Rush Hour - Free the Red Car
How to play: The RED car is stuck in traffic. Slide other cars OUT OF THE WAY so the red car can drive out the right side of the grid. Cars only move along their long axis - horizontal cars slide left/right, vertical cars slide up/down. Click and drag a car in its movement direction. The red car can ONLY exit through the right edge (row 3). Lower move counts are better.
About Rush Hour
Rush Hour is the iconic sliding-block traffic puzzle invented by Nob Yoshigahara of Japan in the late 1970s and popularized worldwide by ThinkFun’s plastic-board version in the 1990s. The premise is sublime: your red car is stuck in a parking lot, and you need to slide other cars and trucks out of the way to get out. Cars only move along their long axis – horizontal cars slide left/right, vertical cars slide up/down. The challenge is finding the right sequence of moves to clear a path for the red car to exit.
Our online version ships with 12 levels from beginner-friendly to brutal, with full undo and per-level best-move tracking.
How to Play
- Pick a level from the dropdown.
- Click and drag any car along its movement axis. Horizontal cars only slide left/right; vertical cars only slide up/down.
- A car cannot pass through another car. Plan ahead.
- The RED car is your target. Slide cars out of its way until it can drive out the right side of the grid (row 3, marked EXIT).
- Win by sliding the red car all the way out. Lower move counts are better.
- Undo reverses moves freely. Reset restarts the level.
Strategy Tips
- Identify the blockers. Which cars are between the red car and the exit? Those are your priority.
- Think backward from the exit. Visualize the red car’s path to the exit, then ask which cars need to NOT be in that path.
- Don’t move cars that aren’t blocking. Every move counts. Touching cars that aren’t in the way costs you.
- Vertical cars are tricky. They can only go up or down. If the rows above and below are blocked, you may need to clear them first.
- Cascade carefully. Sometimes moving car A creates space for car B which then unblocks the red. Plan 3 moves ahead.
- Avoid dead-ends. Some moves create configurations where NO further useful move exists. Reset and try a different opening.
A Brief History
Nob Yoshigahara, a Japanese inventor and puzzle designer, created Rush Hour in the late 1970s. ThinkFun (then Binary Arts) acquired and licensed the puzzle in 1996, releasing the iconic plastic version with sliding cars on a 6×6 grid. The game has been a perennial bestseller in the educational/brain-teaser market and has been studied academically – the general puzzle is PSPACE-complete, putting it in the same complexity class as Sokoban.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can horizontal cars move up or down?
No. A car can only move along its long axis. A horizontal car (lying along a row) can only slide left or right. A vertical car (standing in a column) can only slide up or down.
Why are cars different lengths?
2-cell cars are sedans, 3-cell cars are trucks. Trucks block more cells but otherwise follow the same rules.
What if I get stuck?
Use Undo to back up moves, or hit Reset to start over. Every level is solvable.
Are all levels solvable?
Yes. Every level in the pack has at least one solution. Some have multiple solution paths with different move counts.
What’s the optimal move count for each level?
Easy levels solve in 5-15 moves. Medium in 15-30. Hard levels can require 40+ optimal moves. The Best tracker shows your record per level.
Can I play on mobile?
Yes. Tap a car and drag it along its axis to slide. Touch controls work the same as mouse.
Why does the red car only exit through one specific spot?
That’s the puzzle’s design. The exit is on the right edge in row 3. The red car can only escape that way.
How is this different from Klotski?
Klotski uses larger blocks of various shapes that slide in 4 directions. Rush Hour uses cars that only slide along their long axis. Both share the “unblock the goal piece” core but Rush Hour’s vehicle theme and axis-locked movement give it a distinct feel.