Micropolis

Micropolis is the original SimCity. Not a remake, not a spiritual successor: the actual source code of the 1989 Maxis classic, cleaned up and released under the GPLv3 by Electronic Arts and programmer Don Hopkins for the One Laptop Per Child project. The working title of SimCity during development in the 1980s was Micropolis, and that name came back when EA freed the code. What you’re playing is the game that invented the genre, complete with the same zones, disasters, budget panel, and terrain that millions of players first encountered over three decades ago.

It runs in your browser via the micropolisJS port, or as a downloadable Java application on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The simulation hasn’t changed. Traffic still clogs your arterial roads, tornadoes still flatten your carefully zoned neighbourhoods, and a city of 500,000 still feels like a genuine achievement. If you want to understand where every free city builder on this list ultimately came from, this is the place to start. See how it compares to the rest of our picks on the best free city building simulation games list.

Is Micropolis Free?

Yes, Micropolis is completely free and open source. EA donated the original SimCity source code to the One Laptop Per Child project in 2008, releasing it under the GPLv3. There is no cost to download or play, no ads, and no monetisation of any kind. The source code, the Java build, and the browser-based micropolisJS port are all freely available. Micropolis is not shareware and has no paid edition.

Gameplay & Features

The core loop is zoning, connecting, and balancing. Place residential, commercial, and industrial zones, then wire them together with roads, power lines, and later rails. Citizens move in, taxes come in, and you reinvest in services, infrastructure, and expansion. The simulation runs continuously, reacting to every decision: poor road coverage kills commercial growth, a neglected power grid leaves zones dark, and one unprotected industrial zone can spiral into a pollution crisis that tanks your property values for decades of in-game time.

• Eight disaster scenarios. Fire, flood, air crash, tornado, earthquake, nuclear meltdown, monster attack, and the classic urban scenario pack. Disasters hit randomly on higher difficulty, or you can trigger them manually to watch how your city holds up.
• Pre-built scenario cities. Load up Bern, Tokyo, Detroit, Boston, Rio, Hamburg, or Dullsville and tackle the specific crisis afflicting each one. These scenarios give the game directed goals in place of the open-ended sandbox.
• Budget and tax management. Set tax rates, allocate funding to police, fire, and transport departments, and issue bonds. The budget panel is surprisingly granular for a 1989 game and remains a genuine decision-making tool rather than a formality.
• Multiple speed settings. Pause, slow, medium, fast, and ultra-fast. Watching a fully built city simulate at maximum speed is still oddly satisfying.
• Save file compatibility. The Java build reads original SimCity DOS save files, meaning cities built in the 1989 game load directly into Micropolis without conversion.

Micropolis is stripped-down by modern standards, which is part of its value: it shows you the pure skeleton of the city-builder genre before decades of feature additions layered on top. Players who want that skeleton fleshed out with modern graphics and a much deeper economic loop should look at LinCity-NG, while those who want the same isometric pixel-art feel with a full plugin community will find it in TheoTown.

PC System Requirements

Micropolis runs on any hardware made in the last twenty years without issue. The browser version requires no installation at all. The Java build needs Java 1.6 or later, which is freely available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

How to Download & Play Micropolis for Free

Micropolis is available via browser and as a downloadable Java build. No account is required for either version.

1. Browser (easiest, no install). Open micropolisJS in any modern browser, an official, safe source, and start playing immediately. The HTML5/JavaScript port by Graeme McCutcheon is a faithful translation of the original engine with no download required.
2. Java build (Windows, Mac, Linux). Download the Micropolis 1.7 jar file from itch.io. Install Java 1.6 or higher if you don’t already have it, then double-click the jar to launch. The build is available in English, German, French, and Swedish, and reads original SimCity DOS save files.
3. Source code. The full GPL source is hosted at the official Micropolis GitHub repository for anyone who wants to build or modify it directly.

FAQ

Is Micropolis the same as SimCity? It is the original 1989 SimCity source code, released under a free licence and renamed because EA holds the SimCity trademark. The gameplay, scenarios, and mechanics are identical to the original DOS release.

Is Micropolis still being developed? No. Active development halted years ago. The code is stable and fully playable, but no new features or updates are being added. Community forks exist, including micropolisJS and various Java builds, but none are in active development either.

Can I load my old SimCity saves? Yes. The Java build is compatible with original SimCity DOS save files. Copy your old save into the appropriate directory and it loads without modification.

What’s the difference between Micropolis, micropolisJS, and MicropolisJ? Micropolis is the original GPL C source code. MicropolisJ is a Java rewrite by Jason Long that runs cross-platform from a jar file. MicropolisJS is a separate JavaScript/HTML5 port by Graeme McCutcheon that plays in a browser. All three are free and based on the same underlying SimCity engine.