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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Nobunaga's Ambition 6

DOS19943.9/5

V for victory: Velikiye Luki

DOS1992protected3.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

Kasparov's Gambit

DOS19933.9/5 chess

Hoyle Classic Card Games

DOS19933.9/5 cards

Unnatural Selection

DOS19933.9/5 real-time tactics

Metal Marines

Windows 3.x19933.9/5 turn-based tactics

Power Dolls

DOS19943.9/5 real-time tactics

Strip Poker: A Sizzling Game of Chance

DOS1985NSFW3.9/5 cards

Chess

DOS19813.9/5 chess

Dominus

DOS19943.9/5 real-time tactics, real-time strategy

Doomdark's Revenge

DOS19853.9/5 first-person party-based RPG

Doomdark's Revenge is a strategy and role-playing video game developed by Mike Singleton and originally released in 1985 for DOS and various home computer systems, including the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64. It is the sequel to the earlier game Lords of Midnight and is known for its unique combination of strategy, adventure, and story...

V for Victory: D-day Utah Beach

DOS1991protected3.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

Burntime

DOS19933.9/5 action RPG, real-time strategy

Decisive Battles of the American Civil War: Vol. 2

DOS19893.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

La Grande Armee

DOS19913.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

MacArthur's War

DOS19903.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace

DOS19893.9/5 board game

Populous

DOS19893.9/5 sandbox strategy, god game, real-time strategy

Populous is an abandoned strategy game designed by the video game celebrity Peter Molyneux, developed by Bullfrog. Populous was released by Electronic Arts in 1989 for DOS and for a long list of other 16-bit and 8-bit systems, both console and PCs. Populos is a really unique game: it gave the name to the the whole god-game genre since, well, in the...

A Line in the Sand

DOS1992protected3.9/5 board game, wargame, turn-based tactics

Laser Squad

DOS19923.9/5 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.

Clash of Steel

DOS1993protected3.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

King's Bounty

DOSMac19903.9/5 turn-based tactics

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

DOS19893.9/5

Crusade in Europe

DOS19853.9/5 wargame, turn-based tactics

Queen of Tenshindo 95

Windows XP/98/951995NSFW3.9/5 cards

Arrakis

DOS20003.9/5 real-time strategy

The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici

DOSMac1996protected3.9/5 sandbox strategy, real-time strategy, city building

4Play

Windows 3.x1995NSFW3.9/5 board game

4Play is a multi-player board-like strategy party-game for adults released for Windows 3.1 in 1995. 4Play is a board-game very similar to Monopoly in which players have to perform certain (adult) actions in response to events happening on the board.

Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021

DOS1987freeware3.9/5 4x

Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021 is one of the first 4x turn-based strategy games, ASCII based. Anacreon is set in space, as most 4x sci-fi games are, and was published by Thinking Machines Associates and designed by George Moromisato who later re-released the game as freeware.