Abandonware DOS title

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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Stellar Crusade

DOS1988protected 4x
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Betrayal

DOS1990protected kingdom simulation
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Heirs to the Throne

DOS1992 kingdom simulation
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A Line in the Sand

DOS1992protected board game, wargame, turn-based tactics
A Line in the Sand (1992) is what happens when a board game about modern Middle Eastern warfare gets turned into a DOS strategy title with all the subtlety of a cold war memo. You command military forces in a region that is perpetually on fire, and your job is to somehow make that worse - or better, depending on your alignment and ability to read p...
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Powermonger

DOS1992 god game, real-time strategy
Powermonger is a real-time strategy game where the player must defeat opponents by conquering towns and tipping the balance of power in their favor. Success requires giving orders to soldiers and captains, as well as accumulating enough resources (such as food and equipment) to survive and ultimately win.
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Populous

DOS1989 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...
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Crusade in Europe

DOS1985 wargame, turn-based tactics
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Vlad Tepes Dracula

Windows XP/98/951997 real-time strategy, business simulation
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Strip Poker 2

DOS1988NSFW cards
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Dungeon Keeper 3: War for the Overworld

Windows 10/112000canceled sandbox strategy, god game, real-time strategy
Dungeon Keeper 3 was a cancelled dungeon management strategy game being developed by Bullfrog that was never released. Dungeon Keeper 3 was cancelled in 2000 and the Dungeon Keeper franchise ended without a third chapter.
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Core War Plus

DOS1984 real-time tactics
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Fantasy Empires

DOS1993protected turn-based tactics
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Burntime

DOS1993 action RPG, real-time strategy
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Annals of Rome

DOS1988 kingdom simulation
In Annals of Rome, you don’t just play history — you command it, badly. This 1988 strategy title lets you take control of the Roman Empire and try to keep it from falling apart, which it will, probably because you let Gaul get too uppity. It’s part turn-based strategy, part “HR simulator,” as you shuffle around senator...
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Monopoly (Adam Stevens)

DOS1998 board game
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Rules of Engagement 2

DOS1993 real-time tactics
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Teenage Queen

DOS1988NSFW cards
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Acquire

DOS1989 board game
Acquire (1989, DOS) brings boardroom drama to your DOS screen, turning you into a hotel tycoon in a game where the real enemy is... math. It's a faithful adaptation of the classic board game, complete with mergers, hostile takeovers, and the slow crushing realization that your cousin bought all the good stocks before you. There’s no real anim...
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Blood & Magic

DOS1996 real-time strategy
From the people who brought you Dungeons & Dragons, here's Blood & Magic (1996), the RTS that nobody remembers but definitely deserves a second glance. You summon golems from magical “blood forges” because apparently swords and fireballs weren’t metal enough. The gameplay is surprisingly chill for something with “Blo...
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The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici

DOSMac OS1996protected sandbox strategy, real-time strategy, city building
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Ambush at Sorinor

DOS1993 real-time strategy, real-time tactics
In Ambush at Sorinor, tactics meet fantasy in a land where ambushing people is apparently the national sport. You’re a mercenary commander picking the right team to win missions and not get horribly skewered. Battles play out in real-time, and positioning is everything - unless your units decide they’d rather walk into a tree than follo...
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The Ball Game

DOS1991 board game
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Rings of Medusa

DOS1990 real-time strategy, kingdom simulation
Rings of Medusa is a strategy / RPG developed by the German studio Starbyte Software. It was released in 1989 for various platforms including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS. In Rings of Medusa, players assume the role of a hero tasked with defeating the evil sorceress Medusa who has taken control of the city of Olympus. The game world is ...
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Alien Legacy

DOS1994 4x
Alien Legacy (1994) is like SimCity crashed into Star Trek and nobody called the insurance company. It’s a real-time strategy/simulation game that has you managing a colony in deep space while solving the mystery of what happened to the previous crew. It's part detective story, part resource management, and part “Why is my oxygen supply...
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9 Poker

DOS1989 cards
Ah, 9 Poker. Released in 1989 for DOS, this game is less a glamorous casino sim and more a smoky backroom full of pixelated cards and questionable programming. You get nine variants of poker to lose fake money in, which is both generous and slightly overwhelming - do you go for Five Card Draw or risk everything on something called Guts? The interfa...
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Black Crown

DOS1995 board game
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Full Metal Planete

DOSMac OS1990 turn-based tactics, board game
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Legions

Windows 3.xMac OS1994
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Trivial Pursuit

DOS1989 trivia / quiz, board game
Trivial Pursuit is a popular trivia board game that was adapted into a computer game for various platforms, including DOS. In the game, players answer trivia questions from various categories in order to collect pie pieces that correspond to those categories. The goal is to collect all the pie pieces and complete a full pie before your opponents.
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Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos - Joey the Passion

Windows XP/98/952004 cards, collectible card game
Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos: Joey the Passion, released by Konami in 2004, is a PC video game that brings the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game to life. This game is the third and final installment in the "Power of Chaos" series. Players engage in duels that adhere to the traditional rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, allowing them to construct and cu...