How to play

UK Pothole Pilot is a one-button driving game. You're behind the wheel on Britain's battered roads, and your mission is to clear every county in the UK, all 113 of them, in one go.

The goal: all 113 counties in one go

The UK is split into 113 counties and council areas: 48 in England, 22 in Wales, 32 in Scotland and 11 in Northern Ireland. Your mission is to clear every one of them in a single run.

• Dodge 5 potholes to clear a county. The box in the top-left corner shows the county you're in, five markers that fill up as you go, and how far round the UK you are (for example "COUNTY 8/113"). A banner pops up each time you clear one.
• One run, no saving. Lose all three lives and you start again from county 1 on a new random route.
• Beat your best. Your best run is saved on this device. The start screen shows it, a gold banner appears the moment you pass it, and the game-over screen marks it on the progress bar so you can see how close you came.
• Clear the UK. Clear all 113 and you'll get the victory screen and your time. A full run takes about six minutes of near-perfect driving.

It starts gently, so most players clear a good handful of counties straight away. Getting past 50 takes real skill, and clearing the whole UK is the ultimate challenge.

Controls

The steering has momentum, so the car doesn't stop the moment you let go. Short taps give small corrections; a long hold sends you sweeping across the lanes. Learning to "feather" the button is the whole game.

The rules

• Potholes come at you in rows. Each row has gaps between the holes. Thread the car through a gap to clear the row.
• You have three lives, shown as hearts in the top corner. Hitting a pothole costs one life, and the car flashes for a moment while you recover. Lose all three and it's game over.
• Mind the kerb. Touching the top or bottom edge of the road bounces you back onto the tarmac and also costs a life.
• Win lives back. Every 25 counties you clear gives you a life back, up to three.
• Every row you get past counts as one pothole dodged and scores a point.

How it gets harder

• A gentle start. In the first 10 counties every row has just one pothole. In the next 10, rows have one or two. From county 21 onwards, every row has two.
• Speeding up. The road gets faster with each of the first six counties, then holds its speed.
• Speed limits. Each time the roadside speed limit goes up (to 30 mph after 25 counties, then 50, 60 and finally 70) the road speeds up another notch, so the final stretch is the hardest.

Every row can always be dodged. The challenge is keeping it up.

Game over

The game-over screen shows how many counties you cleared, your best run (the white mark on the progress bar), how many potholes you dodged, and how close you were to clearing the next county. Tap Retry to go again, or Share to challenge a friend.

Your best run is saved in your browser on this device. Clearing your browser's data for this site resets it.

Tips for a higher score

1. Look ahead, not at the car. Pick your gap in the next row as soon as it appears, then the one after that.
2. Stay near the middle. From the centre lanes you can reach any gap. Hugging an edge means one over-steer puts you into the kerb.
3. Use short taps. Small, frequent corrections beat long holds, especially once the speed picks up.
4. Don't panic after a hit. You're briefly safe while the car flashes. Use that moment to line up calmly rather than swerving.
5. Play with sound on. The music and effects give you a sense of rhythm that helps with timing.

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