Browser transport sandbox
Rail Island vs Mashinky vs OpenTTD
Rail Island, Mashinky and OpenTTD all start with the pleasure of laying tracks. Rail Island focuses on creating freely, while Mashinky and OpenTTD make the railway part of a business you need to grow.
Compare the three games
| Game at a glance | Rail Island ↗ | Mashinky ↗ | OpenTTD ↗ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicles | Trains, buses, trams, ships, aircraft and cable cars. Assemble trains from locomotives and carriages, choose their stops and use signals to manage railway traffic. | Trains above all, with buses and trucks on the roads since the 2019 road-vehicle update. No ships and no aircraft. | Trains, road vehicles, ships and aircraft, hauling passengers and cargo between towns and industries. |
| Building | Place tracks freely without a square grid. Shape the terrain, add junctions and parallel tracks, and cross water and hills with bridges and tunnels. | A square grid, on purpose — an isometric build mode with board-game rules, where track pieces snap into the lattice. | A tile grid. Track runs along square tiles in 45° steps and terraforming raises and lowers tile corners — the look is unmistakable, and entirely deliberate. |
| Towns and cities | Generate settlements with the island, add towns with the City tool or place individual buildings. You create the landscape your network connects. | Simulated. Villages grow into cities as you serve them, and demand for cargo and passengers follows. | Simulated. Towns grow when the service they get is good, stall when it is not, and you can fund roads and buildings to push them along. |
| Economy | No in-game money, running costs or bankruptcy. Build and experiment without having to earn a construction budget. | Yes, and unlike anyone else: a token economy where each kind of cargo pays in its own currency, spent on vehicles and buildings across seven historical eras. | The whole game. Cargo pays by how much, how fast and how perishable; there are loans, a running balance, company value, AI competitors and multiplayer for up to fifteen companies. |
| Price and platforms | Free to play in a browser on computers and phones, with nothing to install. An optional Rail Island PLUS subscription raises the free plan’s limits. | A paid download ($24.99) on Steam, Windows only, and still in Early Access after launching there in October 2017. | A free download for Windows, macOS and Linux from openttd.org. Since March 2026 its Steam and GOG listings are bundled with a paid copy of Transport Tycoon Deluxe for new players, though the download from the project stays free. No official mobile or browser build. |
This guide is published by the creators of Rail Island. We are not affiliated with the other games featured here. Details are based on official websites and store pages; features, prices and availability may change. Spotted a mistake? Let us know at info@railisland.com.
Which game should you choose?
Choose Rail Island to build freely in your browser without balancing an in-game budget. Choose Mashinky for grid-based railway strategy and its token economy. Choose OpenTTD for a transport company connecting towns and industries by rail, road, sea and air.
A railway that follows your ideas
Start with an island and choose where the railway should go. Lay straight tracks and curves, connect stations and add junctions as your network grows. Terrain tools let you shape the ground, while bridges and tunnels open up routes across rivers and through hills.
You can spend a session on a single station or build a network across the whole island. Without a construction budget to manage, you can try an idea, change it and keep building at your own pace.
Bring the network to life
Choose locomotives and carriages, assemble a train and set its stops. Signals help you manage busy sections of railway. When you want to expand beyond the tracks, add buses, trams, ships, aircraft or cable cars to connect more of the island.
Build the places your trains connect
Add towns with the City tool or place buildings individually around your stations. Shape the coastline, plant woods and turn an empty stretch of track into part of a landscape. You can publish your island and share it with other players, or explore their creations for ideas.
Play in your browser
Rail Island runs in a browser on your computer or phone. The game is free to play, including every building tool. Rail Island PLUS is an optional subscription that unlocks every vehicle, building type and island size at once and adds storage room; you do not need it to start building.
Who it suits
Rail Island suits players who enjoy laying tracks, designing stations and watching a transport network come together. Choose it for relaxed building and creative freedom. If you enjoy balancing costs, competing for profit or driving a locomotive from the cab, another game in this guide may suit you better.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Rail Island free to play?
- Yes. You can play for free, with access to every building tool. The optional Rail Island PLUS subscription unlocks every vehicle, building type and island size at once and adds storage room.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. Rail Island runs in your browser on a computer or phone.
- Does Rail Island have an economy?
- There is no in-game budget, income or bankruptcy. You can focus on building and running your transport network.
- Can I run vehicles other than trains?
- Yes. You can also run buses, trams, ships, aircraft and cable cars.
