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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Sky Shark

DOS1989 Toaplan

Bicycle Bridge

DOS1992

Fantasy General

DOS1996protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

Fantasy General is a hex-based turn-based strategy fantasy wargame. The player can duel either against a computer or a human opponent or even take part in a longer campaign. There are two sides to chose from, one good and one evil, each with unique and colorful units.

Speedball 2

DOS1992 Bitmap Brothers

Times of Lore

DOS1989 Origin Systems

Times of Lore is an abandoned action RPG designed by Chris Roberts, developed and released by Origin Systems in 1989 for DOS and many more 8 bit and 16 bit platforms. Compared to Ultima (the much more popular franchise also by Origin) Times of Lore is a washed down RPG, more similar to a NES game. In fact, Roberts was inspired by The Legend of Zelda.

Frogger

DOS1983 Konami

Ajax

DOS1989 Konami

Demon's Winter

DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

Rockford: The Arcade Game

DOS1987protected Arcadia Systems

Settlers of Catan

DOS1998

Steel Panthers 3: Brigade Command - 1939-1999

DOS1997protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

Lords of Midnight: The Citadel

DOS1995 Maelstrom Games

Operation: Inner Space

Windows 3.x1994protecteddemo Software Dynamics

Bravo Romeo Delta

DOS1993

IBM 9-Hole Miniature Golf

DOS1983 SoftSide Magazine

Nuclear War

DOS1989 New World Computing

Nuclear War is an abandoned turn-based strategy game designed by Eric Hyman and Jon Van Caneghem. Nuclear War was developed and released by New World Computing in 1989 for Amiga and, later, for DOS, and it's loosely based on a card game of the same name. Nuclear War took a satirical approach to the grim possibility of a global nuclear war and succe...

Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle

DOS1991protected id software

Epic Pinball

DOSMac OS1993protected Digital Extremes

Moria

DOS1992freeware

Robotron 2084

DOS1983 Williams Entertainment

Welltris

DOS1989 Sphere

Welltris is a puzzle video game designed by Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris. Released in 1989, Welltris offers a fresh take on the block-dropping mechanics of Tetris, expanding the gameplay into a 3D environment. Similar to Tetris, geometric pieces fall into the well. However, instead of stacking vertically, the blocks slide down the wa...

Virtual Pool

DOS1995 Celeris

Moraff's World

DOS1991 Moraffware

Gone Fishing

DOS1989 Interstel Corporation

Railroad Tycoon Deluxe

DOS1993 MicroProse Software

Elona

Windows XP/98/952007freeware

Elona (short for Eternal League of Nefia) is a free roguelike RPG developed by Japanese indie developer named Noa in 2007. Its gameplay combines elements of open-world exploration, dungeon crawling, and life simulation. It has complex gameplay mechanics, and high replayability. Elona offers a sandbox world where players can pursue various role...