Back to Double Decker Lane
Cuthbert's long-route timetable

Eight browser games to ride
all the way to the terminus

A ninety-minute crawl through evening traffic deserves something sturdier than a word search, so Cuthbert has pinned eight free browser games to his timetable, each one a little enterprise that keeps running between your visits. There is an airline to route across real airports, a football club or two, an ice-hockey side, two medieval realms, a factory town of picture puzzles and a settlement heading out of the Stone Age, and none of them asks you to install a thing.

8lines on Cuthbert's board
6also ride along as an app
Freeto board, every line
Airlines Manager: Tycoon key art
The conductor's own route

Airlines Manager: Tycoon

Airline company management · Business & tycoon

Cuthbert runs one bus route; here you run hundreds of them through the sky. A live map of real airports waits for your routes, each one needing an aircraft sized to its demand, and the fleet itself is bought on bank loans you must keep serviced. R&D projects and cabin services then decide what every route can charge.

Good for
Planners who like a number behind every choice and a map that fills up slowly.
Typical session
Ten minutes to check the books, longer to open new routes
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Costs nothing to play; extras can be bought in the game if you choose.
Your first session
  1. Open a handful of short routes from one hub before reaching for long-haul.
  2. Match aircraft size to demand on each route rather than buying the biggest jet.
  3. Borrow only what the current routes can repay comfortably.
Play Airlines Manager: Tycoon freeOpens airlines-manager.com in a new tab

Seven more lines on the network map

Tribal Wars key artStrategy & war

Tribal Wars

Strategy from a medieval village

One small village in a medieval world shared with thousands of rivals. Wood, clay and iron pay for buildings and troops, and soon you are inside a tribe, planning attacks with allies and holding a border together night after night.

  • Quick looks at the village all day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Patient strategists who enjoy diplomacy and long campaigns.

Your first session
  1. Raise all three resource buildings together.
  2. Put up a wall early; undefended villages get noticed.
  3. Join an active tribe and read its rules before attacking anyone.
Play Tribal Wars freeOpens en.tribalwars.net
Lords & Knights key artStrategy & war

Lords & Knights

Medieval castle strategy

A castle on a sprawling real-time map is your starting stone. You build it up, keep the resources flowing and decide when your knights march to war, with plenty of neighbours on the same map watching what you do next.

  • A few castle visits a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Strategists who like to check their castle from more than one device.

Your first session
  1. Keep resource buildings ahead of military ones in the first days.
  2. Learn the map around your castle before choosing a fight.
  3. Check in at regular times so construction queues never sit idle.
Play Lords & Knights freeOpens lordsandknights.com
Hattrick key artSport & management

Hattrick

Managing your own football club

A football club steered season by season. A weekly training focus sharpens one skill across the squad, the transfer market is one shared economy where you bid against other managers, and matches play out from your line-up, tactics and individual orders.

  • A few minutes most days, longer on match days
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Football fans who enjoy planning several seasons ahead.

Your first session
  1. Pick one weekly training focus and give it several weeks.
  2. Check age and form before bidding on anyone.
  3. Set match orders the evening before kick-off.
Play Hattrick freeOpens hattrick.org/en
Sokker key artSport & management

Sokker

Football management with a youth academy

Here the squad is grown rather than bought. A youth academy feeds young players into the first team, tactics are drawn up in their own dedicated system and every fixture is shown in full 3D, with two league games a week plus international competition.

  • Short visits around the two weekly fixtures
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Managers who enjoy raising players from their first season.

Your first session
  1. Look at the academy before spending on new players.
  2. Build one simple tactic first, then refine it.
  3. Spend on the ground gradually as the club grows.
Play Sokker freeOpens sokker.org/en
Hockey Arena key artSport & management

Hockey Arena

Ice-hockey club management

Ice hockey on a daily rhythm: a match is played every day, so there is always a result waiting at the next stop. You pick the squad, plan training, keep the books healthy and sign free agents without restriction, all through a deliberately simple interface.

  • Five to ten minutes a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Managers who want a daily routine rather than a marathon.

Your first session
  1. Set the line-up before the next daily match.
  2. Watch the finances before adding wages.
  3. Treat free agents as a quick fix for thin positions.
Play Hockey Arena freeOpens hockeyarena.net/en
Uptasia key artFarm, town & zoo

Uptasia

Factory town with picture puzzles

Smokestacks, cogs and cheerful brick streets fill a growing town where each workshop turns one raw material into something better. Crowded illustrated scenes ask you to find hidden items, those finds keep the factories supplied, and a family of fellow players shares targets.

  • A puzzle scene or two per sitting
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Anyone who likes a seek-and-find puzzle inside a gentle town builder.

Your first session
  1. Finish the early hidden-object scenes without skipping.
  2. Add each workshop once the one before it produces.
  3. Join a chatty family; it knows where items hide.
Play Uptasia freeOpens uptasia.com
Rise of Cultures key artFarm, town & zoo

Rise of Cultures

City building through the eras

One settlement leaves the Stone Age and grows into a proud city of antiquity. You lay out districts, keep production chains fed and settle disputes in turn-based battles, while each new era brings fresh buildings to plan around.

  • Brief visits between stops
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Builders who like watching a city change shape over a long stretch.

Your first session
  1. Keep production chains full before decorating.
  2. Leave room for districts to grow.
  3. Join an alliance early to share events.
Play Rise of Cultures freeOpens riseofcultures.com

All eight lines on one timetable board

GameGenrePacePlaying with othersTypical sessionWhere it runs
Airlines Manager: TycoonAirline company managementPlan, then let the schedule flyYour own airline, run onlineTen minutes to check the books, longer to open new routesDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Tribal WarsStrategy from a medieval villageReal time, at a slow simmerTribes of players holding borders togetherQuick looks at the village all dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Lords & KnightsMedieval castle strategyReal time on a large mapA shared map full of other lordsA few castle visits a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
HattrickManaging your own football clubOne match week at a timeLeagues run by real managersA few minutes most days, longer on match daysDesktop browser; mobile app also available
SokkerFootball management with a youth academyTwo league games a weekLeague rivals and international fixturesShort visits around the two weekly fixturesDesktop browser
Hockey ArenaIce-hockey club managementOne fixture a day, every dayPlayed against other online managersFive to ten minutes a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
UptasiaFactory town with picture puzzlesRelaxedPlayer familiesA puzzle scene or two per sittingDesktop browser
Rise of CulturesCity building through the erasSteady real timeAlliances sharing timed eventsBrief visits between stopsDesktop browser; mobile app also available

Cost, all 8: Costs nothing to play; extras can be bought in the game if you choose.

01

No fare at the door

Joining any of the eight is free, and you can play for months without paying; the routes, the fixtures, the castles and the workshops all come in full.

Each studio keeps an optional shop for shortcuts and decorations. Plenty of long-standing players never open it, and families sharing a computer can usually limit spending in the account settings.

02

Boarding a new game

Press a game's button and a fresh tab opens the studio's official site. Register there with an email address and you soon have an airline, a club, a castle, a factory town or a camp of your own.

Every game greets newcomers with a tutorial. Ride it to the end, because it shows the menus and the economy one stop at a time.

03

Short hops and long rides

All eight keep moving while the tab is shut: aircraft fly their schedules, the daily hockey match is played, walls rise and goods stack up. A look at breakfast and another on the way home keeps you on time.

Use the quick hops for collecting, queueing and a word with your allies or league. Save the long ride home for the big calls, such as a new hub airport, a youth player's debut or the next era.

04

Keeping your ticket stub safe

Your login belongs to the studio that runs each game, so type it only on the address that studio publishes. A separate password for every game and any two-step check on offer go a long way.

Real studio staff never ask for your password. Anyone offering free premium currency in return for your login is after the account, so ignore the message and report it.

What got each of the eight a seat by the window

  • Every line on the timetable boards in an ordinary laptop or desktop browser, with no installer to wait for at the stop.
  • Signing up costs nothing at any of the eight, and the full game stays open to players who never visit the shop.
  • Clubs, fleets, castles and workshops keep busy after the tab is closed, so a glance at a red light still moves things on.
  • Each studio has kept its game running and patched for years, so the crowd you meet on board is settled and welcoming.

No. All eight run in a computer browser, and six of them also have an official mobile app if you would like one.

Not to join or to play. Registration is free at all eight and the full game is open without spending; buying anything in-game is entirely up to you.

No, and neither did Double Decker Lane. Independent studios run them. Each button on this page takes you to the official site of the studio that runs that game.

No. Separate studios run them, so you register with each one on its own, free of charge.

Airlines Manager, Tribal Wars, Lords & Knights, Hattrick, Hockey Arena and Rise of Cultures have official apps alongside the browser version. Uptasia and Sokker are listed here as browser games, so a computer suits them best.

Hockey Arena, with a match every day and a simple interface, or Uptasia for a relaxed puzzle. Airlines Manager and the two medieval games reward longer planning sessions.

Yes. Tribal Wars has tribes, Rise of Cultures has alliances, Uptasia has families, the three sports games pit you against other managers, and Lords & Knights shares its map with other players.