Abandonware DOS title

The most popular based on a novel games

Many classic games were based on books, whether novels or short stories. This literary influence brought rich narratives and intricate worlds to the gaming medium. Some notable examples include "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, which inspired numerous games that explore Middle-earth's epic battles and complex lore. "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke provided a foundation for games that delve into the mysteries of space exploration and alien encounters. "The Mist" by Stephen King led to atmospheric horror games that capture the suspense and terror of the original story.
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Companions of Xanth

DOS1993protected Legend Entertainment
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Team Yankee

DOS1990 Oxford Digital Enterprises
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Spirit of Excalibur

DOS1990 Synergistic Software
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Prisoner of Ice

DOS1995protected Chaosium Inc.
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The Shadows of Mordor

DOS1988 Beam Software
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The Cardinal of the Kremlin

DOS1990 Capstone
The Cardinal of the Kremlin is an abandoned simulation game involving espionage, politics and govern management set in the cold war years. It was designed by Kenneth Rothschild, developed by Capstone and released by IntraCorp in 1990 for DOS and Amiga. The Cardinal of the Kremlin was based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name.
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Below The Root

DOS1984 Dale Disharoon, Inc.
Below the root is an atipycal early 2 dimensional adventure game based on the Zilpha Keatley Snyder novels: the Green Sky Trilogy. The player can choose one of many characters, each with different skills and embark in a quest to eliminate the distrust between two races: the Erdling and the Kindar.
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The Wizard of Oz

DOS1985 Windham Classics
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La Abadia del Crimen

DOS1987 Opera Soft
La Abadía del Crimen (The Abbey of Crime) is an action-adventure developed in Spain by Paco Menéndez in the mid-1980s. It was initially created for the Amstrad CPC and later ported to other popular home computer systems of the time, such as the ZX Spectrum and MSX. The game was released in 1987.
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9 Princes in Amber

DOS1985 Telarium
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Gateway 2: Homeworld

DOS1993protected Legend Entertainment
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Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

DOS1997 Legend Entertainment
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J.R.R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan

DOS1997 Papyrus Design Group
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Dragonriders of Pern

DOS1987 Everlasting
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William Shatner's TekWar

DOS1995 Capstone
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Megafortress

DOS1991protected Artech Studios
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The Fourth Protocol

DOS1987 The Electronic Pencil Co.
The Fourth Protocol is a 1985 interactive fiction video game inspired by Frederick Forsyth's 1984 Cold War spy novel of the same name. Developed by the Electronic Pencil Company and published by Hutchinson Computer Publishing, the game was released on platforms such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and IBM PC (in 1997). Designed as a ...
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Return of the Phantom

DOS1993protecteddemo MicroProse Software
Return of the Phantom is adventure game set in France, designed by Raymond Benson, developed by MicroProse Software and released in 1993 for DOS only. Return of the Phantom is a third-person adventure game based on the book Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.
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Transarctica

DOS1993 Silmarils
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Return to Ringworld

DOS1994 Tsunami Media
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Rendezvous with Rama

DOS1985 Telarium
Rendezvous with Rama is an interactive fiction (text adventure) game released in 1984. Telarium, a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software, was known for producing narrative-driven games based on popular literary works. This adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's novel is one of the earlier attempts to translate a science fiction classic into an interactive for...
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ICON: Quest for the Ring

DOS1984 Macrocom
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Pacific Islands

DOS1992 Oxford Digital Enterprises
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Hook

DOS1992 Shadow Software
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War of the Lance

DOS1990protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
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Zorro

DOS1995 Capstone
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Red Storm Rising

DOS1989 MicroProse Software
Red Storm Rising is a submarine simulation video game developed and published by MicroProse in 1988, based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy and Larry Bond. The game is set during a hypothetical World War III scenario, focusing on naval combat between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces. Players command a modern nuclear submarine from a first-per...
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Dragonflight

DOS1991 Thalion