Text-based games: ASCII, etc.

In the past, lots of games used ASCII characters (text) to represent the game world. These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.

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The Fool's Errand

DOS1989freeware Synergistic Software

The Fool's Errand is a puzzle-adventure computer game created by Cliff Johnson and released in 1987 for Macintosh and later for MS-DOS. The game follows the journey of a nameless fool through a magical land inspired by Tarot cards. The story is whimsical and surreal, presented as a series of interconnected chapters that blend fairytale-like st...

The Golden Fleece

DOS1989

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

DOSMac OS1984freeware Infocom

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous free text adventure game based on the novel of the same name written by Douglas Adams (if you never read it, shame on you!). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was designed by Douglas Adams himself and interactive fiction god Steve Eric Meretzky, it was released by Infocom in 1984 for DOS and for...

The Lurking Horror

DOS1987 Infocom

The mist

DOS1985 Angelsoft

The Patcher 6.1

DOS1993

The President is Missing

DOS1988protected Cosmi Corporation

The Shadows of Mordor

DOS1988 Beam Software

The Three Musketeers

DOS1987 Greve Graphics

The Usurper

DOS1989 Sir-tech Software

The Witness

DOS1983 Infocom

The Wizard's Castle

DOS1981freeware

The Wizard's Castle is a classic text-based, dungeon-crawling adventure game released in 1980, designed by Joseph R. Power. The game was originally developed for the Exidy Sorcerer computer and later ported to various platforms, such as the TRS-80 and early IBM PCs. The game is set in a mysterious wizard's castle, where the player takes on the...

TheDraw 4

DOS1986

Time and Magik: The Trilogy

DOS1988 Level 9 Computing

TomeNET

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2001freeware

TomeNET (Troubles of Middle Earth, Net) is an online, multiplayer rogue-like game set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. It’s a persistent-world game inspired by Angband, a single-player dungeon-crawler based on Tolkien lore. You can play as familiar fantasy races like Elves, Dwarves, Humans, or Hobbits, as well as more obscu...

Treasure Island

DOS1985 Byron Preiss Video Productions

Trinity

DOS1986 Infocom

Turbo Assembler (TASM)

DOSWindows 3.xWindows XP/98/951989 Borland Software Corporation

Turbo Assembler, often referred to as TASM, is an x86 assembler for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. As a key component of Borland's suite of development tools, TASM was packaged alongside Turbo Debugger (TD), forming the Turbo Assembler/Turbo Debugger (TASM/TD) bundle. Turbo Assembler was favored for its speed and compatibility with the popular ...

Turbo Pascal 7

DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1992 Borland Software Corporation

Turbo Pascal 7 (TP7) is a programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed by Borland as an evolution of their earlier Turbo Pascal versions. Turbo Pascal 7 was released around 1992.Turbo Pascal 7 gained popularity in educational settings and among hobbyist progra...

Turbo Prolog 2.0

DOS1986protected Borland Software Corporation

Uplink: Hacker Elite

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2001protected Introversion Software Limited

Uplink is a computer hacking simulation game released in 2001 by Introversion Software. The game allows players to take on the role of a hacker for hire and engage in various hacking activities.In Uplink, players perform tasks such as hacking into systems, stealing data, and covering their tracks. The game features a realistic representation of hac...

Video Trek 88

DOS1982 Windmill Software

VisiCalc 1.0

DOS1979freeware Software Arts

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet software for personal computers, and it played a pivotal role in the early history of personal computing. It was developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston and first released in 1979 for the Apple II computer. VisiCalc is often considered the first electronic spreadsheet, and its success had a significant impact ...