💥 Bus Demolition Derby

A demolition derby for school buses

Bus Demolition Derby is exactly what it sounds like: a crowd of big yellow school buses (and a few other colours) in a walled dirt arena, ramming each other until only one is still running. It is loud, chaotic, cartoon fun, and the crowd in the stands loves every crunch.

It is also completely kid-friendly. There are no people in the arena, no drivers to hurt and nothing scary: buses that run out of health just puff a cloud of smoke and roll to a stop, and the next round starts with every bus as good as new.

How damage works

Every bus has a health bar, shown above it in the arena and in the corner of the screen for your own bus. A hit takes health away depending on how fast it is and where it lands. Slam into the side of a rival, a classic T-bone, and you do the most damage. A hit in the back does a little less. A head-on crash damages both buses, so it is usually a bad idea unless you are bigger. Heavy buses hit harder and are pushed around less, while light buses turn quicker and can dart in for side hits.

As a bus gets weaker its paint turns grey and dusty, it starts to smoke, and below a quarter health little flames flicker from the engine. Bumping the arena wall hard hurts a little too. When a bus reaches zero it breaks down and stays in the arena as an obstacle, and the bus that wrecked it gets the credit.

Pickups

Pickups appear around the arena every few seconds. The green 🔧 wrench repairs 35 health, the orange ⚡ turbo gives a burst of speed for a huge ram, and the purple 🛡️ shield doubles your weight for a few seconds, so hits hurt you less and push rivals further. The computer buses go for wrenches when they are hurt, so grab them first when you can.

Five arenas

Dirt Bowl is the classic round arena with three rival buses. The Junkyard adds stacks of tyres and crushed cars to dodge and to trap rivals against. The Mud Pit is slippery, so buses slide on every turn and you have to aim your rams early. The Big Brawl puts you in a bigger arena against six rivals at once. And Two Players lets two people play on one keyboard, WASD against the arrow keys, with two computer buses joining in. If a match drags on past two minutes, sudden death makes every hit do double damage.

Stars and buses

Win a match for one star. Win having wrecked enough buses yourself for a second and a third star: the goals for each arena are shown on the result card. Stars unlock three more buses: the nimble Short Bus, the heavy Armored Bus that shrugs off hits, and the Monster Bus on giant tyres.

Tips for winning the derby

Let the computer buses fight each other first, then pick off the weakest one. Circle round a rival instead of driving straight at its nose, and hit it side-on as it turns. Keep your back away from the crowd of buses, and use the wall: a rival pinned against it cannot get away. Watch the health bars above each bus, and save your turbo for finishing off a smoking rival. When you are hurt, drive for the nearest wrench before anyone else gets it.

Which bus should you pick?

Every bus drives a little differently. The standard School Bus is a good all-rounder for learning the arenas. The Short Bus is light and turns quickly, so it is perfect for darting round a rival and hitting it side-on, but it gets pushed around in head-on crashes. The Armored Bus is the opposite: slow to turn, but it takes less damage from every hit, which makes it a strong choice for the Big Brawl, where hits come from every direction. The Monster Bus on its giant tyres sits high above the rest. Try each one in the Dirt Bowl first to get a feel for how it handles before taking it into the Mud Pit, where slippery ground makes heavy buses slide much further.

A party game for two

Two Players mode turns the derby into a quick, noisy game for brothers, sisters, friends or a parent and child sharing one keyboard. Matches are short, there is always a rematch button, and the two computer buses keep the arena busy, so even a beginner can win a round by letting the others do the damage.

Because the damage depends on where and how hard you hit, there is more strategy than first appears. Learning to circle, wait and strike at the right moment is what separates a lucky win from a three-star one.

Controls

On a computer: W or the up arrow to drive, S or the down arrow to brake and reverse, A and D or the left and right arrows to steer, C to switch between the arena view and the chase camera, and P to pause. In Two Players, player one uses W, A, S and D and player two uses the arrow keys. On phones and tablets the steering arrows are on the left and the brake and gas pedals are on the right.

Free, safe and made for every device

Bus Demolition Derby works in any modern browser on computers, Chromebooks, tablets and phones. There are no adverts inside the game, no accounts, no chat and nothing to buy, and your wins and stars are saved only on your device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More bus and crash games

Push cars off a floating arena in Bumper Arena, cause chaos downtown in Crazy Bus, or see what a seatbelt does in Crash Test Lab. Every bus game is on the Bus Games page.

Frequently asked questions