OpenTTD
Build a transport empire, one rail at a time.
The PlayBound Bar
OpenTTD clears all five: free with no monetisation, exceptionally complete after two decades of refinement, still actively developed, better than the commercial game it descends from, and open-source so it cannot be lost.
Genuinely free
No trial, no paywalled campaign, no pay-to-win, no cosmetic treadmill. Free means free, forever.
Finished enough to enjoy
Playable and satisfying start to finish today — not a promising alpha you should check back on.
Actively maintained
A release or meaningful commit within the last twelve months. Someone is still looking after it.
Stands on its own merits
Good enough that we would recommend it even if it cost money. Free is not the reason it is here.
Won't disappear
Open-source or self-hostable, so no shutdown, delisting or licence expiry can take it away from you.
OpenTTD last verified against the bar on . Read the full standard →
About OpenTTD
OpenTTD has been in continuous development since 2004. That is not a footnote — it is the whole reason to play it. Very few games of any kind have had twenty-two years of uninterrupted refinement, and it shows in a hundred small places.
The premise is Transport Tycoon Deluxe: build a transport network of trains, road vehicles, ships and aircraft, connect the towns and industries on the map, and grow a company by moving cargo and passengers profitably. You do not zone residential districts like Cities: Skylines — the towns already exist, and they grow when you serve them well. Signalling, route planning and network throughput are the real game, and they go far deeper than the cheerful presentation suggests.
What the open-source rebuild added is enormous. Maps up to 4096 by 4096 tiles. Multiplayer for dozens of simultaneous players. A completely reworked interface. And BaNaNaS, an in-game content service that downloads new vehicle sets, industry chains, AI opponents, town-name generators and scenarios directly into the client — a library so large you could play a different-feeling game every month for a year.
The honest warning is that OpenTTD is a time sink of unusual severity. The interface is dense, the systems are deep, and 'one more year' is a phrase people say at four in the morning. It is also visually modest by default, though the graphics replacement sets available through BaNaNaS address that if it bothers you.
At 200 MB it runs on anything, including hardware you were about to throw away.
Why we picked it
Twenty-two years of continuous development on a game that was already great produces something genuinely singular. OpenTTD is deeper than almost any commercial management game currently on sale, has a content library nothing else can match, and installs in 200 MB. It is the strongest argument we know for what open-source stewardship does for a game over time.
Who it's for
Great if you want
- Logistics and network optimisation as an end in itself
- Very long campaigns — a single game can last months
- Multiplayer with a group building one network together
- Old or very low-spec hardware
- Anyone who wants a vast library of official add-on content
Look elsewhere if
- You want city building and zoning rather than transport networks
- You dislike dense interfaces with a steep initial learning curve
- You want modern 3D visuals out of the box
- You want short sessions; this game does not respect your evening
Features
System Requirements
Minimum
1 GHz CPU · 1 GB RAM · Any GPU · 500 MB storage
Recommended
2 GHz CPU · 4 GB RAM · Any GPU · 1 GB storage
Frequently asked questions about OpenTTD
Is OpenTTD free?
Yes, entirely. OpenTTD is open-source under GPL-2.0 with no purchases, subscriptions or advertising. The free base graphics set means you no longer need the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe files.
Do I need to own Transport Tycoon Deluxe to play OpenTTD?
No. OpenTTD ships with its own free graphics, sound and music sets, so it is a complete standalone game. You can use the original files if you own them, but it is not required.
Is OpenTTD still being updated?
Yes. OpenTTD has been in continuous development since 2004 and continues to receive regular releases, making it one of the longest continuously maintained games in existence.
What is BaNaNaS in OpenTTD?
BaNaNaS is the official in-game content service. It lets you download vehicle sets, industry chains, AI opponents, scenarios, heightmaps and graphics replacements directly inside the game, from a very large community library.
Does OpenTTD have multiplayer?
Yes, supporting dozens of simultaneous players on public or private servers, either cooperating on one company or competing as rivals. Live server and player counts are shown on the OpenTTD servers page.
How is OpenTTD different from Cities: Skylines?
OpenTTD is about transport networks between existing towns; Cities: Skylines is about designing and zoning a city itself. If you enjoy the traffic and logistics part of Skylines most, OpenTTD goes far deeper on exactly that.
