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.
Sort by:
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.
Metal Marines
Windows 3.x1993 turn-based tactics
Battle Isle 93: The Moon of Chromos
DOS1993 turn-based tactics
Strip Poker: A Sizzling Game of Chance
DOS1985NSFW cards
Carrier Strike: South Pacific 1942-44
DOS1992protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Dominus
DOS1994 real-time tactics, real-time strategy
V for Victory: D-day Utah Beach
DOS1991protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Empire: Wargame of the Century
DOS1987 wargame
Battle for Atlantis
DOS1990 board game
La Grande Armee
DOS1991 wargame, turn-based tactics
Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace
DOS1989 board game
Kasparov's Gambit
DOS1993 chess