Simutrans

Simutrans

Released May 2016

Simutrans is a freeware and open-source transportation simulator. Your goal is to establish a successful transport company. Transport passengers, mail and goods by rail, road, ship, and even air. Interconnect districts, cities, public buildings, industries and tourist attractions.

75% positive · 682 reviews
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development

Where to get it

Free on Steam

Evaluation

Simutrans is a long-running open-source transportation simulator that has been continuously developed and updated since its Steam release on May 24, 2016. The development team has maintained a sustained cadence of major versioned releases over nearly a decade: version 120.2 (February 13, 2017), version 122 (October 11, 2020), version 124 (May 5, 2024), version 124.1 (June 2, 2024), version 124.3 (January 11, 2025), version 124.3.1 (April 6, 2025), version 124.4 (April 4, 2026), and most recently version 124.5 (July 10, 2026). In between these major releases, the team regularly ships feature patches and bug fixes. The July 10, 2026 release of version 124.5 — just over a month before today's date — confirms the project remains actively maintained. A developer status post from October 22, 2023 discussed upcoming UI improvements and explicitly confirmed that a new release was in the works, which was subsequently fulfilled by the version 124 release in May 2024. No statement has been made indicating development is winding down. The game is free-to-play and open-source, and the developer community continues to evolve both the engine and its graphics paksets.
Evidence
Simutrans 124.5 released with new networking permissions, signal improvements, and a large number of bug fixes — the most recent developer communication.
news post · Jul 10, 2026 source development ongoing
high
Simutrans 124.4 released with searchable comboboxes, overhauled city growth, improvements to the tutorial, and multiple updated paksets.
news post · Apr 4, 2026 source content shipped
high

Content

7 of 7 released · no outstanding content
Released
Jul 2016

Media

Details

Publisher
The Simutrans Team
Achievements
4
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Not rated
Players
Single-player · Multiplayer · PvP

About this game

Simutrans is a freeware and open-source transportation simulator. Your goal is to establish a successful transport company. Transport passengers, mail and goods by rail, road, ship, and even air. Interconnect districts, cities, public buildings, industries and tourist attractions by building a transport network you always dreamed of.

  • Establish a successful transport company
  • Transport passengers, mail and goods by land, air and water
  • Interconnect cities, districts, public buildings, industries and tourist attractions
  • Control and watch your finances and the traffic of your vehicles and goods
  • Lots of graphics packages to choose from
  • Play with people from anywhere in the world in online games

Several graphics packages to choose from

Before you start the game, you have various graphics packages (also called "Pakset", or "Pak" for short) to choose from (available on Steam as free DLC or as Workshop items). Paksets have a number (64, 128, 192) which stands for the tile size in pixels. The more pixels per tile, the more detailed the graphics are. There is a pakset for every player, as each pakset offers a different play style, theme and level of difficulty. Here is a short description of every pakset available as DLC:
  • Pak64: Pak64 was the first Pak for Simutrans. It is deliberately kept compact. It can be expanded with addons.
    - Graphics: Retro.
    - Difficulty: Medium.
  • Pak64.German: Pak64.German takes Germany as model.
    - Graphics: Realistic.
    - Difficulty: Challenging, but balanced.
  • Pak128: Pak128 covers all climates from desert to tundra. Vehicles mixed internationally.
    - Graphics: Realistic.
    - Difficulty: Medium, somewhat balanced.
  • Pak128.German: Pak128.German is limited to Germany.
    - Graphics: Realistic and complex.
    - Difficulty: Simple, but extensive. Complex supply chains in the movement of goods.
  • Pak128.Britain: Pak128.Britain takes England as model.
    - Graphics: Simple, unobtrusive, and uniform.
    - Difficulty: ???
  • Pak192.Comic: Pak192.Comic offers the highest tile size, with a special comic style and some details spiced with humor.
    - Graphics: Vibrant, simple, comic styled.
    - Difficulty: Different from all other paksets.
  • Others: There are more paksets, but they are not listed here nor available as DLC, because they are no longer maintained, are incomplete, or are still under construction.

Dynamic and Intelligent

  • Vehicles and Cargo
    The success of your company will depend on good planning, and we give you the tools for it. Simutrans can have buses, trucks, trains, trams, ships, airplanes, monorails, maglevs and any other vehicle that goes through air, land or water. Choose them wisely and transport the immense variety of cargo each pakset has to offer, from passengers and mail to raw materials and consumer products.
  • Cargo has Destinations
    Simutrans citizens and products don't simply jump in your vehicles and go to wherever you send them. They actually have individual destinations: people want to check out attractions, go shopping, or visit friends. Products also have their destinations - factories have contracts with each other and they won't sell or buy from anyone else. If you don't give them the possibility to go where they want, they simply won't use your transport company.
  • Complete the Chain
    Transporting products not only gives you money, but makes the economy roll. As you transport products between factories, they start producing and selling. Every factory receiving the materials it needs starts producing new goods letting you connect more and more factories across the region.
  • Influencing Cities
    Your transportation affects city growth. Every unit of anything you transport will affect the nearby cities making them grow and prosper. Sometimes cities will create new attractions and places of interest, which attract a lot more passengers. Or maybe your service may attract new industries, that give you even more opportunities. But not everything you do leads to good things - as cities grow more cars are on the roads, and you will end up trying to deal with the traffic. What you do shapes the future.

Control and Customize

  • Configure All or Nothing
    Simutrans has a lot of configurations that you can customize. If you're not a customization freak, don't worry, generally with a few options Simutrans will fit your play style. But if you are, you'll enjoy all the options and ways to change the game.
  • Build Your World
    When you create a new game, don't expect it to be a fixed world. You can shape the world to suit your needs, build roads, factories, houses, and buildings, raise and lower the terrain, create rivers, lakes, and seas, or beautify the world by planting trees.

How Do You Play?

  • Multiplayer
    Tired of playing alone? Simutrans lets you play multiplayer. You can join a public server and compete and collaborate with people all around the world. You can also play with your friends creating a private online or LAN server.
  • Hardcore or Casual?
    You can challenge yourself in a normal game, trying to make your company successful and rich. Or you can just relax and have some fun playing with no hurry or money, just for your enjoyment and the satisfaction of transporting everything.

Languages

Simutrans offers a range of languages, translated on a volunteer basis. Languages will be listed on the steam page when they reach at least 80% translation of Base Texts, and 65% translation of pak128.

History of Simutrans

Simutrans is an Open Source game developed under the Artistic License.
This game was originally developed by Hansjörg Malthaner from 1997 till 2004, before being handed over the 'The Simutrans Team' in 2005. Since the beginning it has been upgraded and updated.
Last evaluated Aug 13, 2026
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