The most popular turn based games
In direct contrast with real-time games, turn-based games gameplay is based on the players taking turns to do what needs to be done: move in a dungeon, play cards, attack enemy units.
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3D-Maze
Windows 3.x1991
Ah, 3D-Maze. If you used Windows 3.x, you probably saw this lurking in the corner of your screen savers like a digital minotaur. Released in 1991, it’s not quite a game, but everyone played it anyway. You walk endlessly thro...
UMS 2: Nations at War
DOSMac OS1990 Intergalactic Development
Nobunaga's Ambition 6
DOS1994 KOEI
Football Fanatic
DOS1998freeware
Robot Rascals
DOS1987 Ozark Softscape
Lords of Conquest
DOS1987 Eon Software
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...
Hack
DOS1984freeware
Motor City
DOS1994 Max Design
Deadlock: Planetary Conquest
Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1996protected Accolade
Ancients 2: Approaching Evil
DOS1994 Farr-Ware Software
A direct sequel to Deathwatch, Ancients 2: Approaching Evil is like returning to your childhood neighborhood, except everyone’s still trying to kill you. Released in 1994, it builds on the first game’s formula by addin...
Sword of Aragon
DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
5th Fleet
DOS1994
This 1994 naval strategy game for DOS is based on the board game of the same name, which means you’ll spend more time squinting at menus than blowing up ships. It’s cerebral, methodical, and incredibly satisfying - if ...
Exile: Escape from the Pit
Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1995freeware Spiderweb Software
Exile: Escape from the Pit is a turn-based role-playing game (RPG) developed by Spiderweb Software. It is part of the Exile series, originally released in the mid-1990s. This game was later remade and re-released as Avernum: Escap...
Capture the Flag
DOS1993
No guns. No glory. Just two invisible players navigating a weird Tron-like maze to steal each other’s flag. Capture the Flag is what you get when someone says “let’s make Pac-Man multiplayer and add a dash of par...
Arcade Pool
DOS1994 Team 17
Arcade Pool (1994) is like playing a game of billiards in your best friend’s basement—if your best friend happened to be a DOS machine with a serious competitive streak. It’s shockingly addictive, with physics th...
Santa Paravia en Fiumaccio
DOS1988 Starsoft Development
Archer Maclean's Pool
DOS1992 Virgin Interactive
For those who think snooker is too posh and billiards too French, there's Archer Maclean's Pool, the most ‘90s way to simulate the timeless art of arguing over whether that shot was really legal. It’s pool in DOS &mdas...
Rack 'em
DOS1988 Artech Studios
Block O Mania
DOS1989 Crystal Shard
Block O Mania is what happens when a Rubik’s Cube and a sliding puzzle fall in love during a rave. Released in 1989 for DOS, this game will twist your brain into shapes it wasn’t designed for. The goal? Push blocks. Lo...
Panzer Battles
DOS1990 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Bobby Fisher teaches chess
DOS1994 Mission Studios
Ever wanted to get chess lessons from a genius who could crush your soul with a bishop and a glare? Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (1994, DOS) is your chance. Based on the classic book, the game patiently walks you through strategies...
Keef the Thief: A Boy and his Lockpick
DOS1989 Naughty Dog
Wizardry 4: The Return of Werdna
DOS1988 Sir-tech Software
The Four Crystals of Trazere
DOS1992 Mindscape
Spaceward Ho!
Windows 3.xDOS1992 Delta Tao Software
Laser Squad
DOS1992 Target Games Limited
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 a...
Monopoly
DOS1985
Battle Isle 93: The Moon of Chromos
DOS1993 Blue Byte Software
A game with a name like Battle Isle 93: The Moon of Chromos clearly means business. Released in 1993, it’s an expansion-slash-standalone with new missions, harder AI, and an even more hostile moon. You’ll manage resour...
Ancients 1: Deathwatch
DOS1991 Farr-Ware Software
In Ancients 1: Deathwatch, you gather your pixelated party and set off to cleanse a city of evil, or at least try not to get mugged by slimes. It's a dungeon crawler in classic DOS fashion — grid movement, turn-based battles...