Abandonware DOS title

The best text-based games

In the past, lots of games used ASCII characters (text) to represent the game world. These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.
incursion-04

Incursion

Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS2007freeware
omega-rpg-01

Omega

DOSLinux1988freeware
lawnmover-splash

Lawn Mower

DOS1987
adom1.1-05

Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) v1.1

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1996freeware
ADOM is what happens when a rogue, a wizard, and a hungry troll walk into a dungeon and never come out. Released in 1996, this roguelike classic is brutal, brilliant, and unapologetically text-heavy. Permadeath is the norm, the story is deep enough to drown in, and don’t even get me started on the corruption system. You’ll die often, po...
finalcrusadekroz-2

The Final Crusade of Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
forbiddenquest-splash

Forbidden Quest

DOS1983 Pryority software
starfleet1-battle-begins03

Star Fleet 1: The War Begins

DOSMac OS1985 Interstel Corporation
1893-world-fair-04

1893: A World's Fair Mystery

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2003
1893: A World's Fair Mystery is an interactive fiction game developed by the American studio Illuminated Lantern and released in 2002. Set during the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the game combines historical fiction with mystery-solving gameplay.In 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, players take on the role of a detective investigating ...
amazon-crichton-04

Amazon

DOS1984 Telarium
From the mind of Michael Crichton comes Amazon, a game that lets you live out your jungle explorer fantasies—without the bugs or dysentery. You’re off to the Amazon to recover a missing expedition and probably get into mortal peril along the way. Think Indiana Jones if he had access to 16 colors and floppy disks. Packed with weird humor...
champ-manager-93-01

Championship Manager 93

DOS1993 Domark Software
f-prot-01

F-Prot

DOS1995
F-PROT is an antivirus developed by FRISK Software International. The name "F-PROT" stands for "FRISK-PROActive," emphasizing its proactive approach to virus detection and prevention. F-PROT Antivirus is designed to protect computer systems from various forms of malware, including viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious software.
templeofkroz-4

Temple of Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
witchhavenRL-01

WitchavenRL

Windows 10/11Linux2013
guns-r-us-02

Guns 'R' Us

DOS1993 Future Vision
border-zone-01

Border Zone

DOS1987 Infocom
borland-turbo-c-2-02

Borland Turbo C v2

DOS1988 Borland Software Corporation
beast-01

Beast

DOS1984
returntodoom-splash

Return to Doom

DOS1988 Topologika Software
shadowsmordor-3

The Shadows of Mordor

DOS1988 Beam Software
borland-reflex-2-01

Borland Reflex 2.0

DOS1986 Borland Software Corporation
Borland Reflex was a relational database management system (RDBMS) developed by Borland International, a software company that was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Reflex was released in the mid-1980s as a graphical database software primarily targeted at business and professional users.
fish-01

Fish!

DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
ms-cobol-112-02

Microsoft COBOL 1.12

DOS1984 Microsoft
objection-01

Objection!

DOS1992
questprobe-hulk-01

Questprobe featuring The Hulk

DOS1984 Adventure International
reach-for-the-stars-01

Reach for the Stars

DOS1988 SSG Strategic Studies Group
voodoisland-splash

Voodoo island

DOS1985 Angelsoft
nethack-2

NetHack

DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OSLinux1987freeware
NetHack is an open-source roguelike game that's been around since the early 1980s. It's a single-player dungeon exploration game where you navigate your character through a randomly generated dungeon filled with monsters, traps, treasures, and various items. The goal is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, located deep within the dungeon's lowest leve...
acheton-01

Acheton

DOS1987
Acheton (1987, DOS) is one of those text adventures where the game cheerfully tries to kill you every five minutes — and does so with words. You're tossed into a sprawling, brain-melting maze of puzzles so obscure they might as well be written in Klingon. There's no map, no mercy, and definitely no hand-holding. But for the brave (or masochis...