How to play Hey Auto

In Hey Auto, choose Take a shift or Free drive, then press the start button on the homepage to enter the full-window 3D town. Your auto rickshaw starts on Palm Avenue with a passenger waiting just ahead. There is no countdown or six-trip limit.

Drive and look around

On touch devices, drag the steering pad left or right, and hold GO / BRAKE to accelerate, brake or reverse. Use the top toolbar for cameras and pause. Weather, sound, graphics and route guidance are in the pause menu’s Settings tab. Portrait and landscape layouts are supported; landscape gives you a wider driving view.

Pick up a passenger

Follow the amber beacon and the minimap route. Pull alongside the waiting passenger, come to a complete stop within the ground ring and wait briefly. The waiting passenger walks to your vehicle before you drive away. At the destination the passenger gets out before dispatch opens. The next pickup is always at least 55 metres from your drop-off; accepting a job does not board anyone. Each offered pickup has a visible waiting person, also marked on the radar. The destination is marked by a mint beacon. Park inside its ring to complete the journey.

Read the route

The navigation arrow describes your next road turn; its distance is the road distance to that junction. It stays visible until you enter the next street. Turn preparation grows with speed. The smaller task distance is the remaining route to pickup or drop-off, not another turn. Amber road arrows lead to pickup; mint arrows lead to drop-off. A U-turn arrow explicitly says Make a U-turn or U-turn ahead and highlights like other junction instructions. Turn only when clear. If you miss a junction, keep driving safely: the route recalculates after sustained deviation. Traffic signals show STOP, SLOW or GO separately from the route.

At the marker, brake below walking speed and remain inside the ring for about one second. The navigation switches to a stop instruction and a boarding progress percentage. No extra interaction key is required. Three completed rides form your first short challenge; the receipt shows your progress.

Work the fare meter

Each shift starts at −120 credits for vehicle rental. Your first journey is chosen from several short, straight routes and includes a 25-credit welcome bonus. Later offers vary with each shift: route length and junction complexity rise with completed rides, recent routes are discouraged, and priority deadlines scale with the route and difficulty. Each ride earns a 35-credit base fare, a distance component of 0.55 credits per metre of the agreed route, rather than detours and up to 20 smooth-ride bonus credits. Bumps during that trip reduce the bonus by four credits each. The net earnings goal is 500 credits, but you can continue driving beyond it.

Credits are fictional game points, with no cash value. Distances, time and fines are simulation rules, not real-world travel advice.

Choose your next ride

After a delivery, press Continue to accept the nearest suggested fare immediately, or choose one of three fares: a relaxed neighborhood ride, a priority journey with a 25-credit bonus if you deliver within the displayed deadline after boarding, or a comfort journey with a 15-credit bonus if you finish with at most one bump. Route difficulty adds 8 credits per tier above the first plus 7 per road turn. Pickup travel pays 0.12 credits per planned metre. Every third completed ride pays a shift milestone bonus, starting at 45 credits and rising by 15 to a 120-credit cap. Later fares require longer trips and more junctions. Reach accepted pickups before the displayed patience countdown expires; if the passenger leaves, dispatch offers new work without charging a fee. Missing an objective bonus still preserves the base fare. Consecutive clean rides earn an extra 5, 10, then up to 15 credits per trip. You can also close dispatch and explore, then reopen it from the task card.

Every four completed rides increases your local driver level. Your profile keeps your ride count, clean rides, fares and best shift on this device. Free drive has no passenger jobs or earnings goal; road rules still apply.

Drive carefully

Stay below the 50 km/h limit. Sustained speeding can trigger a 20-credit camera fine. Crossing a red signal costs 15 credits and triggers a camera flash and warning card. Hitting a pedestrian slows the cab, triggers a non-graphic stumble and costs 30 credits; repeated contact during their recovery does not charge again. A substantial collision can cost eight credits in simulated repairs. The whole vehicle body is checked against buildings: a glancing hit can slide along the wall, while a direct hit slows and pushes the vehicle back. Gentle contact does not repeatedly charge repair fees. Traffic follows the street grid and queues at the stop lines. Interior junctions have four-direction red, amber and green signals, including a brief all-red clearance. The signal display shows the relevant light ahead, distance and phase countdown. Rain reduces top speed and braking grip.

Find a different way through town

Palm Harbor has five neighborhoods: Old Quay, Spice Quarter, Garden Ward, South Marina and Palm Center. Narrow courtyard lanes cross the blocks at the Spice Arcade and in the south. They appear as amber links on the expanded map and can shorten selected journeys. Take them slowly: they are narrower than the main roads. The map includes district labels when expanded.

Find the lighthouse, ferry landing, garden courtyard, Spice Arcade and marina promenade to fill your local discovery record. Passenger comments react to the journey, weather and neighborhood. Sustained fast, sharp cornering can reduce the smooth-ride bonus.

Controllers and comfortable instruments

A standard controller uses the left stick to steer, RT to accelerate, LT to brake and reverse, A for the hand brake, B for the horn, X for radio, Y for camera, View for the map and Menu for pause. In menus use the D-pad up/down and A to activate a focused control. B returns to driving. Keyboard and touch controls still work. Controller mappings vary by device and browser.

Choose Compact, Standard or Large interface size in Settings. Reduced motion limits camera movement and vehicle sway. Driver-seat view has a three-dimensional cabin and an integrated speed and fare display.

Explore and finish

The town clock advances while you drive. Skip an hour with T to explore evening light and headlights. There are seafront piers, small shops, courtyards, parks and a lighthouse. Finish your shift from the pause menu; your best net score is saved on this browser only. Returning to another tab pauses the simulation.

Loading and performance

The 3D game requires JavaScript and WebGL. It loads after you press Start; the site and guide remain available without starting the renderer. Use Lightweight in Settings to turn off shadows and reduce rendering resolution on slower devices. If you get stuck, use Recover vehicle to return to a nearby road. Fullscreen is optional. The Hey Auto logo returns to the site while pausing the shift.

Start driving ↗

Music and the local radar

The upper-right radar stays centred on your cab and shows nearby traffic, your route and a pulsing target. Distant destinations stay marked on the rim. North is always at the top. Press G or the map button for the whole-town view, including landmark names.

When Play with sound is enabled, music starts after you choose Start. Cycle Harbor Sunshine, Palm Festival, Coastal Groove and off with Q or the radio below the map. Use M or the speaker button to mute all audio. The pause menu has a separate music-volume slider. Your radio choice, music volume and mute preference are saved on this device. Music and ambience fade out when you pause or leave the tab.

All three scores, instruments and engine, road, rain and waterfront sounds are synthesized locally. There are no external broadcast streams or downloaded recordings.

Content reviewed: 29 October 2026