tires in the middle. Use the pile to break line of sight or pin a rival against it.
• Junkyard: the busiest arena, with seven rivals, two concrete blocks, two tire stacks and an oil slick in the center.

Walls hurt too. Reversing into a wall at speed damages your rear, while bouncing off nose first barely scratches you.

Tips

• Lead with your nose. Your bumper is your armor. Turn to face a rival who is charging you, and if you must take a hit, take it head-on.
• Avoid head-on duels when you can. Two armored bumpers meeting do little damage to either car. Swing wide and aim for a door or a trunk instead.
• Let the pack fight. The AI drivers go after whichever car is closest and shows them its side or rear. Hang back at the edge of a pile-up, then pick off the cars that come out of it smoking.
• Save a boost for the kill. A boosted ram into a side or rear can take more than a quarter of a car’s HP in one hit.

FAQ

Is Demolition Derby free?

Yes. It is free to play with no account and nothing to install. Press Start or Space, or tap the game, to begin.

Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?

Yes. On a phone or tablet you get a virtual stick and a BOOST button, and the game area won’t scroll the page while you play. On a narrow screen the camera follows your car and a mini-map shows the whole arena. On a Chromebook or laptop, use the arrow keys or WASD and Space.

Can I pause the game?

Press P or Esc, or use the Pause button. It also pauses if you switch tabs.

What happens if the last two cars wreck each other?

If the last two cars knock each other out in the same crash, the round ends as a double wreck with a shared first place and no win bonus.

Want more driving? Try Drift to practice sliding around corners, or Tank for top-down battles against enemy tanks. For a longer list, see the best browser car crash games.