Chakdo Jam

Chakdo Jam — how to play and tips

Chakdo Jam is a parking puzzle starring the chakdo, the loud, colourful three-wheeler you see on the roads of Saurashtra and across Gujarat. A parking lot is packed with chakdos, auto-rickshaws, cars, bikes, tempos, tractors, ST buses and trucks. Your job is to get every one of them out onto the road. It plays in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no sign-up.

How to play

Each vehicle can only drive along its own lane, forwards or in reverse. Tap a vehicle to drive it forwards, the way its headlights point. Swipe along the vehicle to choose the direction: swipe the way it faces to go forwards, or the other way to reverse. A vehicle keeps rolling until it either leaves the lot, honks and drives off, or bumps into something and stops in the last free cell. It does not bounce back. If it cannot move even one cell, it just shakes, and that bump is not counted as a move.

On a computer you can click and drag in the same way, or use the keyboard: Tab picks a vehicle, the arrow keys drive it, Z undoes, R restarts and H shows a hint.

Stars and par

Every level has a par, the fewest moves anyone can possibly clear it in. The game works it out by checking every possible sequence of moves. Clear the board in par or fewer moves for three stars. Stay a little above par for two stars, and any finish earns one. Undo is free and unlimited, so it costs nothing to experiment, but the move counter still counts each slide you keep.

Five chapters across Gujarat

The 220 levels travel through five chapters. Gaam, the village, teaches the basics with chakdos, cars and tractors. Rajkot brings long ST buses that block whole rows, so reversing starts to matter. Ahmedabad squeezes you into narrow pol streets with barricades and tempos. In Surat a cow wanders through the lot: it takes a step along its little loop every few of your moves, and it waits if a vehicle stands in its way, so timing becomes part of the plan. The last chapter, Navratri Mela, is a big night-time fair ground with string lights, chai stalls and the largest jams of all. A new chapter opens once you hold 70% of the stars in the one before it.

Tips

Start with the vehicles that can leave right away, but look first at what each exit opens up. Long buses and trucks are often the real key, because one short slide can clear a lane for three other vehicles. A partial move, sliding a car a few cells to make room, is often worth it, but it still costs a move, so count before you commit. If you are stuck, a hint lights up the best next move from exactly where you are. You get three hints a day, and finishing the Daily Chakdo adds one more.

Daily Chakdo, garage and sharing

The Daily Chakdo is one puzzle that is the same for everyone that day. Finish it to grow your streak, then share a little grid of coloured squares on WhatsApp that shows how close each of your moves was to the perfect solution, without giving the answer away. Stars you collect unlock chakdo paint jobs in the Garage, from Classic Black and Kathiyawadi mirror-work to Neon, Gold, Garba Lights and Cricket Blue. The buttons and messages can be shown in English, ગુજરાતી or हिन्दी, and there are settings for sound, vibration, reduced motion and numbered vehicles for colour-blind players.