Run a hydroelectric dam
control room.
Start the turbines, synchronise to the grid, and hold the line at 60 Hz. Manage the reservoir, water value and downstream floods, ride out equipment faults, and keep the lights on — a realistic-but-fun power-plant simulator that runs free in your browser.
New here? The game offers a quick interactive tutorial right when you start.
What you'll be running
A whole plant, modelled in an approachable way — physics you can feel without a manual.
Real turbine physics
Net head, penstock flow and unit spin-up drive generation. Open the wicket gates and watch megawatts climb.
Grid frequency & sync
Balance generation against demand to hold 60 Hz. Synchronise units to the bus and close the line breaker in phase.
Reservoir & floods
Manage inflow, storage and spill. Respect downstream minimum flow and ramp limits — or face floods and fines.
Market & water value
Spot price, ancillary services and the value of stored water turn good operating into real revenue.
Faults & blackstart
Bearing temps, transformer trips, breaker failures and station blackouts — recover the plant from a dead bus.
Built-in tutorial
An interactive coach walks you from cold-start to grid-connected, plus an in-game guide and glossary.
Your first five minutes
Cold, dark plant to powering the town — here's the path.
Start a unit
Spin up a generating unit and bring it to rated speed. It takes a moment for the machine to come up to power.
Energise the bus
On a dead bus, energise it from your first unit so the switchyard comes alive.
Synchronise & connect
Match speed and phase, then close the line breaker to connect to the grid without a shock.
Pick up load
Open the gates to generate, hold 60 Hz, watch your temperatures and the reservoir — and keep the town lit.
Frequently asked questions
The quick answers.
Is Hydroelectric Sim free to play?
Yes — completely free in your browser, with nothing to buy and no account to create. If you enjoy it, you can optionally support development on Ko-fi.
Do I need to download or install anything?
No. It runs entirely in your browser with HTML5 Canvas. Click Play and you're in the control room — no install, no plugins.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Tablets work well in landscape — the sliders and controls are touch-friendly. Phones will load it, but the dense control room is cramped on a small screen, so a desktop, laptop, or tablet in landscape gives the best experience.
Is the simulation realistic?
It's realistic-but-fun. It models real concepts — head, flow, grid frequency, synchronisation, reservoir storage, water value, environmental limits, faults and blackstart — in an approachable way. It's a game, not a tool for operating real equipment.
Who made it, and how can I support it?
It's built and run solo by an independent developer. Hosting and the domain cost real money — if you'd like to help keep it online and growing, see the Support section below.
Support an indie developer
Hi, and thanks for checking out Hydroelectric Sim — it means a lot that you're here.
I'm an independent, up-and-coming developer, and I built this simulator for a simple reason: I've always wanted to tinker with a hydroelectric dam control room, but I could never find one online. So I set out to make the one I wished existed.
I build this in my spare time and run it solo. Keeping it online costs real money — the domain, the hosting, and the hours that go into improving it. If you've enjoyed it, any support goes straight toward covering those costs and adding more features. Even a small tip helps more than you'd think. 🙏
Get in touch
Questions, bug reports, feedback, or licensing — I'd love to hear from you.
Prefer your own email app? Write to [email protected]
Terms, copyright & privacy
The important bits, in plain language.
By accessing or playing Hydroelectric Sim (the game at HydroelectricSim.com, "the Game") you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, do not use the Game.
① Copyright & ownership
- © 2026 Hydro Electric Sim. All rights reserved.
- Hydroelectric Sim and all of its content — including its source code, compiled output, game design, text, graphics, audio, and simulation models — are owned by Hydro Electric Sim and protected by copyright and other intellectual-property laws.
② Licence to play
- You are granted a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and play the Game for your own personal, non-commercial entertainment.
- This licence grants no ownership and may be revoked at any time.
③ Things you may not do
- Copy, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, sell, rent, sublicense or create derivative works from any part of the Game or its code or assets;
- Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract the source code, simulation models, or assets;
- Remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or proprietary notice;
- Use bots, scrapers, or automated means to access or harvest the Game, or use it to build a competing product.
④ Privacy
- Hydroelectric Sim runs entirely in your browser. We do not operate user accounts, and your game progress is not sent to or stored on our servers.
- We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used so we can improve it. It sets cookies and collects standard usage data — such as pages viewed, device and browser type, approximate (city-level) location, and a randomly-generated identifier — which is processed by Google on our behalf. We use this only in aggregate; we do not use it to identify you personally.
- You can opt out at any time via your browser's cookie controls or Google's Analytics opt-out add-on. See Google's Privacy Policy for how it handles this data.
- Our hosting provider may also process standard technical information (such as IP addresses in routine server logs) solely to deliver and secure the website.
⑤ No warranty
- The Game is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. It is a game and is not a tool for operating, training on, or modelling any real power plant or equipment. You use it at your own risk.
⑥ Limitation of liability
- To the fullest extent permitted by law, Hydro Electric Sim shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of (or inability to use) the Game.
⑦ Changes & governing law
- These Terms may be updated from time to time; continued use of the Game means you accept the current version.
- These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
⑧ Contact
- Licensing enquiries and copyright / takedown notices: [email protected]
This summary is provided for transparency and is not legal advice. Last updated 2026.