Sort by:
Popcorn
DOS1988freeware action
Gnome Ranger
DOS1987 adventure
Gnome Ranger feels like the kind of game that was designed by someone who really loved puzzles but maybe didn’t love explaining them. You control a gnome (clearly a recurring...
Black Moon Chronicles
DOS1999protected strategy
Based on a French comic series, Black Moon Chronicles (1999) is what you'd get if a fantasy novel and a real-time strategy game had a slightly awkward baby. The art is dark, the to...
Top Secret
DOS1986 adventure
King's Quest 5: Absence makes the heart go yonder
DOSWindows 3.x1990protected adventure
Uplink: Hacker Elite
Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2001protected simulation
Uplink: Hacker Elite drops you into a digital underworld where your keyboard is your most powerful weapon. Released in 2001, it blends strategy and simulation, tasking you with bre...
Strider
DOS1989 action
When Strider (1989, DOS) hit PCs, gamers suddenly felt like ninjas who’d been dropped into a Cold War fever dream. You play as Hiryu, a futuristic assassin slicing through me...
The Ancient Art of War in the Skies
DOS1992 strategy
Kings of the beach
DOS1988 sports
Frac
DOS1990 puzzle
Frac takes a minimalist concept—navigate fractal landscapes—and turns it into something hypnotic and slightly disorienting. The visuals shimmer with mathematical flair,...
Mychess
DOS1984 strategy
Shooting Gallery
DOS1990 shooter
Math Circus
DOS1993 puzzle
Math Circus (1993) is proof that educational games in the DOS era were either unbearably boring or secretly brilliant — and this one leans heavily toward the second category....
Checkers for Windows
Windows 3.x1997 strategy
Checkers for Windows is exactly what it says on the tin—checkers. But somehow, it turns this rainy-afternoon classic into a digital duel of patience and spite. No explosions,...
Postal 2
Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2003protected shooter
Encounter
DOS1984 shooter
Encounter drops you into a minimalist sci-fi scenario and wastes no time explaining itself. You’re alone, surrounded by enemies, and expected to survive using quick reflexes ...
Pango
DOS1983remake action
Shadow Warrior
DOS1997protected shooter
Bagman
Windows Vista/7/82013freewareremake action
No, it’s not about a guy who holds your groceries. Bagman is a retro-style indie throwback where you’re a pickaxe-wielding convict trying to steal bags of cash from a m...
Daffy Duck PI: The Case of the Missing Letters
DOS1991 puzzle
Daffy Duck PI: The Case of the Missing Letters is a Looney Tunes spin on the classic edutainment formula. As Daffy, you’re on the trail of a nefarious plot to steal the alpha...
Realms of Arkania 3: Shadows Over Riva
DOS1996protected rpg
Shadows Over Riva caps the trilogy with a confident stride. The graphics receive a welcome upgrade, the atmosphere takes a darker turn, and the narrative leans heavily into detecti...
Baby Joe in: Going Home
DOS1991 action
In 1991, DOS gamers were treated to the weirdest parenting simulator ever: Baby Joe in: Going Home. You play as Baby Joe, an infant inexplicably left to crawl through caves, forest...
Ford Simulator 5
DOS1994 racing
Ford Simulator 5 (1994, DOS) arrives with increased confidence, as though the series has fully embraced its unusual identity. The graphics are cleaner, the environments broader, an...
Volkswriter 3
DOS1982 application
Wall Street Tycoon
Windows XP/98/951999 simulation
Dragonriders of Pern
DOS1987 strategy
Based on Anne McCaffrey’s novels, Dragonriders of Pern (1987) is an odd duck. It tries to blend diplomacy, strategy, and a dash of action into one package. You don’t ju...
Lightspeed
DOS1990 simulation
Beast
DOS1984 action
Beast is ASCII horror at its most gloriously minimal. You’re a brave soul (well, a smiley face) trapped in a dungeon with sentient blobs (the titular beasts) that want you ve...
Soccer Kid
DOS1995 action
Vulcan: The Tunisian Campaign
DOS1988 strategy






























