Traffic is a one-tap traffic control game. You're the blob in the cap at a busy crossroads, and you control the only light. Tap to switch it between the main road and the side street. Every switch goes through amber, and the junction has to clear before the other way gets green. Drivers waiting at a red get impatient: their patience ring drains, they start honking, and if you leave them too long they floor it through the red, straight into the cross traffic. Back the queue up off the map and it's gridlock. Count how many cars you get through.
How to play Traffic
- Tap anywhere to switch the light. The first tap turns the main road green.
- Each switch goes amber, then waits for the junction to clear before the other road goes green.
- Waiting cars show a patience ring. When it runs out, the driver runs the red light.
- A crash or a queue backed up off the edge of the map ends the run.
Tips to get a high score
- Watch the rings, not the cars. The lowest ring tells you which road needs green next.
- Switch in a gap in the traffic. The junction clears faster and the other road gets going sooner.
- Don't flip back and forth. Every switch wastes a few seconds of amber and clearing time.
- Trucks are slow to clear but patient. Sports cars are quick and hot-headed.
- Gold cars drop a coin if they get through without stopping.
How rush hour builds
You start with two streams: cars heading up the main road and cars heading right along the side street. Traffic from the top joins after 16 seconds and traffic from the right after 30, so from then on both roads feed the junction from both ends.
Cars arrive faster for the first 70 seconds, with the gap between them in each lane roughly halving. It keeps getting busier after that: by about two minutes in, cars arrive at around twice the 70-second rate, and it doesn't stop climbing.
Drivers get shorter-tempered too. Early on a regular car will wait at a red for about seven seconds before snapping; by 70 seconds that's under four. Trucks join after 10 seconds and last about a quarter longer, while sports cars join after about 25 seconds and give up in under three seconds at full pace.
What scores and what costs you
Every car that gets through the junction scores one, except red-light runners, who score nothing even if they make it across. A runner is never a gain and is often the end of the run.
Patience only drains while a car is stuck, at the line or in the queue behind it. Once the queue moves, the ring refills, but slowly: an empty ring needs around four seconds of driving to fill again. Cars at the back of a long queue that only got a short green are the ones that blow on the next red.
Switching costs time you can't take back. Amber lasts a third of a second, then both roads stay red until every car already committed to the junction has cleared it, which can take up to two and a half seconds. Taps during amber and that all-red pause do nothing, so you can't cancel a switch.
Keeping the junction alive
The side street has far less room to queue than the main road, so it's the one that jams. If a new car can't fit at the edge of the map for a little over a second, that's gridlock. A side street that's been red a while needs its green before the queue reaches the edge, even if no ring looks low yet.
Drivers start honking when their ring drops below about a third. Treat the first honk as your last comfortable moment to switch. Give each road a green long enough to empty most of its queue, then switch in a gap so the all-red pause is short.
Gold cars are about one in twenty. They drop a coin only if they roll straight through without ever stopping, so keeping a flowing green for one can be worth it, but coins go to your coin total, not your score.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Traffic level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
Why did a car drive through the red light?
Its driver ran out of patience. Keep an eye on the rings over waiting cars and give that road green before a ring empties.
What is gridlock?
If a queue backs up past the edge of the map and new cars can't fit, the junction is jammed and the run is over. The side street is short, so it fills up first.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Traffic to your site
Traffic is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
<iframe src="https://tapamine.com/embed/traffic/" title="Traffic: free one-tap game" width="360" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:16px;max-width:100%" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; web-share" loading="lazy"></iframe>