The most popular top down games

Top down games were very popular in the 80s and the 90s, when graphic cards were not capable of supporting 3D, and even when 3D started to become popular, 2D games continued to be easier to develop, at least in the infancy of 3D gaming. 2D game offered the player a viewpoint that helped keeping things easily under control (think about top down party-based RPGs or hex-based strategy games).

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Alien Breed: Tower Assault

DOS1994protected4.2/5 Team 17

Nobunaga's Ambition

DOS19883.7/5 KOEI

Pinball Dreams

DOS1993protected4.1/5 Digital Illusions

J.R.R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan

DOS19974.1/5 Papyrus Design Group

High Command: Europe 1939-45

DOS19924.1/5 Colorado Computer Creations

Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!

DOS1990protected4.2/5 id software

Dark Sun 2: Wake of the Ravager

DOS1994protected4/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor

Windows XP/98/9519973.7/5 Westwood Studios

Moria

DOS1992freeware3.9/5

Emperor of the Fading Suns

Windows XP/98/9519964.1/5 Holistic Design

Laser Squad

DOS19923.9/5 Target Games Limited

Laser Squad is an abandoned turn-based strategy/tactical game designed by Julian Gollop (the mind behind the X-COM series). Laser Squad was developed by Target Games Limited and released by MicroLeague Multimedia in 1992 for DOS and other 8-bit systems. Laser Squad is considered as a precursor of X-COM: Ufo Defense.

Hack

DOS1984freeware3.8/5

Speedball 2

DOS19924.1/5 Bitmap Brothers

Defender of the Crown

DOS1991protected3.8/5 Cinemaware

Defender of the crown is a strategy game set in the middle ages, in England. You control a Saxon and must fight Normans to control the country. The player can conquest territories, lay siege to castles, join tournaments, rescue damsels.

Total Annihilation Kingdoms

Windows XP/98/951999protected4.1/5 Cavedog Entertainment

Command HQ

DOS19904/5 Ozark Softscape

Cavequest

DOS19853.3/5

Castle Adventure

DOS1984freeware4.2/5

ZAngband

WindowsMac OSDOSLinux1999freeware4.2/5

Zangband is a variant of the popular roguelike game Angband. Zangband, short for Zelazny Angband, was developed by Chris Weisiger and first released in 1994. The game features a fantasy world with diverse races, classes, and monsters. Players explore dungeons, caves, and other environments in a quest to reach the bottom level of the dungeon, d...

Conflict in Vietnam

DOS19864.2/5 MicroProse Software

Pyramids of Egypt

DOS19894/5 Ideas From the Deep

Time Bandit

DOS19894.4/5 MichTron

Time Bandit is a classic top-down arcade-style video game that was released in 1982 for various home computer systems, such as the Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and others. It was developed by MichTron. In Time Bandit, players control a character who must navigate through a series of maze-like levels, battling various enemies and collecting treasure a...

Monopoly Deluxe

DOSWindows 3.x19924/5 Parker Brothers

Monopoly Deluxe is an abandoned turn-based top-down Monopoly adaptation of the classic board game, developed by Parker Brothers and released by Virgin Interactive in 1992. Monopoly Deluxe was published for DOS, Windows 3.1, and Macintosh.

God of Thunder

DOSWindows XP/98/951993freeware4/5 Adept Software

God of Thunder is a classic computer game developed by Adept Software and released in 1993. It's a puzzle platformer with a fantasy theme. In the game, you control Thor, the Norse god of thunder, on a quest to save Midgard (Earth) from the evil god Loki and his minions.The gameplay involves navigating through various levels filled with obstacles, e...