The most popular top down games
Top down games were very popular in the 80s and the 90s, when graphic cards were not capable of supporting 3D, and even when 3D started to become popular, 2D games continued to be easier to develop, at least in the infancy of 3D gaming. 2D game offered the player a viewpoint that helped keeping things easily under control (think about top down party-based RPGs or hex-based strategy games).
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Pinball Illusions
DOS19953.7/5 Digital Illusions
Blood & Magic
DOS19963.9/5 Tachyon Studios
Uncharted Waters
DOS19904.1/5 KOEI
Populous: The Beginning
Windows XP/98/951998protected4.1/5 Bullfrog
Nebulus
DOS19884.1/5 Hewson Consultants
Nebulus, also known as Tower Toppler in some regions, is a classic video game released in the 1980s. It was developed by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants. The game was initially released for various home computer systems, including the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, and others. It later saw ports to different platforms. Neb...
SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony
DOS19914.1/5 Maxis
Akalabeth: World of Doom
DOS1981freeware3.6/5 California Pacific Computer
Akalabeth is a RPG game allegedly developed in just one summer by the Ultima franchise creator Richard Garriott. It's a dungeon crawler with wire-frame black and white graphics. Akalabeth is played in both first person 3d and top down view points.
Nuclear War
DOS19894/5 New World Computing
Nuclear War is an abandoned turn-based strategy game designed by Eric Hyman and Jon Van Caneghem. Nuclear War was developed and released by New World Computing in 1989 for Amiga and, later, for DOS, and it's loosely based on a card game of the same name. Nuclear War took a satirical approach to the grim possibility of a global nuclear war and succe...
Sherlock: The Game of Logic
DOS1991protected4.1/5 Everett Kaser Software
Blades of Exile
Windows 3.xMac OSWindows XP/98/951997freeware4.1/5 Spiderweb Software
Blades of Exile is a classic role-playing video game developed by Spiderweb Software. It's the third installment in the "Exile" series. The game was released in 1997 for Mac OS, and later for Windows in 1998.In Blades of Exile, players control a party of adventurers who explore the underground world of Exile/Avernum, a vast network of caves and dun...
Advanced Civilization
DOS19954/5 Avalon Hill
V for victory: Market-Garden
DOS1993protected4.2/5 Atomic Games
Pirates! Gold
DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1993protectedremakedemo4/5 MicroProse Software
Pirates! Gold is an open world game designed by Paul Murphy, developed and released by MicroProse Software in 1993 for DOS, Windows 3.x, Mac and also Sega Genesis and Amiga CD32. Pirates! Gold is a remake of the game Pirates, created by Sid Meier in 1987. Pirates! Gold gameplay is a unique mix of action, strategy, pirate life simulation, ...
Escape from Hell
DOS19904/5 Electronic Arts
People's General
Windows XP/98/951998protected4.2/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Psycho Pinball
DOS19954.2/5 Codemasters
Times of Lore
DOS19894.1/5 Origin Systems
Times of Lore is an abandoned action RPG designed by Chris Roberts, developed and released by Origin Systems in 1989 for DOS and many more 8 bit and 16 bit platforms. Compared to Ultima (the much more popular franchise also by Origin) Times of Lore is a washed down RPG, more similar to a NES game. In fact, Roberts was inspired by The Legend of Zelda.
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
DOS1990protected4.2/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Pizza Tycoon
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS1994protected4/5 Software 2000
Gary Grigsby's War in Russia
DOS1993protected3.7/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Extreme Pinball
DOS19954.2/5 Epic MegaGames
Frogger
DOS19834.1/5 Konami
Free Enterprise
Windows XP/98/9519964.2/5 Tsunami Media
Dehumanizing offices? Check. Depressing environment? Check. No windows in the whole place? Check. Good, I'm ready to exploit my workers and become great entrepreneur. All of this thanks to Free Enterprise, a simulation for Windows by Tsunami Media, published in 1996.
Bandit Kings of Ancient China
DOS19893.9/5 KOEI
CD-Man v2.0
DOS19924.1/5 Creative Dimensions
Master of Magic
DOSWindows XP/98/951994protected4.2/5 SimTex
Master of Magic is a turn based 4x strategy game developed by SimTex and published by the well know Microprose, very similar to Civilization, with a fantasy twist. You play as a wizard and your objective is to evolve your race from a small settlement to a bursting empire. To do so, you can produce military units to fight other computer controlled p...
Alien Breed
DOS1993protected3.6/5 Team 17
Pac PC
DOS1995freewareremake4.1/5
Ys: The Vanished Omens
DOS19894.1/5 Nihon Falcom
Ys: The Vanished Omens (also known as The Ancient Land of Ys) is an abandoned top-down open-world action RPG designed by Masaya Hashimoto, developed by Nihon Falcom and released by Kyodai Software Marketing for DOS in 1989. Ys: The Vanished Omens was published (earlier) for quite a few other home computers and console.
Bad Blood
DOS19904.2/5 Origin Systems