Abandonware DOS title

The most popular top-down party-based RPG games

Party-based role-playing games with a top-down perspective were among the first CRPGs to capture the attention of pen-and-paper RPG fans. The top-down view is ideal for evoking the feeling of looking at a map and is perfect for showcasing each party member in turn-based combat. Among the most fondly remembered top-down CRPGs from the golden age of gaming are those designed by the legendary Richard Garriott, such as the Ultima series. Other classics, like The Magic Candle, Dark Sun, and Wasteland, are also worth mentioning.
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Amberstar

DOS1992 Thalion
Amberstar is a fantasy old school RPG very similar to Ultima 6 that uses a top-down view for interiors and small locations and a first person pseudo 3D view for everything else. Un...
disciples-of-steel-04

Disciples of Steel

DOS1994
By 1994, RPG fans were spoiled with titles like Might and Magic and Ultima. Then along came Disciples of Steel, a brutally complex, turn-based fantasy epic for DOS. It drops you in...
azalta-03

Azalta: Cult of the Raven

DOS1996
Azalta: Cult of the Raven is what happens when a lone developer says, “I can make an RPG better than Ultima!” and sort of does. Released in 1996, this DOS dungeon crawl...
planetsedge-8

Planet's Edge

DOS1991protected New World Computing
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Space 1889

DOS1990 Paragon Software
Space 1889 (1990, DOS) is steampunk before steampunk was cool. Based on the tabletop RPG, it sends you to an alternate Victorian era where the British Empire has expanded — t...
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Scavengers of the Mutant World

DOS1988 Interstel Corporation
Scavengers of the Mutant World (1988) takes you to a post-apocalyptic wasteland where radiation has turned most life forms into something between a potato and a death machine. Your...
ultima7part2-9

Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle

DOS1993 Origin Systems
As sequels go, Serpent Isle is less “more of the same” and more “everything is different, good luck.” Shipwrecked on a strange new land, you’ll deal w...
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The Dark Heart of Uukrul

DOS1989 Digital Studios Limited
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Exile II: Crystal Souls

Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1996freeware Spiderweb Software
Exile II: Crystal Souls is the kind of RPG that quietly sneaks into your life and then refuses to leave your thoughts. Released in 1996, it looks humble, even a bit scruffy, but be...
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Fountain of Dreams

DOS1990 Electronic Arts
Fountain of Dreams is a post-apocalyptic RPG that feels like a distant, slightly sunburned cousin of more famous wasteland adventures. Set in a radioactive Florida, it sends you sc...
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Challenge of the Five Realms

DOS1992protected MicroProse Software
Fancy saving a kingdom from impending doom in exactly 100 in-game days? Challenge of the Five Realms (1992) offers just that, blending RPG exploration with a looming deadline and s...
dungeons-of-kairn-02

Dungeons of Kairn

DOS1989
If Dungeons of Kairn were a person, it’d be that quiet D&D player who never smiles and always plays lawful evil. Released in 1989, this obscure DOS crawler delivers all t...
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Demon's Winter

DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
In this 1989 DOS game, you survive in a post-apocalyptic world where demons have taken over. Scavenge for resources, fight off demonic creatures, and try to rebuild civilization. I...
dragonflight-01

Dragonflight

DOS1991 Thalion
Dragonflight (1991) was a German RPG that dared to think big—party-based adventuring, sprawling maps, and a proper fantasy plot. It played like a love letter to Ultima with i...
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Phantasie 1

DOS1987protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
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Meantime

DOS1992canceled Interplay Productions