The best abandonware strategy games

Games based on strategy allow for reasoning and planning of one’s moves and actions. The gameplay may be based on player’s turns (Turn-based Strategy) or it may be in real time (Real-Time Strategy, RTS). These games focus on strategy and tactics rather than action, sometimes with the addition of financial or logistic features.

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Checkers for Windows

Windows 3.x1997 board game

Emperor of the Fading Suns

Windows XP/98/951996 4x

King's Bounty

DOSMac OS1990 turn-based tactics

King’s Bounty is a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements, originally released in 1990 by New World Computing. It was created by Jon Van Caneghem, also known for the Might and Magic series. This game is often regarded as the precursor to the Heroes of Might and Magic series, which shares many of its core mechanics and concepts. In Ki...

Star Command

DOS1988protected space exploration, turn-based tactics

Desert Rats

DOS1986 turn-based tactics, wargame

Global Thermo War

DOS1985 board game

4Play

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995NSFW board game

4Play was a risqué trivia and multi-player board-style game released in the mid-1990s. Designed as a party game, it combined trivia questions, mini-games, and challenges that often leaned toward suggestive or adult themes. It was intended to be played in social settings, often among friends or couples, with the goal of breaking the...

Dark Legions

DOS1994protected board game

Psion Chess

DOSMac OS1985 chess

Combat Chess

Windows XP/98/951997protected chess

Over the Reich

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1996 wargame

Red sky at morning

DOS1993

Cultures

Windows XP/98/952000protected sandbox strategy, real-time strategy

Ante-Up at The Friday Night Poker Club

DOS1990 cards

In Ante-Up at The Friday Night Poker Club, you’re not saving the world or slaying dragons — you’re just trying to win a few bucks from a room full of poker-faced digital strangers. Released in 1990, it’s peak DOS-era card gaming: no frills, no flash, just you, a basic table interface, and a cast of delightfully trash-talking...

Bang! Bang!

Windows 3.x1990 artillery

Warzone 2100

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS1999freeware real-time strategy

Power Dolls

DOS1994 real-time tactics

Dark Reign: The Future of War

Windows XP/98/951997protected real-time strategy, real-time tactics

Laser Squad

DOS1992 turn-based tactics

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.