Text-based games: ASCII, etc. sorted by release date
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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
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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One-Nil Soccer Manager
DOS1992 New Era Software
One-Nil Soccer Manager is a text-based soccer management simulation game that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed for various home computer systems, including DOS, Commodore 64 and Amiga. In One-Ni...
Rawcopy
DOS1992
Super ZZT
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
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. Tu...
Borland Paradox 4.5
DOSWindows XP/98/951993 Borland Software Corporation
Championship Manager 93
DOS1993 Domark Software
Championship Manager Italia
DOS1993 Sports Interactive Limited
Data Perfect 2.6
DOS1993
Guns 'R' Us
DOS1993 Future Vision
Novell DOS 7
DOS1993 Novell
Red sky at morning
DOS1993 Simulations Canada
Rules of Engagement 2
DOS1993 Omnitrend Software
Safe Opening Simulator
DOS1993
The Patcher 6.1
DOS1993
2112
DOS1994
Welcome to 2112, a game that predicted a grim techno-future back when floppy disks still ruled. This DOS-era oddity throws you into a world that’s part cyberpunk, part fever dream, and entirely confusing. It’s got clun...
Borland DBase 5
DOS1994 Borland Software Corporation
Codebreaker
DOS1994freeware
Microsoft Diagnostics 3.01
DOS1994 Microsoft
AlphaMan
DOS1995
Ever wondered what would happen if a roguelike and a B-movie had a radioactive baby? AlphaMan is the answer. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where mutant banana slugs might be your best friend—or your worst enemy—you p...
F-Prot
DOS1995
F-PROT is an antivirus developed by FRISK Software International. The name "F-PROT" stands for "FRISK-PROActive," emphasizing its proactive approach to virus detection and prevention. F-PROT Antivirus is designed to protect comput...
Indenture
DOS1995remake
Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) v1.1
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1996freeware
ADOM is what happens when a rogue, a wizard, and a hungry troll walk into a dungeon and never come out. Released in 1996, this roguelike classic is brutal, brilliant, and unapologetically text-heavy. Permadeath is the norm, the st...
Arachne WWW
DOS1996freeware
Arachne is a graphical web browser for DOS. Arachne was developed by Michal Polák and released in the early 1990s as a text-mode web browser with limited graphical capabilities. Arachne allowed DOS users to browse the ...
Championship Manager 2: The Italian Leagues Season 96/97
DOS1996 Eidos Interactive
Hamurabi remake
DOS1996freewareremake
Adventure Game Studio (AGS)
Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS1997freeware
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is a software development tool that enables users to create point-and-click adventure games. It was originally created by Chris Jones and has been used by game developers to produce a variety of 2D adve...
African Adventure
DOS1997remake
African Adventure is one of those games that feels like it was made during a two-hour layover at the airport - but somehow, it works. Set in the savannah, it combines survival, exploration, and a splash of educational trivia (prob...
Baseball Mogul
Windows XP/98/951997 Infinite Monkey Systems
Baseball Mogul (1997) was the original release that kicked off the whole franchise. Developed by Clay Dreslough and published by Infinite Monkey Systems, this was a pioneer in the world of sports management sims. It was released f...
Dungeon Crawl
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1997freeware
Dungeon Crawl (also known as Linley's Dungeon Crawl from the name of the original programmer: Linley Henzell) is a classic roguelike: an RPG with permadeath, procedural generation and high replayability. Dungeon Crawl was released...