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OverTake (Mobile Game) Guide: Tips, Cheats & Tricks to Complete More Stages and Unlock All Cars

If you’re looking to play a new racing game that doesn’t exactly try to reinvent the wheel, you should be checking out Kwalee’s mobile title, OverTake. Created by the same company that’s responsible for Draw It, Go Fish!, Shootout 3D, and a variety of other casual titles, this is an endless driving game (or racing game) where you will mostly be moving from one lane to the next, trying to overtake other vehicles and avoiding head-on collisions.

In this new racing game you should keep your eye on the fuel, as you won’t be able to overtake those vehicles if you’ve got no gas in the tank! OverTake also boasts one-touch controls — just tap and hold to overtake, release to move back to your lane, and keep repeating as you complete stage after stage, all of which are procedurally generated (read: random) in nature. You can also unlock a wide variety of cars as you complete more stages, earning coins along the way!

You know the deal with these casual games — they may sound like they do not require much of a learning curve, but have some hidden depths that make them a bit harder to learn than they look. That is indeed the case in this title, so with that said, we’d like you to check out our OverTake guide, where we discuss several tips, cheats and tricks that could help you in completing more stages and unlocking new vehicles.

1. The Basics Of OverTake

There really isn’t much to say about OverTake — at least compared to other racing games. It’s an endless runner where your goal is simply to complete as many stages as possible (and as that suggests, there are countless stages indeed), overtaking as many cars as possible and not colliding with other vehicles. One collision normally means it’s the end of your run, thus allowing you to restart the stage from the very beginning, though if you’ve made a fair amount of progress in the stage, you will be given the option to watch an ad video in order to continue from where you left off.

overtake cheats

There are also “bonus” stages, which we will explain in a bit, where you cannot crash, as well as an “open road” part of certain stages that can be unlocked at a certain point. But it’s otherwise as basic as you can get — complete more stages, overtake more cars, earn more coins, and use those coins to unlock new vehicles.

Simply tap-and-hold on the screen to move from the right lane to the left; once on the left, you can pick up more speed and overtake the cars on the right, but you also put yourself at risk of colliding head-on with other vehicles. Release your finger and you’ll move from the left back to the right; the right side is your “safe space,” so to say, and you cannot crash your car just as long as you are fully on that side. However, you definitely run the risk of crashing en route from moving from left to right or vice versa, so you’ll want to time your moves carefully!

There are three different types of stages in the game, and we shall be explaining them in the next few tips, starting with the standard “Open Road” stages.

2. Open Road – Just Because It’s Open Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy

For starters, we should clarify that the first four stages in the game are all Open Road stages, and after that, levels 7, 8, and 9 will mark the next appearances of Open Road, followed by 12, 13, 14, then 17, 18, and 19, and so on. You get the idea — these come three in a row and appear every five levels/stages thereafter. But what is Open Road and what does this mean for you while playing OverTake?

Your goal when it comes to the Open Road stages is to fill up the bar on the upper part of the screen until it reaches the marker that says Open Road. You will do this by overtaking more cars and spending more time on the left lane; if you stay in the right lane, the green bar on top will turn red and would start retreating backward. There are, however, checkpoints designated by tiny coin icons on the way to the Open Road marker. This allows you to make some progress, preventing you from going back too far once you’ve spent enough time driving on the left lane.

overtake tips

Take note that you can only drive so far in these stages while trying to chase that Open Road marker — phrasing it differently, there is an actual finish line. Spend too much time on the right side and your stage will end early once you reach the finish line — the good news is that you can move on to the next level, but the bad news is that your earnings will likely be compromised because you were playing it too safe.

However, if you reach the Open Road marker before reaching the finish line, that allows you to, in theory, make this an endless stage where you can keep driving, keep earning coins, and keep overtaking. Just as long as you keep watching videos after you crash, these stages can be played continuously well after reaching the finish line, though as we’ll inform you later, you’ll probably want to stop at some point. In most, but not all cases, we’d suggest doing this once you’ve broken your record of most cars overtaken in a single stage, as shown on the upper left of the screen during Open Road levels.

Depending on how many cars you’ve overtaken, as well as the speed bonuses you may occasionally receive, you will receive a certain number of coins via the piggy bank, which you’ll see on the upper right of your screen — you can choose to break it in advance by watching an ad, but we’d suggest that you wait till the stage is over before the game automatically breaks the piggy bank and gives you your prize. (This also applies to the other two types of stages we will be discussing below!)

3. The ‘Get Him’ Levels – It’s All About Overtaking The Car In Front Of You

At level 5, and all multiple-of-5 levels going forward, you will take part in the so-called “Get Him” levels, which are stages that only require you to do one thing, which is to overtake the right-lane car in front of you as soon as possible. Typically, this car will be faster, or at least similar in speed to your vehicle, though there are times where you may get lucky and the car you’re supposed to “get” is slower than yours. Sounds simple, right? As we’ve experienced, however, the “Get Him” stages are usually harder than Open Road.

It may be easy to time your moves from the right to the left lane and vice versa — if you see a vehicle closing in quickly on the left, then move back right, go from right to left if you see a wide open space — but once you’re practically slipstreaming behind the car you’re supposed to beat out, it gets trickier to avoid a collision.

Sometimes, you may make the move from left to right while the next left-lane car is relatively far away, but still collide into it because you and the car you’re targeting on the right lane are too close to each other for comfort. But if you switch lanes as quickly as possible and do so at just the right time, you’ll ultimately be able to overtake that right-lane car sooner rather than later.

So what happens after you “get him”? That means you’ll be getting all the coins that you see on the right lane as you zoom from whatever point you’re at to the finish line. Simple as that — it’s all smooth sailing once you’ve “gotten him,” but it’s the process of “getting him” that could take a little practice and patience.

4. Bonus Stages – Stay Left All The Way

Level 6 will be your first Bonus Stage, and you’ll get to complete more of these in increments of five — level 11, 16, 21, 26, and so on. And as the term implies, these are, by far, the easiest stages in OverTake, and a sure way to rack up a ton of coins, get them in your piggy bank, and earn more currency to unlock more cars.

overtake hints

All you have to do in these stages, quite literally, is to stay in the left lane until the stage is over! There is no benefit whatsoever to staying on the right, as there are no incoming cars on the left lane — none whatsoever — to avoid. That means that before you reach the start line, you can tap-and-hold your screen, not letting go of your finger until you reach the finish line so you can get the maximum amount of coins possible. It’s just as simple as that, and it’s your best chance to relax if the previous levels have been a bit too taxing for you.

As a bonus tip, you’ll also see different vehicles pop up on the left side of your screen as you’re overtaking more cars — this also happens in other types of stages, but especially so in the Bonus Stages. These are typically cars you haven’t unlocked yet (but have just overtaken), and while it won’t do anything to tap on them in the middle of a stage, you will see them again after you’ve claimed your coin rewards, showing up as vehicles you can purchase at a one-time discounted price. The discount won’t be particularly large (typically 10 percent), but a small price cut is better than none at all!

5. When Else Should You Be Watching Ad Videos?

After completing each stage, you will be asked if you want to watch an advertisement video in order to double the coins you accumulated in your piggy bank. Now you can always choose to pass on these videos, but if you’ve earned a ton of coins, you might as well take the opportunity, sit back, and watch these 30-second clips to get twice the coins you would normally be getting. It’s pretty cut-and-dry, and if you’re trying to earn more coins to unlock a certain vehicle, it will definitely be in your best interest to watch those ad clips.

overtake tricks

You can also watch ad videos to test-drive a certain car you haven’t unlocked yet — this option won’t always be available, but you will see it pop up on the bottom of the screen. Just watch the clip and you’ll be able to use the featured vehicle for the next few stages, or until you quit the game. As we’ll be telling you in the final tip in this guide, your choice of vehicle might not be as irrelevant as you think it is.

We will, however, caution you against watching videos at EVERY opportunity! The game only has so many videos to serve up, and there may be points where you wouldn’t be given an option to watch a video after crashing, or after earning a huge amount of currency for completing a stage. These, as you can see, are two of the worst possible times not to have any videos to watch, so if you can, watch those videos prudently and never watch more than five or six in a row if asked!

Also, just in case you’re wondering due to the prevalence of pop-up ad videos, it costs $3 to get the game’s ad-free version. Those annoying pop-ups won’t appear anymore, but you will still need to watch videos to continue after crashing, double your earnings, or test-drive a new car.

6. The Cars Perform The Same…At First

While playing OverTake, you’ll notice that there is a plethora of different cars to unlock and eventually drive across the game’s many levels. From sedans, VW Beetle lookalikes, sports coupes, right down to supercars and even Formula 1-style racers, they’re all available. Given that these cars do not have any visible stats, apart from the price in coins (or in real-life currency, if you wish to go that route), your first impression may be that these vehicles perform identically, and are only aesthetically different from each other.

overtake cars

For one, that Beetle clone you purchased probably won’t be much better than the Mini Cooper lookalike you had previously bought with your in-game currency. That’s true enough at first, but as you earn more coins and can afford the more expensive cars — for example, there are a few muscle cars, some vehicles that resemble Lamborghini and Ferrari models, and there’s also the aforementioned F1 car — you will notice that these rides justify their higher price points.

That means you will want to switch to the more expensive, faster cars as you collect more of them. These cars perform better, allowing you to switch lanes faster and pick up more speed as you drive on the left lane, so that would allow you to go through the Open Road stages and overtake more cars, or earn more coins in the Bonus Stages.

Yes, that’s one good thing about this title as opposed to other casual games — the stuff you collect goes far beyond the aesthetic differences, and that’s not something you will always see in these endless runners.

7. Stay On The Right Lane For Too Long And You’ll Be Losing Fuel

Now we don’t think you’ll ever encounter such a situation unless you’re doing it on purpose, just like we did when we were giving OverTake a whirl and trying out different outcomes. But as you’ll see on the right side of your screen, there’s a gas tank that could go down or up, depending on which lane you’re on.

overtake out of fuel

Interestingly, it’s a case of Bizarro World here, as staying on the left lane — where you move faster — fills up your tank, while staying on the right lane — where you move slower and, in the real world, use less gas while slipstreaming — costs you some fuel. That means if you stay right all the way, your gas tank will eventually empty and you won’t be able to continue the level unless you watch an ad video…or pay 50 coins.

Again, you can be reassured that running out of gas is very, very rare unless you’re purposely sticking to the right lane all the way — it’s just nice to know if you’re wondering about the gas tank!

And this ends our guide for Kwalee’s racing game, OverTake. If you have discovered additional tips or tricks, feel free to drop us a line in the comment area!