Road Crossing Game Tips: How to Get Across Every Time

Road-crossing games look easy: hop forward, one square at a time, until you reach the other side. Yet the roads, rivers and railways are full of surprises. Here is how these games work, how to judge a gap, how to ride logs without being swept away, and how to keep moving so nothing catches you.

How it works

You guide a small animal across a map seen from above, made of horizontal strips called lanes. Each tap makes it hop one square forward. In our game, you can also swipe left or right to hop sideways, or swipe down to hop back. The goal is to reach the finish at the top.

Every kind of lane has its own danger. On a road, cars and trucks run over you. On a river, you must stand on a floating log or lily pad, or you fall in the water. On railways, a train rushes through. On grass you are safe, although trees block your way and you have to go around them.

Look first, then hop

The most common mistake is tapping without looking. Before every hop, check the lane in front of you and the one after it. A good rule is to leave only when the gap is clearly big enough, not when it is barely big enough.

Vehicles are not all the same. Cars are quick, trucks are long, and some lanes have very fast vehicles that cross the screen in a blink. Watch one or two vehicles go by in a new lane before you decide how fast that lane really is.

Use the safe squares

Grass is your resting place. Stop there, breathe, and plan the next few lanes. You are not in a hurry as long as nothing is chasing you.

When several lanes come one after another, plan two hops ahead. Ask yourself where you will stand after the next hop, and whether that spot will still be safe when you get there. If it will not, wait one more moment on your current square, or hop sideways to a better spot.

Rivers, logs and lily pads

On a river, the log is your ground, and it moves. When you land on it, it carries you sideways. If you ride it all the way to the edge of the screen, you are swept away, so keep an eye on your position and hop onward before the edge comes.

Hop onto the middle of a log rather than its end: it leaves you room for a mistake. Lily pads stay in place, but some of them sink after a while. If one starts to shake, do not wait: hop to the next one right away.

Trains and warning signs

A railway is quiet for a long time, then a train crosses in an instant. In most road-crossing games, a signal warns you before it comes. In our game, a red light flashes just over a second before the train passes.

When the light blinks, do not step onto the rails. If you are already on them, hop off at once. If you are on grass before the rails, just wait for the train to pass and cross straight behind it.

Do not stop for long

Many games punish players who wait too long. In our game, a grumpy buzzard comes for a chick that stays still: its shadow circles around you for a few seconds first, and then it grabs you. Going back too many rows can bring it too.

So find a rhythm. Wait when a lane is dangerous, but hop forward as soon as it is safe. Do not tap in a panic either: one calm tap at the right moment is better than three fast ones at the wrong moment. Later levels are longer and faster, so good habits matter more and more.

Try our road-crossing game

In Piou Crossing, a tiny chick hops over roads, rivers and railways to get back to the farm, picking up three stars on the way. Levels start slowly, then become longer and faster, so you can practise each lane type before the real challenge begins.