The strategy game that started the whole “Tycoon” genre

To coincide with the release of Sid Meier’s Railroads, the original Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon (SMRT), straight from 1990, has now been made freely available in full.

The game takes you back to the 19th century where you create your own transportation empire by building railroads, buying new trains and setting up connections between cities.

Those of you who are worried about compatibility: fear not. You won’t have to access DOS to play the game because it features its very own DOS Box.

Original gamers of SMRT, will fondly appreciate the minimalistic graphics, midi country music, pixelized area maps, but most of all, the crux of the whole series, managing your money and assets.

You start off with a million dollars (of which you’ll have to pay back $500,000) and must first choose a good location, build a station and then start laying tracks.

You’ll soon become familiar with all the varieties of locomotives, like the Norris, Crocodile or Ten-Wheeler. The game really starts to get addictive when you see your network of railroads reach more and more cities and your income start to rise.

Depending on the level of difficulty you choose, you’ll also come across rough competition and you’ll have to protect your assets from truly aggressive entrepreneurs.

Even though the graphics don’t compare to what you’ll find in the latest release, Sid Meier’s Railroads, the simulation aspect of Railroad Tycoon is as much thrilling now as it was 10 year ago.

Revisit the early days of the Age of Steam as you begin with a locomotive (the venerable John Bull, the first locomotive to run in North America) and a vision (your Tycoon “mission” card).

From there, build your budding railroad network into a vast empire. Connect New York to Chicago, earn the most money, develop bigger and faster locomotives and maybe even span North America and build the Transcontinental Railway!