Abandonware DOS title

Text-based games: ASCII, etc. sorted by year, newest first

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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
hacker-2-doomsday-papers-3

Hacker 2: The Doomsday Papers

DOS1986 Activision
Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers is a video computer game developed by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision. It was released in 1986 and is a sequel to the original Hacker game. The game was available for various home comput...
hamburger-hell-02

Hamburger Hell

DOS1986remake
hollywoodhij-splash

Hollywood Hijinx

DOS1986 Infocom
ibm-filing-assistant-02

IBM Assistant 2.0

DOS1986 IBM
007-goldfinger-1

James Bond 007: Goldfinger

DOS1986 Angelsoft
jewels-of-darkness-06

Jewels of Darkness

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
larn-5

Larn

DOS1986freeware
leather-goddesses-of-phobos-04

Leather Goddesses of Phobos

DOS1986 Infocom
mind-mirror-04

Mind Mirror

DOS1986
moonmist-splash

Moonmist

DOS1986 Infocom
newsmaster-01

NewsMaster

DOS1986
norton-commander-1-04

Norton Commander 1.0

DOS1986 Peter Norton Computing
Norton Commander was a file manager and editor application released by Peter Norton Computing for DOS. Norton Commander used a text-based user interface with side-by-side panels and featured copy, delete, editing and preview ...
questprobe-spiderman-01

Questprobe Featuring Spider-Man

DOS1986 Adventure International
Questprobe Featuring Spider-Man is an abandoned text-based adventure game designed by Scott Adams, developed and released by Adventure International in 1986 for DOS but was also published for Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro...
sherlockvatican-1

Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos

DOS1986 Magicom Multimedia
silicon-dreams-02

Silicon Dreams

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
Silicon Dreams by Level 9 Computing is a trilogy of interactive fiction (text adventure) games released in the mid-1980s. The trilogy includes three separate games: Snowball, Return to Eden, and The Worm in Paradise. Each game com...
startrekpromethean-splash

Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy

DOSMac OS1986 TRANS Fiction Systems
the-draw-02

TheDraw 4

DOS1986
trinity-01

Trinity

DOS1986 Infocom
prolog_splash

Turbo Prolog 2.0

DOS1986protected Borland Software Corporation
wordstar4-01

Wordstar 4

DOS1986 MicroPro International
WordStar 4 was a popular word processing software program during the early days of personal computing. WordStar 4 included features typical of word processors in that era, allowing users to create, edit, and format documents....
_amfv_002

A Mind Forever Voyaging

DOSMac OS1985 Infocom
If you ever wanted to play a video game that doubles as a philosophical think piece, A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is your ride. Released for DOS and Macintosh, this is one of Infocom’s most ambitious works - a text adventu...
air-traffic-controller-02

Air Traffic Controller

DOS1985 Cascoly Software
Welcome to the most stressful job in the world - rendered in glorious 1985 DOS graphics! Air Traffic Controller lets you experience the thrill of herding aircraft without the luxury of coffee breaks or radar resolution. It’s...
amuletyendor-4

Amulet of Yendor

DOS1985 Keypunch Software
Before there were AAA games with 100GB installs, there was Amulet of Yendor, a rogue-like so old-school it might as well come with a floppy disk and a sandwich bag of D&D dice. Your goal? Find the legendary amulet. Your method...
armchair-quarterback-01

Armchair Quarterback

DOS1985
Armchair Quarterback lets you live the dream of yelling at your TV — but on your DOS machine, and with even less control. It’s part simulator, part quiz show, and all weird. You make play calls, analyze stats, and pray...
brimstone-splash

Brimstone

DOS1985 Synapse Software
Ever wanted to fight fire with... even more fire? Brimstone tosses you into a magical mess of spells, dungeons, and monsters who woke up on the wrong side of the crypt. It’s a 1985 RPG that oozes charm and confusion in equal...