Abandonware DOS title

The best text-based games

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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
egatrek-03

EGA Trek

DOS1988remake
hollywoodhij-splash

Hollywood Hijinx

DOS1986 Infocom
knight-exchange-03

Knight Exchange

DOS1988 Softdisk Publishing
Ever dreamed of a medieval Wall Street where knights swap swords instead of stocks? Knight Exchange turns that fever dream into pixels. Released in 1988 for DOS, this quirky strategy game has you managing resources, training knigh...
kingdom-of-kroz-2-splash

Kingdom of Kroz 2

DOS1990 Apogee Software
mindwheel-02

Mindwheel

DOS1985 Synapse Software
pasrun_000

The Astronomy Quiz

DOS1988 Softdisk Publishing
at-slow-1

At-slow4

DOS1989
dragonriderspern-1

Dragonriders of Pern

DOS1987 Everlasting
Based on Anne McCaffrey’s novels, Dragonriders of Pern (1987) is an odd duck. It tries to blend diplomacy, strategy, and a dash of action into one package. You don’t just ride dragons—you negotiate alliances, man...
pacgal-01

Pac Gal

DOS1982
alice-wonderland-if-01

Alice in Wonderland

DOS1989
Step into the rabbit hole - no, really, step carefully, or you’ll glitch right through the floor. Alice in Wonderland (1989, DOS) is a surreal, side-scrolling adventure that loosely follows the Lewis Carroll classic, if Lewi...
2112-01

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...
caverns-of-chaos-01

Caverns of Chaos

DOS1992
Despite the ominous title, Caverns of Chaos (1992) plays like the lovechild of rogue-like masochism and old-school dungeon crawling. There’s loot, traps, monsters, and more ways to die than you have fingers. Its charm lies i...
codebreaker-02

Codebreaker

DOS1994freeware
Put on your mental trench coat, because Codebreaker is here to make you feel smart—or incredibly foolish. It’s a brain-teasing logic game where you deduce secret number codes through trial, error, and a lot of second-g...
hamil-01

Kingdom of Hamil

DOS1987 Topologika Software
madball-02

Madball

DOS1985
megapede-02

Megapede

DOS1992
ms-diagnostics-3-01

Microsoft Diagnostics 3.01

DOS1994 Microsoft
ooze-01

Ooze: Creepy Nites

DOS1989 Dragonware Games
3-musketeers-fr-02

The Three Musketeers

DOS1987 Greve Graphics
hamburger-hell-02

Hamburger Hell

DOS1986remake
murder-by-the-dozen-01

Murder by the Dozen

DOS1983 BrainBank