Abandonware DOS title

The most popular 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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
armchair-quarterback-01

Armchair Quarterback

DOS1985
Armchair Quarterback lets you live the dream of yelling at your TV — but on your DOS machine, and with even less control. It’s part simulator, part quiz show, and all weird. You make play calls, analyze stats, and pray...
jewels-of-darkness-06

Jewels of Darkness

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
felony-02

Felony!

DOS1984 BrainBank
at-slow-1

At-slow4

DOS1989
witchhavenRL-01

WitchavenRL

Windows 10/11Linux2013
madball-02

Madball

DOS1985
hamurabi-01

Hamurabi remake

DOS1996freewareremake
search-titanic-02

Search for the Titanic

DOS1989protected IntraCorp
Search for the Titanic (1989) proves that even shipwreck hunting can be turned into a spreadsheet simulator. You manage budgets, hire crews, buy sonar equipment, and hope your search doesn’t end with more debt than discovery...
3-musketeers-fr-02

The Three Musketeers

DOS1987 Greve Graphics
ooze-01

Ooze: Creepy Nites

DOS1989 Dragonware Games
hamil-01

Kingdom of Hamil

DOS1987 Topologika Software
javelin-spreadsheet-01

Javelin

DOS1985
gumboots-australia-02

Gumboots Australia

DOS1990 Reckon Software
nextgen-trivia-01

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Trivia

DOS1990 Micro F/X Software
So, you think you know Star Trek? The Next Generation – Trivia (1990, DOS) is here to prove you wrong. This is a straight-up quiz game, packed with hundreds of questions ranging from the obvious (“Who’s the capta...
mindwheel-02

Mindwheel

DOS1985 Synapse Software
mscobol

Microsoft Cobol

DOS1982 Microsoft
megapede-02

Megapede

DOS1992
murder-by-the-dozen-01

Murder by the Dozen

DOS1983 BrainBank