Abandonware DOS title

The best fixed screen 2D games

In a fixed-screen 2D game, the gameplay is confined to a single screen with no vertical or horizontal scrolling. The screen remains static, and the overall gameplay occurs within the boundaries of this fixed screen.
Fixed-screen games were common in the early days of video gaming, especially in arcade games. This design was largely due to technical limitations of early hardware, which made scrolling more difficult to implement. As a result, many early arcade classics, such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, relied on fixed-screen mechanics.
frac-03

Frac

DOS1990
zyconix-2

Zyconix

DOS1992protected Miracle games
Imagine Tetris went on a sugar binge and had an identity crisis. That’s Zyconix (1992, DOS) in a nutshell. It’s a tile-matching puzzle game where nothing quite behaves how you expect it to, and that’s half the fu...
bit-storm-03

BitStorm

DOS1999
1999’s BitStorm is what happens when someone decides to make a strategy game and forgets to put the brakes on the caffeine. It’s fast, it’s furious, and you’ll probably lose your first five games before rea...
bolo-ball-03

Bolo Ball

DOS1992 Soleau Software
Bolo Ball is a DOS game from the mid-1990s. It features a physics-based gameplay where the objective is to knock opponent balls out of an arena. When you start the game, you find yourself in a 2D arena set against a starry, space-...
bubble-trouble-03

Bubble Trouble

Windows XP/98/951998
Here comes another bubble game—but this one packs a punch. Bubble Trouble is a frantic shoot-’em-up where you pop evil bouncing bubbles before they bounce you out of existence. It’s part arcade mayhem, part refle...
invest-01

Inve$t

DOS1990 Starbyte Software
laser-wars-01

Laserwars

DOS1994
pick-and-pile-02

Pick 'n Pile

DOS1990 UBI Soft
power-struggle-02

Power Struggle

DOS1988 Personal Software Services
nibbles-bas-03

QBasic Nibbles

DOS1991freeware Microsoft
squarez-deluxe-04

Squarez Deluxe!

DOS1993freeware Adept Software
tag-team-wrestling-02

Tag Team Wrestling

DOS1986 Technos Japan
tko-03

TKO

DOS1989protected Accolade
zoop-03

Zoop

DOS1995 Hookstone
Imagine if Tetris, Columns, and a pack of highlighters had a baby. That’s Zoop. You’re in the center of the screen, and colorful shapes are marching toward you from all sides like angry abstract art. Your job? Blast th...
evolution-splash

Evolution

DOS1983 Sydney Development
airtrax-splash

Air Trax

DOS1983
Ah yes, Air Trax from 1983 - a game where “flight” is more of a philosophical concept. It’s clunky, it's slow, and it looks like it was coded in someone’s garage (because it probably was). But there’s...
elevator-splash

Elevator

DOS1986freeware Wordworks Software
meteor-mission-1

Meteor Mission

DOS1995
marble-cooking-05

Marble Cooking

DOS1994NSFW Negative
packman-splash

Pack-Man

DOS1983remake Magicom Multimedia
encounter-1

Encounter

DOS1984
15x15picpuzzle-02

15x15 Picture Puzzle

DOS1996freeware
This game is either a delightful brain teaser or a slow descent into madness, depending on how patient you are. 15x15 Picture Puzzle gives you a scrambled mess of tiny square tiles and challenges you to rearrange them into a beaut...
devastator-01

Devastator

DOS1984 COMPUTE! Publications