Play Railroad Tycoon online — the original 1990 DOS game Works — the full original game runs via DOSBox in your browser
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via DOSBox + WebAssembly
Railroad Tycoon — Sid Meier's 1990 railway game for MicroProse. Start a railroad in the eastern United States, Britain or Europe, lay track between cities, schedule trains to carry passengers, mail and freight, and grow rich enough to buy out rival companies. Click Play and answer the setup questions: 1 for VGA, 4 for sound, 1 for mouse and keyboard.
1–5: menu choices · Y / N: answer · ENTER: confirm · SPACE: continue
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Build track | — | Click the build tool, then drag |
| Trains and stations | — | Click |
| Menus | Alt+letter | Click the menu bar |
| Setup prompts | 1, then 4, then 1 | — |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
2K Games released the original DOS Railroad Tycoon as a free download in 2006. Provenance: /apps/railroad-tycoon/NOTICE.md.
About Railroad Tycoon
Railroad Tycoon combines a working train simulation with a stock market. Track costs money, so every route has to earn its keep, and industries along the line change what cargo pays. Rival barons build into your cities and compete for business; buy enough of their stock and you take them over. Meier made Civilization next, and it shows.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of Railroad Tycoon, unmodified, running in DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly. The whole game is about 1 MB, so it starts within seconds on a normal connection. Sound and music play once you click into the game.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Railroad Tycoon online for free?
Yes. Click Play and the original 1990 DOS version starts in your browser, running in a WebAssembly build of DOSBox. Nothing to install and no account.
Why is Railroad Tycoon hosted here?
2K Games released the original DOS Railroad Tycoon as a free download in 2006. The original files are hosted unmodified.
Does my progress save?
Saved games persist in this browser between visits, best-effort. Clearing site data removes them.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Touch buttons for the keys Railroad Tycoon uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
Related guides
- CivilizationPlay Sid Meier's original Civilization in your browser: the 1991 DOS game. Grow from a set
- OpenTTDBuild railways, roads and airports and run a transport empire. Free and instant.
- SimCity ClassicPlay SimCity Classic in your browser: Will Wright's original city builder, the DOS version
- SimFarmPlay SimFarm in your browser: Maxis' 1993 farming simulator. Plant crops, raise livestock,
- Run your own DOS gameHave another DOS game on disk? Drop it into the DOS player.
Want a game like this on your own site?
Railroad Tycoon isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.