About Caveman Taxi
Caveman Taxi is a physics-based flying game set in prehistoric times. You fly Grug's helicopter between caves, collect cavefolk passengers and set them down at the cave they want, landing softly each time. The helicopter is pushed up by thrust and pulled down by gravity, so most of the skill is in controlling height and speed as you come in to land. Fuel, hull damage, wild creatures and falling hazards add pressure as you progress.
The game is free to play in the browser on Smaz Games. It works on computers, phones and tablets with no download, and the Smaz Games version has no ads inside the game and no purchases.
How to play
- Hold thrust to climb. Let go to sink. There is no down button.
- Hold left or right to steer.
- Fly to the cave shown in the job line, for example a pickup at cave II, and land gently inside the marked strip. The passenger climbs aboard on their own.
- Fly to the destination cave and land gently again to drop them off and collect the fare.
- Pick up yellow fuel barrels when fuel runs low, and keep an eye on the hull meter.
- Finish all the jobs on the map to complete the shift.
A soft landing is required for passengers to get on or off. A hard landing damages the hull and the passenger refuses to move. A very fast landing, or hitting water, counts as a crash: the hull takes heavy damage, any passenger aboard falls out and walks back to their pickup cave, and you restart from your last safe landing. A landing outside the strip does not count, so lift off and try again. The only way to fail a shift is to let the hull reach zero; there is no time limit.
Controls
Keyboard
- Thrust (fly up): W or the Up arrow
- Steer left: A or the Left arrow
- Steer right: D or the Right arrow
- Throw a rock: Space
- Pause: P or Escape
Touch
On phones and tablets, on-screen buttons handle Left, Right, Thrust, Rock and Pause. You can press more than one at a time, so you can thrust and steer together. The same buttons also respond to a mouse click.
Passengers, creatures and hazards
Your passengers are six cavefolk: Stocky, Elder, Kid, Strong, a tall cavewoman and a flower cavewoman. The skies are not empty. In the jungle, small dinosaurs bite and pterosaurs bump the helicopter. The swamp adds bats, mudskippers, bursting mud vents and falling stalactites, and the glacier has owls, snow reptiles, falling ice and gusts of wind. Throwing a rock stuns an enemy for a few seconds. You start with three rocks, gain one for each delivery and can carry up to five.
Game modes
- Campaign: 160 missions across five lands (Jungle, Swamp, Glacier, Boneyard and Volcano) and four chapters: First Flights, Wild Trails, Sky Legends and Master. Each mission awards up to three stars, for 480 stars in total, and earning one star unlocks the next mission. Mission 1 teaches the controls.
- Daily challenge: one map for everyone, changing at midnight UTC. The land rotates through all five, and the difficulty depends on the day of the week. The game shows your best score for the day and your daily streak. It unlocks after you finish Mission 1 or a Practice flight.
- Practice: fly around for fun in any of the five lands.
- Quick ride: the large play button on the home screen starts a single short fare. New lands open for quick rides as your total deliveries grow.
Difficulty
The Difficulty button sets how tough the helicopter is. Easy, the default, has no hull damage and unlimited fuel, so you can learn to fly without pressure. Medium cuts damage and fuel use by a quarter. Expert uses full damage and normal fuel use. A change applies to new flights, and best scores are kept separately for each setting.
Scoring and stars
Each delivered fare is worth a base amount plus extra for longer trips and a bonus for reaching the destination quickly. Completing every job on a map adds a bonus based on your remaining hull and fuel. Dropping a passenger in a crash costs 50 points. Campaign missions have their own two-star and three-star score targets for each difficulty, and any finish earns at least one star.
Logbook, achievements and collectables
The Taxi Logbook sets three daily jobs, such as delivering a passenger or making two gentle landings, and keeps a list of badges. Badges cover meeting every passenger in every land, daily streaks, completed daily challenges, total fares, gentle landings, three-star flights, finishing with a full hull and more. The Collectables screen holds a hidden picture of 30 pieces, which are found on particular campaign fares, six in each land.
Tips for new pilots
- Start on Easy and play Mission 1. The opening and the first fare cannot damage you.
- Tap thrust in short bursts while descending rather than holding it, so you settle onto the strip slowly.
- Let go of steering before you touch down. Sideways speed makes landings harder to judge.
- Expect the helicopter to feel heavier with a passenger aboard. It climbs and turns more slowly.
Tips for experienced pilots
- On Medium and Expert, plan routes past fuel barrels. A taken barrel comes back after a short wait.
- Save rocks for creatures that sit on your route. You only earn more by delivering fares.
- For three stars, take direct lines between caves to earn the speed bonus, and avoid damage so the end-of-map bonus stays high.
- Water and crash-speed landings cost the most. A slower approach is usually faster overall.
Saving progress
Campaign stars, settings, the daily streak, the Logbook and collectables are saved in your browser. On Smaz Games this game uses browser saves only, not account saves, so progress stays on the device you play on and is removed if you clear browser data. In Campaign, completed missions stay saved if you leave a mission part way, and that mission restarts next time.
Devices and orientation
Caveman Taxi plays with a keyboard on a computer and with touch buttons on phones and tablets. Flying needs landscape on a touch device: if you hold it upright, the flight pauses and asks you to turn it sideways. The menus work in either orientation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Caveman Taxi free?
Yes. It is free in the browser on Smaz Games, with no download.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. Hold your phone in landscape and use the on-screen buttons.
How do I fly down?
Let go of thrust. Gravity brings the helicopter down.
Why won't my passenger get on?
You probably landed too hard or outside the marked strip. Lift off and land again more gently.
How many missions are there?
The campaign has 160 missions across five lands and four chapters.
Can I run out of time?
No. A shift only ends in failure if the hull is wrecked.
What does the Easy setting change?
On Easy the helicopter takes no damage and fuel never runs out.
Is there a leaderboard?
The Smaz Games version shows your own best scores. You can share a result from the daily challenge.
Who made Caveman Taxi
Caveman Taxi was made by Saratoga Games, an independent studio in Cape Town, South Africa, run by solo developer Sean Wyngaard.
If you like Caveman Taxi, try
For another game about precise control, try Super Air Hockey. If you like working through missions with stars to collect, Squad of One has a long campaign of top-down assaults, and Fintopia offers a calmer game about running an aquarium shop.