Abandonware DOS title

The most popular top down games

Top down games were very popular in the 80s and the 90s, when graphic cards were not capable of supporting 3D, and even when 3D started to become popular, 2D games continued to be easier to develop, at least in the infancy of 3D gaming. 2D game offered the player a viewpoint that helped keeping things easily under control (think about top down party-based RPGs or hex-based strategy games).

Most popular top down games

Civilization
strategyDOS, Windows 3.x
Civilization 2
strategyWindows XP/98/95
Grand Theft Auto
action-adventureDOS, Windows XP/98/95

Top down games

  • simcity-6
    DOSWindows 3.xWindows XP/98/951989protected4.1/5 Maxis

    SimCity (or SimCity Classic) is a popular city building simulation in which you, the mayor of a city, have to build a metropolis from the ground up. You can build police and fire departments, assign industrial, residential or commercial areas, manage power distribution, build ports and airports. Grow your city from village to metropolis and try to ...

  • ultima4-2
    DOS1985freeware4.2/5 Origin Systems

    Ultima IV is remembered as one of the best Ultima games ever released, designed as usual by Richard Garriott. Garriott took the Ultima series to a whole new level by introducing the eight virtues: honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality, humility. Ultima IV started the trilogy known as "Age of Enlightenment".

  • xenon2-4
    DOS19904.2/5 Bitmap Brothers

    Xenon 2: Megablast is a classic shoot'em up developed by Bitmap Brothers and released by Image Works in 1990 for DOS and for a plethora of other systems. Xenon was good, Xenon 2 was far better. Compared to today standards Xenon 2 is perhaps a mediocre shoot 'em up, but at the time every shooter fan loved it. Plus, it was developed by Bitmap Brother...

  • pirates-2
    DOS1987protected4.1/5 MicroProse Software
  • romancethree2-1
  • dynablaster-01
    DOS19924.1/5 Hudson soft
  • lordrings1-2
    DOS19904/5 Interplay Productions

    J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is an abandoned fantasy top-down DOS RPG game set in the The Lord of the Rings universe. The Lord of the Rings I was developed and released by Interplay Productions in 1990. The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is based on the popular The Lord Of The Rings book by J.R.R. Tolkien and it's focused on the f...

  • homm3-11
    Windows XP/98/951999protected4.2/5 New World Computing
  • btechcrescent-1
    DOS19884.1/5 Westwood Studios
  • deathrally-02
    DOS1996freeware4.1/5 Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
  • wcs_italy90-1
    DOS19903.9/5 Tiertex Design Studios
  • yoda-stories-03
    Windows XP/98/9519974.2/5 LucasArts
  • warlords-3-07
    Windows XP/98/9519974.3/5 SSG Strategic Studies Group

    Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is an abandoned turn-based fantasy strategy game designed by Steve Fawkner, developed by SSG Strategic Studies Group and released by Red Orb Entertainment in 1997 for Windows. Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is part of the Warlords game series and features quite a few multiplayer modes: from LAN to PBEM.

  • empire-deluxe-07
    DOSWindows 3.x19934/5 White Wolf Productions
  • micromachines-1
    DOS19944.3/5 Codemasters

    Micro Machines is an abandoned racing game developed and released by Codemasters in 1994 based on the Micro Machines toy line. Micro Machines was published for DOS, but also for Amiga, Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis, NES, SEGA Master System and SNES. Codemasters released a sequel called Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament.

  • rogue-1
    Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac19844.3/5 Artificial Intelligence Design

    Rogue is one of the first RPGs in the history of video gaming. It's a text-based dungeon crawler in which you have to fight your way in the dungeon to recover the Amulet of Yendor. Rogue became popular around 1980 on mainframes and later ported to various platforms, including DOS in 1984. Rogue is simply the father of all the roguelike games that c...

  • joensfastlane-1
    DOS19914/5 Sierra On-Line

    Jones in the Fast Lane is the kind of game that you don't see often these days. It's a mix between a digital board game and a modern day life simulation. The goal of the game is to live the life of Jones, making choices about school, work, your home, etc. Graphics is a mix of cartonish and digitized characters, very reminishent of some of the best ...

  • panzer_004
    DOS1994protected4.1/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

    Panger General is a turn based strategy wargame developed by SSI set in World War 2. The player can choose Axis or Allies and fight against the AI or another human player in more than 30 scenarios on a classic hex based map.

  • alqadim-5
    DOS1994protected3.8/5 Cyberlore studios
  • colorlines-3
    DOS19923.8/5 Gamos
  • indy-desktop-adventures-2
    Windows 3.xMac19964.1/5 LucasArts
  • galpanix-07
    Windows XP/98/952000freewareNSFW4.1/5

    Gal Pani X is an action-puzzle game reminiscent of the classic arcade Qix, developed by D2 and released in 2000 for Windows. Gal Pani X is an adult-themed Doujin game: it was made by fans and wasn't for profit.

  • ultima5-1
    DOS19884.2/5 Origin Systems
  • dark-reign-2-06
    Windows XP/98/952000protected4.3/5 Pandemic Studios
  • martiandreams-9
    DOS19914/5 Origin Systems

    Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams is an abandoned science fiction RPG designed by Jeff George, developed by Origin Systems and released in 1991 for DOS. Martian Dreams uses the Ultima VI engine to depict Mars in a top down perspective.

  • 4play-01
    Windows 3.x1995NSFW4.1/5
  • megalomania-1
    DOS19924.2/5 Sensible Software
  • ambush-at-sorinor-02
    DOS19933.7/5 Mindcraft Software
  • gary-grisby-war-in-russia-08
    DOS1993protected3.8/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
  • castleofthewinds-3
    Windows 3.x1993freeware4.2/5 SaadaSoft

    Castle of the Winds (1993, by Saadasoft) is a perfect example of an atypical roguelike (no ASCII, runs in Windows) turned into a liberated game. Surprisingly Castle of the Winds is still very playable to this day, if you can make it run under a recent version of Windows.