Take the controls of a real excavator

How to operate the excavator

Excavator is a free, realistic excavator simulator you can play in your browser — no download and no account. It is not a race and there is no finish line: a pipeline keeps pouring soil onto the heap on the right, dump trucks back in on the left one after another, and your job is to keep moving the soil from one to the other. Fall behind and the heap creeps over your tracks and up to the cab, and the machine is buried — in about two minutes if you do nothing at all.

Starting up

Like a real machine, the excavator starts with the engine off and the hydraulic lock lever up. Turn the key (E, or the Start button) — the starter cranks for a moment, and it will only start with the lever up, as a safety interlock. Then lower the lever (H) to bring the hydraulics to life, and set the throttle dial: at idle everything moves slowly; at full throttle the pump gives full speed.

The controls (ISO pattern)

• Left joystick — forward and back move the stick out and in; left and right swing the whole upper structure towards the truck or the heap. Keys W, S, A, D.
• Right joystick — forward and back lower and raise the boom; left and right curl the bucket in and dump it out. Keys I, K, J, L.
• Travel pedals drive the tracks back and forth a little. Arrow keys ← and →.
• Drag the on-screen joysticks with the mouse or a finger, or use the keys — or both.

One hydraulic pump feeds everything, so the more functions you work at once the slower each one moves — just as on a real machine. Smooth operators blend them: swing while lifting, curl while pulling in.

Digging and loading

To fill the bucket, set its teeth into the heap and pull the stick in: the deeper and longer the cut, the more soil it takes, but push too deep and the machine stalls. A bucket only holds its load while it is curled — tip it and the soil pours out. Swing round over the truck bed and dump. Soil dropped anywhere else lands on the ground, where it can be dug again. When a truck is full it drives away and the next one reverses in, beeping — and with every truck the pipeline pours a little faster.

Score

You score the cubic metres of soil you load into trucks. The instrument cluster shows the engine speed, the hydraulic pressure, how full the bucket is and warning lamps; the Burial gauge shows how close the heap is to the cab. Your best is remembered in this browser on this device only.

Frequently asked questions

Is Excavator free?

Yes. It is free to play with no sign-up, no download and no in-game purchases.

Can I play on a phone or tablet?

Yes — the console under the screen has two joysticks you drag with your thumbs, plus the travel pedals, key, lever, throttle and horn. A larger screen makes it easier.