About OpenTTD
OpenTTD is a business simulation in which you try to earn money by transporting passengers, minerals and goods by road, rail, water and air. It is an open-source remake and expansion of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Chris Sawyer’s game from 1995. The OpenTTD Team released its first version, 0.1, on March 6, 2004, and the project is free software under the GNU GPL v2.
You don’t need anything from the original game. OpenTTD ships with its own free replacement graphics, sound effects and music, called OpenGFX, OpenSFX and OpenMSX, so it runs as a complete game on its own. As DOS.Zone’s listing puts it, you act as the manager of a transport company and try to make the most profit you can, with monorail joining the other ways to move cargo.
How it runs in your browser
There are two browser versions. Pressing Play opens OpenTTD Online in a new tab, a browser build of OpenTTD 15.3 made by Overgrown Studio. It runs the game through WebAssembly, and the source for the browser build is on GitHub. You can import and export saves, scenarios and heightmaps, including to Google Drive, and download extra AIs, graphics and scenarios from BaNaNaS, OpenTTD’s online content service. There’s a music jukebox, and the site also offers an iOS test build.
DOS.Zone runs OpenTTD 14 with NewGRF graphics, OpenMSX music and OpenSFX sound, plus a list of AI opponents that includes AdmiralAI, ChooChoo, NoCAB and SimpleAI. The listing doesn’t explain how its build was made. Its main draw is multiplayer: three servers, one each for the temperate, arctic and desert climates, run 24 hours a day and take up to 30 players at once. Each server starts in 1950 and allows up to 15 companies, so you can work together or compete. Companies without vehicles are removed after 12 in-game months, and the world restarts after 100 in-game years. On the Multiplayer Hub you can also create a room for friends, with a shared chat and a join link.
Neither version asks for an account.
Controls and devices
OpenTTD was built for a keyboard and mouse on a computer, and that’s what both browser versions expect. Phones haven’t been tested, and OpenTTD Online’s iOS build is a separate test version rather than the browser game. Key bindings aren’t listed by either host, so check the game’s own settings.
Who it’s for
It suits anyone who likes planning routes and watching a network pay for itself, and Transport Tycoon players who want the game without hunting down the original files. Chris Sawyer’s later RollerCoaster Tycoon applies the same management idea to a theme park, and SimCity 2000 does it for a whole city.
Is OpenTTD Free, Safe and Official?
Is OpenTTD free to play?
Yes. OpenTTD is open-source software under the GPL v2, and it comes with free replacement graphics, sound and music, so you don’t need Transport Tycoon Deluxe or any of its files.
Can I play OpenTTD multiplayer in my browser?
Yes, on DOS.Zone. It runs three servers around the clock, with temperate, arctic and desert maps, and each one takes up to 30 players. We haven’t tested how busy the servers are.
Can I import my own OpenTTD save?
On OpenTTD Online, yes. Its OpenTTD 15.3 build imports and exports saves, scenarios and heightmaps, including to Google Drive.
