The best underrated underdog games
In order to be an underdog, a game has to be "not well known" to the public (not now, nor at the time of its release) or underrated, but worth mentioning and playing for some reason. There are plenty of games that won the love of gamers against all odds; some of them even had a cult following. By the way, this keyword pays tribute to Sarinee Achavanuntakul, the owner of the first version of Home of the Underdogs, the site that started and popularized the abandonware concept.
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Hill Street Blues
DOS1991 Krisalis
Hill Street Blues is an old DOS "driving" game developed by Krisalis in 1991. The gameplay it's similar to a Grand Theft Auto clone (we're talking about GTA 1 or 2) in which you are the police and you have to apprehend criminals. ...
The Fool's Errand
DOS1989freeware Synergistic Software
The Fool's Errand is a puzzle-adventure computer game created by Cliff Johnson and released in 1987 for Macintosh and later for MS-DOS. The game follows the journey of a nameless fool through a magical land inspired by Tarot ...
Ultra Mortal Kombat Vendetta
Windows XP/98/952001freeware
Redneck Rampage
DOS1997protected Xatrix Entertainment
Shadowgate
DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1988 ICOM Simulations
Shadowgate is an abandoned fantasy-themed adventure game developed by ICOM Simulations and released by Mindscape in 1988 for Macintosh, DOS, and also for Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, NES. Shadowgate uses the ICOM MacVenture e...
D/Generation
DOS1991 The Software Toolworks
Utopia: The Creation of a Nation
DOS1992 Celestial software
Utopia: The Creation of a Nation is a simulation video game released in 1992 by Konami. It allows players to build and manage a colony on a distant planet, where they must ensure the survival and prosperity of their people. The ga...
Dink Smallwood
Windows XP/98/951998freeware Robinson Technologies
Dink Smallwood is an action role-playing video game developed by Robinson Technologies. It was first released in 1997 for Windows and later became freeware. The game was created by Seth Robinson, and it gained a cult following for...
Auf Wiedersehen Monty
Windows XP/98/952001remake
In Auf Wiedersehen Monty, our favorite marsupial is back, and this time he's taking a very pixelated Eurotrip. Released for Windows XP in 2001, it's a nostalgia-fueled platformer that insists you master gravity-defying jumps and m...
Elona
Windows 10/112007freeware
Elona (short for Eternal League of Nefia) is a free roguelike RPG developed by Japanese indie developer named Noa in 2007. Its gameplay combines elements of open-world exploration, dungeon crawling, and life simulation. It has com...
Feud
DOS1988 Binary Design
NetStorm: Islands at War
Windows XP/98/951997
Normality
DOS1996protecteddemo Gremlin Graphics / Gremlin Interactive
Normality is a first-person adventure video game developed by Gremlin Interactive and released in 1996. The game is set in a dystopian future where a totalitarian regime known as the One True Government (OTG) controls the city of ...
Roadwar Europa
DOS1987protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Strife
DOS1996protecteddemo Velocity
Strife from 1996 is a first-person shooter game developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Velocity, based on the Doom engine. It's often remembered for being one of the earlier games to blend first-person shooter gameplay ...
Thomas the Tank Engine
DOS1992 Peakstar Software
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space
Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS2005protected Digital Eel
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a science fiction roguelike game developed by Digital Eel. Originally released in 2005, it is the sequel to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. The game puts you in command of a sta...
Abuse
DOSLinuxMac OS1995freeware Crack dot Com
The year is 1995, and Abuse brings us one of the slickest, darkest run-and-gun shooters ever to crawl out of a DOS/Linux/Mac basement. You play a guy in prison for a crime he didn’t commit (sure, pal), armed to the teeth and...
Virus
DOS1988
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
Windows XP/98/951999 MicroProse Software
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation is a turn-based strategy video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by MicroProse Software and published by Infogrames for Windows in 1999. Players take on the role of ...
Fast Food Dizzy
DOS1989 Codemasters
Alter Ego: Male Version
DOS1986 Activision
Welcome to Alter Ego: Male Version, where your life begins with a cry and a diaper and only goes downhill - or uphill, depending on your choices. This text-based simulation lets you experience the full ride of being a man: childho...
Knight Games
DOS1988 Mastertronic
Olympic games were something back in the 80s and the 90s: Winter Games, Summer Games, California Games, anything-you-can-think-of games. Some imaginative developer thought that the world needed a different kind of "multisport" act...
Flight of the Amazon Queen
DOS1995freeware Interactive Binary Illusions
Flight of the Amazon Queen is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Interactive Binary Illusions and originally released in 1995. The game is heavily inspired by the likes of Indiana Jones and Monkey Island, combining humo...
Power Drift
DOS1990 Sega
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1996freeware
Airball
DOS1987 MicroDeal
In Airball (1987), you don’t play a knight, a space marine, or a plumber - you play a literal ball of air. Trapped in an isometric nightmare of spikes, fans, and poison gas, your squishy self must navigate hazards that clear...
Hugo's House of Horrors
DOS1990 Gray Design Associates
Hugo's House of Horrors is an adventure game developed by David P. Gray and released in the early 1990s. The game is a text-based adventure with simple graphics, and it gained popularity for its witty and often tongue-in-cheek app...
Cadaver
DOS1990 Bitmap Brothers
Ever wonder what it’s like to be a grave-robbing dwarf with a flair for interior dungeon decoration? Cadaver grants that peculiar wish. As Karadoc, you’ll wander an eerie fortress filled with traps, puzzles, and enough...
Legions
Windows 3.xMac OS1994 Mindscape