Comparison

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic vs Sid Meier’s Railroads!

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic

Build and manage your dream theme park with this classic simulation game. Design incredible roller coasters, create diverse rides, and manage finances and staff to keep guests happy and the park profitable. Enjoy hundreds of content options and challenging scenarios.

Highlights
  • Combine best features from RCT 1 & 2
  • Design and build roller coasters
  • Create diverse rides and attractions
  • Manage park finances and staff
  • Customize park scenery and landscaping
  • Progress through classic park scenarios
Features
Read full description

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic is a new RCT experience, combining the best features from two of the most successful and beloved RCT games in the series’ history – RollerCoaster Tycoon® and RollerCoaster Tycoon® 2. Create and run amazing parks complete with the most outrageous rides imaginable. RCT Classic includes a mixture of authentic playability, depth of gameplay and unique graphical style of Chris Sawyer’s original best-selling RollerCoaster Tycoon® PC Games, now enhanced for handheld devices. Packed with content, players can enjoy designing and building roller coasters and rides, landscaping parks and managing the staff and finances to keep their guests happy and the money flowing in. Can you become the next RollerCoaster Tycoon? PLEASE NOTE: Additional content for RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic is available via In-App Purchase, specifically the three expansion packs: Wacky Worlds, Time Twister and Toolkit. The expansion packs are the ONLY content that require an In-App Purchase and In-App Purchases are not used anywhere else in the game. Key Features: •The Original RollerCoaster Sim: Experience all the fun from the original RollerCoaster Tycoon® and RollerCoaster Tycoon® 2 games, with a new app that combines the best elements of both classic titles. •Coaster Construction: Create incredible roller coasters – Quickly build a pre-made design or use the intuitive piece-by-piece building tools to design and theme your own unique rides. •Park Designer: Keep your guests happy by building gentle or wild rides, food and drink stalls, water rides, and even transport rides to take them around the park; Customize your park by building scenery, fine-tuning the landscape, and routing the footpaths. •Park Management: Run your park’s marketing and finances to make a profit while attracting more guests; Organize your staff to keep the park running well and looking its best. •Exciting Environments: Build the ultimate theme park in a variety of challenging environments, from the tranquility of Forest Frontiers to the bustling commerce of Megaworld Park. •Park Scenarios: Progress through 95 classic park scenarios from RollerCoaster Tycoon® and RollerCoaster Tycoon® 2. • Authentic Gameplay: Classic-style characterful isometric graphics and original amusement park music and sound effects. • Packed with Content: Includes hundreds of types of roller coasters and rides, and dozens of different shops, stalls, and facilities. Additional Content Available with In-App Purchases: 1)Wacky Worlds Expansion Pack: Find your passport and pack your bags! Wacky Worlds takes players on the ultimate trip around the globe in 17 new park scenarios! Includes exotic rides, profitable concessions and the most famous landmarks known to man including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Statue of Liberty, Great Wall of China and more! Each location is packed with opportunities for success, fun and unique challenges. 2)Time Twister Expansion Pack: Travel through time with 14 new park scenarios based on historical and fantasy time-themes and build a park that is truly a blast from the past (or future if you like). Play in a Prehistoric amusement park decorated with huge animated T-Rex’s and coasters such as the Raptor Ride, or choose from Mythological times, the Dark Ages, the Rock & Roll crazed ‘50s, the Future or the Roaring Twenties. 3)Toolkit: Park Scenario Editor: Design and build your own amazing parks – Make them as easy or as challenging as you want, using your choice of scenery and rides! Includes a number of Six Flags parks to get you started. Ride Designer: Build, test, fine-tune and theme your own awesome roller coaster designs in the Ride Designer before saving them for use while playing! Import and Export: Share your saved parks, park scenarios and ride designs with friends, and try out their creations too! (Includes the ability to import most saved parks and scenarios created with the original RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 PC game).

About

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

Become a railroad tycoon by building and managing intricate railway networks. Optimize routes, transport goods and passengers, and grow your profits through shrewd business decisions and innovation. Compete with historical figures to become the greatest rail baron.

Highlights
  • Lay tracks and design routes
  • Transport freight and passengers
  • Acquire patents and trade stocks
  • Build or buy industries
  • Compete with historical figures
  • Collect 40 famous trains
  • Train Table Mode for creative building
Read full description

Become history’s greatest rail baron in Sid Meier’s Railroads!, a classic of the tycoon genre now available for iPhone and iPad. In this captivating mix of model train set and railway management simulator, lay tracks and optimise routes to establish lucrative networks of cities and industries, transporting passengers, raw materials and goods across continents. Grow profits through efficiency, innovation, and shrewd business decisions as you acquire valuable patents, trade stocks, and build or buy industries. Compete with world leaders and industrial titans to achieve the ultimate goal — becoming the greatest railroad tycoon of the age! === TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Lay the foundations of your railroad empire during the Gold Rush, then unlock the full game for more maps, trains, and 16 charming scenarios spanning the golden age of rail. CREATE AN EMPIRE OF THE RAILS Carefully lay tracks and design routes to transport freight and passengers, refining and improving operations until your railroad runs like clockwork. STEAM ACROSS 16 CHALLENGING SCENARIOS Test your entrepreneurial mettle in a mix of historical and fictional scenarios, each with a distinctive map and unique objectives. Establish the first passenger line in 1830s Great Britain, stitch together the American West during the Gold Rush, or help Santa with the Christmas rush at the North Pole! COMPETE WITH HISTORY’S BEST Take on world leaders and captains of industry. Grow your business by acquiring industries and railroad-revolutionising patents, or play the stock market and buy out the competition. BRING 40 FAMOUS TRAINS TO LIFE Play with historically important engines from early steam locomotives like Stephenson’s Planet, to the high-speed French TGV, and many iterations and innovations in between. BUILD THE MODEL RAILROAD OF YOUR DREAMS Take the pressure off in Train Table Mode. No competition, time limits, or financial constraints — just all you need to create a railroad that’s as fun to watch as it is satisfying to build. === We recommend playing Sid Meier's Railroads! on iOS 15.5 or later. You need 1.7GB of free space on your device, though we recommend at least double this to avoid initial installation issues. Supported iPhones: • iPhone 6S / 6S Plus and later • Any iPhone SE • iPod Touch (7th generation, 2019) Supported iPads: • iPad mini (5th generation, 2019) and later • iPad Air (3rd generation, 2019) and later • iPad (5th generation, 2017) and later • Any iPad Pro • If you require assistance, please contact our support team at support@feralinteractive.com © 2006-2024 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Originally developed by Firaxis Games. Sid Meier’s Railroads!, Firaxis Games, 2K, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for and published on iOS by Feral Interactive. iOS and the iOS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Feral and the Feral logo are trademarks of Feral Interactive Ltd. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Screenshots

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic4 screens
Sid Meier’s Railroads!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sid Meier’s Railroads! at Free against RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic's $5.99. Sid Meier’s Railroads! also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2). RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months) and chart position (#23 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Sid Meier’s Railroads! is free to download; RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic costs $5.99 up front. RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Sid Meier’s Railroads! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sid Meier’s Railroads! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.3K and 1.4K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic's written reviews are positive against 59% of Sid Meier’s Railroads!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic ships an update fortnightly, Sid Meier’s Railroads! every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic versus Sid Meier’s Railroads!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRollerCoaster Tycoon® ClassicSid Meier’s Railroads!
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (3.3K ratings)4.7 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.6% of reviews — better59.4% of reviews
Number of ratings3.3K — better1.4K
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#23 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size374 MB1.6 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAtariFeral Interactive Ltd

Customer experience

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic

All ratings3,241 ratings
Positive80.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews1,109 reviews
Positive66.6%
Neutral12.4%
Negative20.9%

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

All ratings1,304 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews187 reviews
Positive59.4%
Neutral16.0%
Negative24.6%

User reviews

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic

From 3.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Faithful to the original PC game
  • 👍 Intuitive touch controls
  • 💡 Includes both RCT1 and RCT2 content
  • 🎢 Brings back childhood memories

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Small UI elements on smaller screens
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for additional content
  • 🚫 Unable to set park admission fees

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Faithful port of original
  • 🎮 Enjoyable gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics
  • 🕰️ Hours of replay value

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🔋 Battery draining issues
  • 🕹️ Fiddly track laying controls
  • 🤖 Subpar AI opponents
  • 💰 Expensive for a mobile game

Bugs and requests

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to delete or modify certain ride elements
  • Mechanic staff getting stuck or not functioning properly
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps

Requested features

4 requests
  • Sandbox mode with unlimited customization
  • Ability to sync progress across devices
  • Improved graphics and visual fidelity
  • Support for more languages

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing tracks
  • Routing issues and inability to connect stations
  • Map freezing and becoming unresponsive

Requested features

5 requests
  • Larger maps
  • More scenarios and campaigns
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Ability to buy/sell shares
  • More train and engine variety

In-app purchases

3 purchases

RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic

One-time3
  • Expansion Pack - Wacky Worlds$1.99
  • Expansion Pack - Time Twister$1.99
  • Toolkit: Edit, Design and Share$5.99
1 purchases

Sid Meier’s Railroads!

One-time1
  • Full Game Unlock$12.99

Questions

Is RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic free?
RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic costs $5.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Sid Meier’s Railroads! free?
Sid Meier’s Railroads! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic or Sid Meier’s Railroads!?
Sid Meier’s Railroads! is rated higher. RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic averages 4.2 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while Sid Meier’s Railroads! averages 4.7 from 1.4K ratings.
Do RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic or Sid Meier’s Railroads! have ads?
Neither RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic nor Sid Meier’s Railroads! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic or Sid Meier’s Railroads!?
RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic ships an update fortnightly, and Sid Meier’s Railroads! every 5 months. Most recently, RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic was updated on October 27, 2026 and Sid Meier’s Railroads! on October 26, 2026.

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