Controls
Drag anywhere with a finger or the mouse to steer with a floating joystick. On a touch screen, tap the DASH button to ram. Keys: WASD or arrows steer, Space, J or Left Shift dash. P or Esc pauses.
How to play Hover Derby
Each round puts your hovercraft on a floating platform with three to five rivals. There is nothing below but empty space. Push every rival off the edge and be the last one hovering to win the arena. If you fall off yourself, the round is over.
Your craft drifts with momentum, so it keeps sliding after you let go and needs space to turn around. Dash for a short, hard burst of speed that rams whatever you hit. It has a short cooldown, shown as a ring around your craft. The platform does not stay whole for long: its outer tiles glow red and then drop away, so the arena keeps getting smaller as the round goes on.
The Hover Cup
The cup is 20 arenas, each opened by winning the one before. They come in different shapes, from circles and hexagons to a plus sign, a star and two islands joined by a bridge. Along the way you meet bumpers, spinning sweeper arms, slippery ice, floors that flow like a whirlpool or a tide, geysers that blast everything away every few seconds, holes that open in the middle of a fight and, in the Grand Final, a huge Titan that stomps out shockwaves.
Rivals have their own styles. A BRUTE is heavy and hard to move, and a DART dashes from far away. Power-ups appear on the floor: Heavy makes you hard to push, Shield bounces rivals off you, Shockwave pushes everyone back, Turbo speeds up your dashes and Mine leaves a trap. A win earns one star, with one more for not needing a respawn and one more for knocking out at least two rivals yourself.
Tips and tricks
- Dash from the center side of a rival so the hit pushes it toward the edge, not back toward the middle.
- Stay near the middle when the edge starts glowing red. Let the rivals fight on the tiles that are about to fall.
- Grab Heavy when a BRUTE or the Titan is close. For a few seconds it makes you much harder to push off.
- If you get knocked off you can watch a short ad to respawn in the center with a brief ghost shield. Skip it and you get nothing, but the button stays so you can try again.
FAQ
Is Hover Derby free?
Yes. It is free to play in your browser, with no download and no account.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Drag anywhere to steer with a floating joystick and tap the DASH button to ram.
Why does my hovercraft keep sliding?
Hovercraft drift. They keep their momentum, so start turning or braking early, and take extra care on ice, where they slide even further.
Is my progress saved?
The arenas you have unlocked, your stars in each arena and your trophies are saved in your browser on this device.
