The most popular underrated underdog games

Albion is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) developed and published by German studio Blue Byte Software. It was released in 1995 for MS-DOS and later for Amiga. Albion is notable for its blend of traditional RPG elements with a unique setting and storyline.The game takes place on the planet Albion, a world with a rich history and diver...

The Typing of the Dead is a distinctive video game, essentially a typing adaptation of the classic rail shooter arcade game, The House of the Dead. Initially debuting in 1999 as an arcade machine, it later became available on other platforms as well.In The Typing of the Dead, players wield a keyboard to dispatch approaching hordes of zombies and ot...

Dope Wars is a text-based simulation game that originated as a DOS program in the early 1980s, but gained popularity in its Windows version released in 1998. The game puts players in the role of a drug dealer navigating the underground economy of buying, selling, and transporting various illegal substances.In the Windows version of the game, player...

Strife from 1996 is a first-person shooter game developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Velocity, based on the Doom engine. It's often remembered for being one of the earlier games to blend first-person shooter gameplay with RPG elements, such as dialogue with NPCs, quests, and an overarching storyline.In Strife, players assume the role o...

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is a platform video game that was originally released in 1994. It is a sequel to the classic 1982 game Pitfall! but features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics. The game was developed by Activision and initially released for various platforms, including PC, the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNE...

Magic Carpet is an action shooter game set in a fictional Middle East developed by Bullfrog and released by Electronic Arts in 1994 for DOS and Macintosh. Your goal is to fly around a magic carpet and collect mana to expand your castle. When you reach the required mana "equilibrium" you move on to the next world and so on.

Chess was a niche genre in video gaming. There were lots of chess simulations: black and white very old games, licensed games from chess champions, etc. No one ever attempted to broaden the audience until Interplay published Battle Chess. Battle Chess appeal was almost entirely focused on the animations when two pieces ended on the same square.

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It was released in 1995 as a sequel to the original Gabriel Knight game, "Sins of the Fathers". The game was designed by Jane Jensen, who also wrote the story and script.In GK2 The Beast Within, players assume the role of Gabriel Knight...

Star Trek: Birth of the Federation is a turn-based strategy video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by MicroProse Software and published by Infogrames for Windows in 1999. Players take on the role of one of five major Star Trek races: the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Ca...

Shadowgate is an abandoned fantasy-themed adventure game developed by ICOM Simulations and released by Mindscape in 1988 for Macintosh, DOS, and also for Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, NES. Shadowgate uses the ICOM MacVenture engine (Deja Vu, Uninvited). Shadowgate was later remade in an enhanced version for Windows 3.1.

Dink Smallwood is an action role-playing video game developed by Robinson Technologies. It was first released in 1997 for Windows and later became freeware. The game was created by Seth Robinson, and it gained a cult following for its humor.The game's plot revolves around the titular character, Dink Smallwood, a pig farmer who embarks on an epic ad...

Driller (also known as Space Station Oblivion) is an abandoned action-adventure game developed by Incentive and released by Epyx in 1987 based on the Freescape Engine. In Driller, you control an excavation probe in a real 3d environment, through a first person view. The goal of the game is to place a drilling rig in each of the 8 regions of the moo...

Darklands was a unique historical isometric RPG that mixed real historical data from medieval Germany during the 15th century with a touch of folklore and fantasy. Unfortunately it was also the only Microprose RPG of that kind and beauty. The original game box contained a huge manual with info on european folklore (including the live...

Starflight is a classic space exploration and role-playing video game released in 1986 by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts. It is known for its innovative gameplay, as well as its open-ended approach to space exploration and storytelling.The game is set in a massive, procedurally generated universe with thousands of star systems to e...

Hugo's House of Horrors is an adventure game developed by David P. Gray and released in the early 1990s. The game is a text-based adventure with simple graphics, and it gained popularity for its witty and often tongue-in-cheek approach to the horror genre.The story of the game revolves around the main character, Hugo, who receives a letter from his...