Grand Theft Auto

Steal cars, run from the cops, and climb the criminal ranks across three sprawling cities — Grand Theft Auto plays free in this browser tab, and pressing Play is the closest thing to an installation. DMA Design's original 1997 top-down crime game — the one that started the whole franchise — loads in seconds and drops you into a chaotic, open-ended sandbox of mayhem. A touchscreen can run it, but steering on the arrow keys while Ctrl fires your gun is a two-handed job, so reach for a keyboard.

How to Play Grand Theft Auto Online

Getting into the action takes seconds:

1. Press Play and the original DOS build of Grand Theft Auto boots up.
2. Give it a moment — GTA builds its city and its traffic before the menu appears.
3. Click once inside the frame, or the arrow keys will scroll the page instead of turning your car.
4. Start a new game and pick your character, then begin in the first city, Liberty City.
5. Jack a car, follow the on-screen arrows to missions, and start racking up points.

GTA is open-ended — you can chase missions or just cause chaos, so explore and experiment freely.

Controls

The original Grand Theft Auto is played with the keyboard, viewed from above:

Watch your wanted level — the more chaos you cause, the harder the police come after you.

What Is Grand Theft Auto?

Grand Theft Auto is an action game developed by DMA Design (now Rockstar North) and released in 1997 for MS-DOS and other platforms. Played from a top-down perspective, it dropped players into three large open cities — Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City — and handed them near-total freedom: steal any car, take on jobs for crime bosses, and earn points through missions and mayhem to advance.

The original GTA was groundbreaking for its open, non-linear design and its embrace of player freedom and chaos. While it looks simple next to the modern 3D entries, it laid the entire foundation for one of the best-selling franchises in gaming history. Its mix of driving, action, and sandbox anarchy made it a controversial, talked-about hit — and a genuine piece of gaming history.

How the Game Works / Gameplay Basics

The goal is to earn enough points to progress, and there are countless ways to rack them up. You can answer ringing payphones to take on missions for crime kingpins, hijack and sell vehicles, or simply rampage through the streets for points. The game is structured around hitting a target score to unlock the next city, giving you freedom in how you get there.

Driving is at the heart of GTA — you can jump into almost any vehicle on the road, each handling differently, and the cities are packed with traffic, pedestrians, and police. Causing chaos raises your wanted level, bringing increasingly aggressive police response, so part of the challenge is knowing when to push your luck and when to lie low. With three big cities and an open structure, there's always somewhere new to explore and something to blow up.

Beginner Tips

• Answer the payphones. They trigger missions that are the fastest way to earn big points.
• Steal a fast car. A quick getaway vehicle makes missions and police chases far easier.
• Watch your wanted level. The more heat you draw, the harder the cops hit — duck away to cool off.
• Find spray shops. Respraying a car can shake off police attention.
• Explore the cities. Hidden bonuses and shortcuts reward players who learn the map.
• Don't fear chaos. The game rewards mayhem, so experiment with bold, risky plays.

Why Play Grand Theft Auto Online?

Playing the original Grand Theft Auto in your browser is the easiest way back to where the legendary series began. A game that once shipped on CD-ROM with its licensed radio stations pressed onto the disc is now just a link you open — no drive, no installer, no disc to keep swapping. Twenty minutes of joyriding makes a fine session, and so does a serious run at Liberty City's score target.

Nothing lands on your hard drive, either, so a work laptop or a borrowed desktop will happily run all three cities. For the game that quietly laid the groundwork for an entire genre, being one click from the streets is a fair second life.

Troubleshooting

• Game won't start? Liberty City's map data is the heaviest thing here, so give the first boot longer than feels reasonable before you reload.
• Keyboard not responding? Click once inside the frame; GTA steers on the arrow keys, which the browser will happily use for scrolling instead.
• Running slowly? GTA keeps traffic and pedestrians moving across the whole city rather than only on screen, so close other tabs if the frame rate dips downtown.
• No sound? Check the tab isn't muted — the in-car radio stations are one of the best things about the original, and it's easy to play a whole session without noticing they're off.
• Screen too small? Use fullscreen mode for a clearer view of the city.
• Controls feel off? Give yourself a few minutes to adjust to the top-down driving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Grand Theft Auto free to play online? Yes. GTA went out at full retail price on CD-ROM in 1997; the same three cities now cost nothing to open in a tab.

Is there anything to install before the first city loads? No. Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City arrive through the page itself — no installer, no DOSBox of your own, no account.

Can I play Grand Theft Auto on mobile? It runs, but nothing on a touchscreen substitutes for holding Up to accelerate while stabbing Ctrl to shoot, and the top-down camera shrinks cars to a handful of pixels on a phone.

Is this the original 1997 Grand Theft Auto? Yes — the flat, top-down DMA Design original, made years before the series moved into 3D.

How do you progress in GTA? You earn points through missions and mayhem; reaching a target score unlocks the next city.

Can I save my progress? Yes. Use the in-game menu to save and load — worth doing before you go looking for trouble, because a high wanted level is much easier to earn than it is to shake off.

Three cities of chaos are waiting. Jack a car and start your crime spree.