SHSelfHostIndex

LinCity-NG vs Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
LI LinCity-NG Open-source city building and management game VS CA Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Open-source turn-based survival roguelike
FeatureLinCity-NGCataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0CC-BY-SA-3.0
LanguageC++C++
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 620★ 12,896
First released20052013
ReplacesSimCityNetHack

Why pick each one

Choose LinCity-NG if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in C++
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
LinCity-NG details

Choose Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if…

  • Enormous depth
  • Active development
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead details

Frequently asked questions

Is LinCity-NG or Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead better?

Neither is universally better. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead has the larger community, while LinCity-NG is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are LinCity-NG and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead free and open-source?

Yes. LinCity-NG is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead under CC-BY-SA-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LinCity-NG and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead with Docker?

LinCity-NG: check the project docs for container support. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons