Play SimEarth 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
SimEarth: The Living Planet — Will Wright's 1990 follow-up to SimCity. Instead of a city you manage a whole planet across geological time: tune the atmosphere, oceans and climate, seed life, and nurse it toward a species intelligent enough to leave the planet. Click Play to begin.
Tap the screen to click · ENTER: confirm · ESC: menu
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Choose tools and windows | — | Click |
| Place life, terraform | — | Click on the map |
| Menus | Alt+letter | Click the menu bar |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
SimEarth is no longer sold anywhere, and its publisher is gone or has left it unsold for decades. It is hosted here on the same footing as the Internet Archive's software collections. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. This page carries no advertising. Provenance: /apps/simearth/NOTICE.md. Rights holders: it comes down within 48 hours on request.
About SimEarth
SimEarth was built on James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, the idea that a planet's life and environment regulate each other. Scenarios include terraforming Mars and Venus, an Earth in the Cambrian era, and a Daisyworld. The model panels let you change rates of volcanism, solar input and mutation, and the planet answers over thousands of years at a time.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of SimEarth, unmodified, running in DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly. The whole game is about 2 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 SimEarth 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 SimEarth hosted here?
SimEarth is not sold anywhere today; we checked the stores listed in its provenance note. It is preserved here the way the Internet Archive preserves old software. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. If the rights holder (Electronic Arts (Maxis)) asks, it comes down within 48 hours.
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 SimEarth uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
Related guides
- SimAntPlay SimAnt in your browser: Maxis' 1991 ant colony simulator. Lead the black ants against
- SimCity ClassicPlay SimCity Classic in your browser: Will Wright's original city builder, the DOS version
- Run your own DOS gameHave another DOS game on disk? Drop it into the DOS player.
- SimEarth on a MacintoshThe Mac version, on an emulated Mac at macemu.com, our sister site.
Want a game like this on your own site?
SimEarth 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.