Abandonware DOS title

The most popular 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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
champ-manager-93-01

Championship Manager 93

DOS1993 Domark Software
madball-02

Madball

DOS1985
ms-diagnostics-3-01

Microsoft Diagnostics 3.01

DOS1994 Microsoft
doom-roguelike-02

Doom: The Roguelike

DOS2005freeware
drdos7-01

Novell DOS 7

DOS1993 Novell
earthlydelights-splash

Earthly delights

DOS1984 Datamost
moslodeluxe-1

Mo'Slo

DOS1990protected Dr.David's Super Crispy Software
The previous file hosted here was put online by mistake (it was the deluxe version, not the basic one). Copyright holders kindly allowed Abandonware DOS to link directly to their website where you can buy the deluxe version of Mo'Slo.
shadowsmordor-3

The Shadows of Mordor

DOS1988 Beam Software
amuletyendor-4

Amulet of Yendor

DOS1985 Keypunch Software
castleelsinore-splash

Castle Elsinore

DOS1992 Temple Software
galaxy-4

Galaxy

DOS1981 Microcomputer Games Inc.
castlekroz-3

Return to Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
finalcrusadekroz-2

The Final Crusade of Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
starcross-01

Starcross

DOS1982 Infocom
adventure-in-serenia-01

Adventure in Serenia

DOS1982 Sierra On-Line
borland-turbo-pascal-1-01

Borland Turbo Pascal 1.0

DOS1983 Borland Software Corporation
tomenet-03

TomeNET

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2001freeware
TomeNET (Troubles of Middle Earth, Net) is an online, multiplayer rogue-like game set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. It’s a persistent-world game inspired by Angband, a single-player dungeon-crawler based on Tolkien lore. You can play as familiar fantasy races like Elves, Dwarves, Humans, or Hobbits, as well as more obscu...
treasure-island-01

Treasure Island

DOS1985 Byron Preiss Video Productions
msword-1-01

Microsoft Word

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1983 Microsoft
pkunzip-splash

PKzip

DOS1989protected PKware
bureaucracy-02

Bureaucracy

DOSMac OS1987 Infocom
Bureaucracy is an abandoned text-adventure game designed by Douglas Adams (yes, the writer of The Hitchhiker Guide of the Galaxy), developed and published by Infocom in 1987. Bureaucracy is a peculiar interactive fiction; the game challenges you to solve frustrating bureaucratic problems in a world populated by strange characters.
usurper-splash

The Usurper

DOS1989 Sir-tech Software
enchanter-splash

Enchanter

DOS1983 Infocom
voodoisland-splash

Voodoo island

DOS1985 Angelsoft
brimstone-splash

Brimstone

DOS1985 Synapse Software