OpenTTD is a free Business Simulation Game for PC, where your objective is to earn money by doing business in the town. It is one of the classic games set in the 90’s, but is still quite enjoyable. You earn money by doing business, which involves transporting people by road, rail air or water. The game is the remake of the 1995 video game Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
The download size of the game is a measly 7 MB.
You can also try this lightweight Trucker game for PC
Here is a video of this game:
Released all the way back in 1996, the game still manages to amuse. The graphics of the game are good, especially considering how old it and lightweight it is. The initial gameplay is not exactly easy to understand, but not really that hard either. You just have to put some effort into it.
The Gameplay of OpenTTD
The game starts with the player in a virtual city, armed with all sorts of tools, and of course, the money. More money can be earned by transporting both goods and passengers. This may sound like a cakewalk, but TTD can be quite competitive to play at times. The user interface is fairly basic, with a small bar at the bottom of the screen displaying the cash at your disposal. The good part about Open TTD is that the more you play it, the more you learn about it.
How to Play OpenTTD
Step 1: After installation, the first in-game screen looks like the one below. Choose the New Game option to get started
Step 2: You can also select the size of the map, and choose whether you want to make it an industrial town or not. You can even change different town elements. Once you’re done with that, the game starts up.
Step 3: You start by looking for places that need linking, like residences looking for rail and road links to the nearby industry, or from the market place to home etc. Scrolling with the mouse allows you to zoom in and out on the map. You can change the name of your industry, as well as your player’s name too.
Step 4: The rest of the gameplay involves laying down the road and rail tracks. You also need to manage the cash that you have at your disposal to accomplish your target.
You are provided with various tools that help you generate the transportation system of the city, like:
- Roads: You can simply lay down the roads, and connect the two places conveniently.
- Rail Tracks: You can connect the cities with rail tracks as well. Every small city has at least one railway station depending on the population of the city.
- Airport: Fastest way of transport for passengers. Try making at least one Airport in one city.
- Bus and Trucks: You can add buses that help the passengers travel easy and cheap. Trucks can also be added to facilitate easy transport of goods and other commodities.
- Bombs: You can use explosives to clear obstacles off your path.
- Landscaping: This allows you to beautify your city with landscapes, consisting of tress and bushes.
- Waterways Constructions: You can add waterways.
- Profit Graph: You can check the profits you are raking with the help of profit graph.
You need to click on the option, and then on the point on the map where you want to build any of the things explained above.
Step 5: If you wish to change the city you can easily click on the option there, and choose your preferences from the list.
That’s all there’s to it. All in all, I’ll say that it’s quite an enjoyable game.
Pros
- Easy Interface.
- Small Size.
- Interesting for what it is.
- Quite challenging.
Cons
- Visuals could have been better.
My Verdict
This is actually a pretty amazing game. It manages to keep you engrossed for quite a long time, which is great. Of course, the graphics are nowhere close to what you would get in games like FIFA or Battlefield Heroes, still they are pretty neat considering how old the game is.
I rate this little thing as “Very Good”, and encourage you to give Open TTD a try.
Ge your Free Open TTD here.