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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.
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Star Trek: First Contact
DOS1988 Simon & Schuster Interactive
African Adventure
DOS1997remake
African Adventure is one of those games that feels like it was made during a two-hour layover at the airport - but somehow, it works. Set in the savannah, it combines survival, exploration, and a splash of educational trivia (probably). You’ll dodge wild animals, search for artifacts, and occasionally wonder if the devs had ever seen a map of...
Meteors
DOS1989 Apogee Software
Mindshadow
DOSMac OS1985 Interplay Productions
Earthly delights
DOS1984 Datamost
Ballyhoo
DOS1986 Infocom
Come one, come all, to the saddest circus ever pixelated. In Ballyhoo, you're stuck in a depressing carnival trying to solve a kidnapping while dealing with clowns, carnies, and the worst text parser since your last therapy session. Classic Infocom, meaning great writing and an interface that hates you. But hey, if you’ve ever wanted to type ...
Bible Builder
DOS1992
Ever wanted to combine your love for trivia with Old Testament knowledge and 256-color DOS graphics? Bible Builder is here to test your biblical memory one verse at a time. It's like Jeopardy but with fewer cash prizes and more divine judgment. Perfect for Sunday school rebels or anyone who thought the Book of Leviticus could use a high-score table...
Castle Elsinore
DOS1992 Temple Software
Adventure in Serenia
DOS1982 Sierra On-Line
Before heroes had inventory screens and voice acting, there was Adventure in Serenia, the lovechild of a text parser and a fever dream. Released in 1982, this proto-graphic adventure gave players a taste of magic, mystery, and constant parser frustration. “Take rock”? Too vague. “Pick up stone”? Try again. But if you cracked...
Boggle
DOS1990 HVB Software
It’s Boggle (1990, DOS), the digital version of everyone’s favorite game where you try to spell long words while your friend keeps shouting “DOG” over and over. The game board is a 4x4 grid of letters, and your job is to find as many words as you can before the timer runs out—or your brain melts, whichever comes first....
Dracula in London
DOS1988 SDJ Enterprises
Einstein Writer 7
DOS1985
Evets
DOS1988freeware SAck Enterprizes
Guardians of Infinity: to Save Kennedy
DOS1988protected Paragon Software
Microsoft Word 5.5 for DOS
DOS1990 Microsoft
Novell DOS 7
DOS1993 Novell
Pro Manager
DOS1985 Avalon Hill
Psycho
DOS1988 Starsoft Development
Safe Opening Simulator
DOS1993
SRAM
DOS1987 ERE Informatique
Super ZZT
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Supernova
DOS1987freeware Apogee Software
Taipan for Windows
Windows XP/98/952002freeware
Treasure Island
DOS1985 Byron Preiss Video Productions
Air Trax
DOS1983
Ah yes, Air Trax from 1983 - a game where “flight” is more of a philosophical concept. It’s clunky, it's slow, and it looks like it was coded in someone’s garage (because it probably was). But there’s charm in this pixelated mess. You guide your plane through narrow gaps while wondering why gravity has such a personal ...
Brimstone
DOS1985 Synapse Software
Ace 2.02
DOS2001
Infidel
DOS1983 Infocom
At the Carnival
DOS1990freeware
Step right up to At the Carnival (1990), a puzzle game that mixes traditional brain-teasers with the kind of carnival theming that makes you question whether the developers had ever actually been to one. Brought to you by Cliff Johnson, the mad genius behind The Fool’s Errand, this title blends wordplay, riddles, and visual puzzles in a delig...
Avon
DOS1989 Topologika Software
If Shakespeare wrote video games and then decided, “You know what this needs? A parser and some pixelated drama,” you'd get Avon. In this interactive fiction gem from 1989, you step into the slippers of a humble page trying to save the day in the royal court. Expect puzzles with Elizabethan flair, cryptic clues, and the occasional "Thou...