Text-based games: ASCII, etc. sorted by year, newest first
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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.
Sort by:
Indenture
DOS1995remake
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...
Borland DBase 5
DOS1994 Borland Software Corporation
Codebreaker
DOS1994freeware
Microsoft Diagnostics 3.01
DOS1994 Microsoft
Borland Paradox 4.5
DOSWindows XP/98/951993 Borland Software Corporation
Championship Manager 93
DOS1993 Domark Software
Championship Manager Italia
DOS1993 Sports Interactive Limited
Data Perfect 2.6
DOS1993
Guns 'R' Us
DOS1993 Future Vision
Novell DOS 7
DOS1993 Novell
Red sky at morning
DOS1993 Simulations Canada
Rules of Engagement 2
DOS1993 Omnitrend Software
Safe Opening Simulator
DOS1993
The Patcher 6.1
DOS1993
Angband
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1992freeware
If you’ve ever thought The Lord of the Rings needed more ASCII and fewer hobbit feelings, Angband is your jam. Since 1992, this dungeon-crawling roguelike has been throwing players into a 100-level deathtrap where the ultima...
Bible Builder
DOS1992
Ever wanted to combine your love for trivia with Old Testament knowledge and 256-color DOS graphics? Bible Builder is here to test your biblical memory one verse at a time. It's like Jeopardy but with fewer cash prizes and more di...
Castle Elsinore
DOS1992 Temple Software
If Hamlet had a sequel directed by a DOS programmer, Castle Elsinore would be it. This interactive fiction game drops you right into Shakespearean drama with murder, betrayal, and the occasional parser error. You’ll solve pu...
Caverns of Chaos
DOS1992
Championship Manager
DOS1992 Domark Software
Championship Manager is the first chapter in one of the most successful football manager games series. The first Championship Manager was a text-based British football/soccer simulation and included teams from four Engli...
Lynx
DOS1992freeware
Megapede
DOS1992
Melody Maker 3
DOS1992
Moria
DOS1992freeware
Norton Desktop
DOS1992 Peter Norton Computing
Objection!
DOS1992
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...
Rawcopy
DOS1992
Super ZZT
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Turbo Pascal 7
DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1992 Borland Software Corporation
Turbo Pascal 7 (TP7) is a programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed by Borland as an evolution of their earlier Turbo Pascal versions. Tu...