Car Sort
One circuit, one tap — the cars drive themselves into the right bay. 240 levels then endless, free in your browser, no download.
Match Heist, our match-3 heist game, is coming soon to mobile — see what we’re building.
How to play Car Sort
Every bay in this car park opens onto the same circuit — one road, running in a loop, with the bays set around the inside of it. You get one move: tap a bay. The car at its mouth pulls out — along with every car of the same colour directly behind it — and from that moment on it is out of your hands. The cars drive themselves.
What they are looking for is a bay that already shows their colour and still has room, and they will drive the entire loop to find one. Only when there is no colour match anywhere do they take the first empty bay ahead of them. If there is neither, they keep going — past the last bay, round the bend, and straight back past the first one for another lap.
That is where the pressure comes from. The road holds a fixed number of cars, shown in the meter above the board, and every car still circling is a space you no longer have. A run that will not fit in the space left cannot be sent out at all, so a board with a crowded road quietly runs out of moves. Fill the road with cars that have nowhere to go and it is gridlock — the level ends there.
Four cars of one colour in one bay locks it shut with a tick. Those cars are done, that bay is out of play, and the loop just got simpler. Lock every colour and the road is clear.
From level 43 some cars arrive under covers, showing a question mark instead of a colour. A cover is hidden information and nothing more: the moment a covered car reaches the mouth of its bay it is uncovered, and it drives exactly like any other. Every level is finishable whatever is underneath — the game will not deal you a board it cannot prove it can finish.
There is no timer and no move limit. Undo is unlimited, Hint gives you three pointers a level, and Bay opens one extra empty bay twice a level.
Tips
- Read the loop before you tap. The cars go forwards from the bay they left, so what matters is not which bays match — it is which matching bay they reach first. A perfect match sitting one place behind them might as well be on another board until they have gone all the way round.
- An empty bay is a magnet, not a parking space. With no colour match on the loop, the next run out will dive straight into your empty bay whatever colour it is. Opening one up and then tapping the wrong bay is the commonest way to waste it.
- Count the road before you commit. Sending four cars out when the road has room for five leaves you one space and almost no options. Keep enough clear that you can still move something if the run strands.
- Finish what is nearly finished. Three of a colour already together is a bay that will pull the fourth car in from anywhere on the loop. Locking it clears four cars off the board and takes a colour out of the puzzle.
- Stranded cars are not lost. A convoy circling the loop parks itself the instant a bay opens up that suits it — so the move that rescues it is usually somewhere else entirely, not another tap on the bay it came from.
- Undo is free — use it early. There is no penalty and no timer, so the moment the road meter looks tight, walk it back a few taps rather than nursing the board into gridlock.
Car Sort FAQ
Is Car Sort free to play?
Yes. Car Sort is completely free to play in your browser — there is no download, no install and no signup. Open the page and start tapping bays.
How do I play Car Sort?
You have one move: tap a bay. The car at its mouth pulls out onto the road, along with every car of the same colour directly behind it, and from there they drive themselves. You never choose where a car goes — you only choose which cars set off.
Where do the cars decide to park?
They roll forward looking for a bay that has room and whose front car is already their colour, and they will go the whole way round the loop to find one. Only if there is no colour match anywhere do they settle for the first empty bay ahead of them. If there is neither, they keep circling.
Why did my cars split between two bays?
A bay only holds four cars. If a run of three arrives at a bay with room for two, two park and the third carries on down the road looking for somewhere else — which is often a different bay entirely.
What is the road capacity for?
The road holds a fixed number of cars, shown in the meter above the board. Every car that cannot find a bay stays out there taking up space, and a run that will not fit in the space left cannot be sent out at all. Managing that space is the game.
What happens when the road fills up?
If the road is full and none of the cars on it has a bay to go to, nothing can pull out and the level is over. You will get a Gridlock card with undo sitting right there — the board was still winnable a few taps earlier, so go back and send a different colour out instead.
Where does the road go?
Nowhere — it is a closed circuit, and every bay on the board opens onto it. Cars drive round it in one direction, passing the bays in order, and a car that gets all the way round without finding a home simply keeps going. There is no end to fall off and no exit to miss.
How do I finish a bay?
Get all four cars of one colour into the same bay. It locks shut with a tick and those cars are done — they never move again and you no longer have to think about them. Finish every colour and the road is clear.
What are the covered cars with a question mark?
Later levels park some cars under covers so you cannot see their colour. A cover is hidden information, never an extra rule: the moment a covered car reaches the mouth of its bay it is uncovered, and it drives exactly like any other car. Every level is finishable whatever is under the covers.
Is every level actually solvable?
Yes, and it is checked rather than assumed. Levels are built from the level number rather than shipped as a file, and a board is only handed to you once a solver has played it through to a finish. The whole set is re-checked automatically the same way before it ships — including that the cars drive by the rules described here and not some other ones.
What do the four buttons do?
Undo takes back your last tap and you get as many as you want. Hint lights up a bay that is on a winning line, and you get three per level. Bay opens one more empty bay, and you get two per level — an empty bay is the safety net the road runs on, so spend them when you are cornered. Restart deals the same level again from the beginning.
How many levels are there?
240 graded levels, running from three colours on a nine-car road up to eight colours on a road that holds six. After level 240 the road keeps dealing fresh levels at full difficulty, so it does not run out.
Does my progress save?
Yes. The levels you have finished are stored in your browser, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off. Progress is per browser and per device — it is not tied to an account, so clearing your browser data will reset it.
Can I play if I am colour blind?
Yes. Every colour also carries its own shape on the car roof — a circle, a triangle, a square, a diamond, a star and so on — so no two cars in a level are told apart by colour alone.
Does Car Sort work on phones?
Yes. Car Sort runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets and desktops, and the board is built for tapping as well as clicking. Every bay has to sit on the same circuit, so the board measures the space it has been given and sizes the cars so the whole track fits on screen. Nothing to install.
How is Car Sort different from Magic Sort?
Magic Sort gives you both ends of every move: you pick the cars up and you pick where they go. Car Sort takes the steering away — you only choose which bay empties, and the placement rule does the rest. It is the same car park and a completely different puzzle.
Who made Car Sort?
Car Sort is made by Bright Point Studios, the studio behind Match Heist, Magic Sort, Car Match, Travel Tiles, Getaway Garage and Solitaire Castle Royal. You can see the rest of our games at brightpointstudios.com and solitairecastleroyal.com.
More free games
Magic Sort is the same car park with the steering handed back to you — pick the cars up, pick the bay, 240 levels of it. If you would rather drive out of a packed yard than into one, Car Match clears vehicles three of a colour at a time across 483 levels. For something slower there is Travel Tiles, our untimed triple-match tile game, and Getaway Garage slides every vehicle in the garage with one swipe. All free, all in your browser.