Abandonware action games sorted by release date
Action video games are a genre of video games that emphasize physical challenges, hand-eye coordination, and reaction time. These games typically involve fast-paced gameplay, where players control a character who must navigate through a dynamic environment filled with obstacles, enemies, and other challenges. The primary focus is on the player's ability to react quickly and make split-second decisions.
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Beast
DOS1984 maze
Beast is ASCII horror at its most gloriously minimal. You’re a brave soul (well, a smiley face) trapped in a dungeon with sentient blobs (the titular beasts) that want you very, very dead. Armed only with moving blocks and r...
Bouncing Babies
DOS1984
Ah yes, the golden age of video games: where catching babies yeeted from burning buildings was a fun pastime. In Bouncing Babies, you play as a heroic volunteer with a trampoline, catching pixel infants and launching them to safet...
David's Kong
DOS1984remake
Frogger Jr.
DOS1984
Gremlins
DOS1984
Hard Hat Mack
DOS1984 platform
Janitor Joe
DOS1984 platform
Jumpman
DOS1984 platform
Montezuma's Revenge
DOS1984 metroidvania, platform
Montezuma's Revenge is a platforming video game that debuted in 1984. It was designed by Robert Jaeger and originally published by Parker Brothers. The game was available on a variety of platforms, including the Atari 2600, Atari ...
Ms. Pac-Man
DOS1984 maze
Ms. Pac-Man is a classic arcade game released by Midway in 1982 (1984 for DOS) as a follow-up to the original Pac-Man (1980), developed by Namco. While its core gameplay is similar - navigating a maze, eating dots, and a...
Nerm of Bemer
DOS1984 action puzzle
Oil's Well
DOS1984 maze, action puzzle
Oil's Well is an action-puzzle game released by Sierra On-Line in 1983/84. It was originally made for platforms like the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS, but was later ported to other systems. The game is set in an...
Pong v.2.1 clone
DOS1984
Q*Bert
DOS1984
Q*bert is a classic arcade game that was created by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee and was released by Gottlieb in 1982. The main goal of Qbert is to change the color of every cube in a pyramid by having the character, Qbert,...
Styx
DOS1984
Tapper
DOS1984
Xonix
DOS1984remake
Antix
DOS1985remake
Antix (1985) is Snake, but with a death wish. Created by the same mad genius behind Tetris, this game takes the familiar snake-trail mechanic and cranks it to eleven. You’ve got to avoid walls, your own tail, and existential...
Madball
DOS1985
Rebound
DOS1985 block breaker, action puzzle
Silly Master Blaster
DOS1985 pinball
The Goonies
DOS1985
Willy the Worm
DOS1985
Yie Ar Kung Fu
DOS1985 fighting
The proto-fighting game that walked so Street Fighter could punch. Yie Ar Kung Fu is pure arcade joy: a brave martial artist named Oolong fights a rogue’s gallery of opponents with names like “Star” and “Fa...
Yie Ar Kung Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah
DOS1985 fighting
The sequel nobody expected but everyone button-mashed through. Yie Ar Kung Fu 2 adds more characters, more chaos, and less coherence. This time you’re Lee (no relation to Bruce, allegedly), battling an army of themed fighter...
Bob Winner
DOS1986 beat 'em up
Ah, Bob Winner (1986, DOS), the game that asks: what if Indiana Jones had a cousin who got lost in a side-scroller? You play as the titular Bob, an adventurer who walks like he’s late for a dinner date and punches wildlife l...
Dragons: A Challenge in Chivalry
DOS1986 block breaker
Elevator
DOS1986freeware
Gauntlet
DOS1986 maze, dungeon crawl
Hamburger Hell
DOS1986remake