Legend of the Red Dragon

Legend of the Red Dragon (1989) isn’t so much a traditional game as it is a slice of online history. This BBS door game allowed players to log in, fight monsters, flirt with barmaids, and duel each other in turn-based combat—all in glorious ASCII. Daily turn limits made it oddly addictive; you’d come back every day to see if someone had beaten you up while you were offline. It was part RPG, part social hub, part digital playground where reputations were made or destroyed with a single duel. If you played it, you likely remember it fondly—unless you were constantly slaughtered by some smug local sysop.