Craft the
subway system
your city deserves
Windows, macOS & Linux
What is Subway Builder?
Subway Builder is a hyperrealistic transit simulation game. Build a new subway system from the ground up while dealing with real-world constraints and costs.
Features
Real-world passenger simulation
Millions of commuters are generated from Census and Redistricter data and simulated using the same pathfinding algorithms you use on your phone. Your job is to design a route network that gets the most people to their destination as fast as possible. Juggle station placement, transfer dynamics, and train frequency to maximize ridership.
Realistic construction challenges
Build your system under realistic constraints and costs. Tunnels, viaducts, cut-and-cover, all have trade offs. Negotiate with real-world buildings' foundations, geography and road layouts as you expand your network
In-depth analysis
Explore how individual commuters weigh tradeoffs between wait times, transfers, income distribution, delays, and more, to pick their commute. Understand which routes, stations, and trains your commuters take and use that information to optimize your network.
Delays and disruptions
Find the right balance between cost and time. Too many trains on a line or an overcrowded station will cause delays.
Screenshots
Reviews
“This addictive game is like "SimCity" but for transit nerds”
“The sleeper hit of the Fall might be this mad lad's hyper realistic traffic management sim that uses real census data and a 'distance-based gravity model' to produce millions of NPC commuters”
“I love that the engineering constraints and the actual aspects you have to think about — they're there.”
Roadmap
Public Beta Launch
Core game mechanics, city simulation, and initial city roster
International Expansion
Add more cities from outside of the United States. It's still being determined which countries/cities will be added but that will largely depend on data availability.
General Improvements
Improved visualization tools, detailed passenger flow analysis, bug fixes, and performance improvements.
Steam Release
Launch on Steam with achievements and cloud saves.
Route interlining visuals
Showing train parallel train routes cleanly and beautifully on the map through a collaboration with Parchment Maps.
Perfomance improvements
Improved simulation speed and significant reductions in lag.
Train yards
A realistic representation to how trains are stored and another challenge for players to contend with.
More cities
Various cities from Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, and more.
New modes of transport
New methods of transportation such as ferries, light rail, and trams.
3D
Immersive 3D graphics for trains, tunnels, stations, and more.
Leaderboard
Participate in daily challenges to compete for the top spot on the leaderboard.
Today's Leaderboard
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Frequently Asked Questions
- You can view the full list of cities . More cities will be added in the coming months.
- $30 on subwaybuilder.com. Steam's list price is $30, and it goes on sale periodically. Compare both options here.
- Windows, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon on version 12.0 and later), and Linux. Chromebooks and mobile devices are not supported.
- Probably. If your computer can run Google Earth on Chrome smoothly it can run Subway Builder. It's a fairly lightweight game. It does require an internet connection to load the map tiles for the game though.
- Like any other software, Subway Builder will automatically check for updates and download them. People who buy the game on the website will get the same updates as people who buy the game on Steam and vice versa.
- Yes, you can transfer your license to a new device by resetting it through the reset license page.
- Yes, you can buy the game on Steam here. The game is available on Steam for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Because Steam takes a 30% cut of sales, the game is $10 more expensive on Steam than on the website.
- I would like to, but it's against Steam's terms of service to do so. This is because Steam expressly forbids selling Steam keys outside of Steam at prices lower than the price on Steam.
- Yes, there are community-created mods for the game that add features and cities that don't come with the game by default. You can find mods and download them through the "mod sharing" channel on the Discord.
- Currently the game is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.