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).
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Rollo and the Brush Brothers
DOS1983 Windmill Software
Poko Memorial: 18 Hole Miniature Golf
DOS1987 Gold Hill Software
Lords of Conquest
DOS1987 Eon Software
Master of Magic
DOSWindows XP/98/951994protected SimTex
Master of Magic is a turn based 4x strategy game developed by SimTex and published by the well know Microprose, very similar to Civilization, with a fantasy twist. You play as a wizard and your objective is to evolve your race fro...
Questron 2
DOS1988protected Westwood Studios
Questron II is a role-playing game (RPG) developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) in 1988. It serves as the sequel to the original Questron (1984) and builds upon its predecessor’s f...
Mychess
DOS1984 The Software Toolworks
Pac Gal
DOS1982
Battle Isle
DOS1991protected Blue Byte Software
Turns out war is a lot tidier when it’s turn-based. Battle Isle (1991) gives you neat little hexagons to move your units on, like a very angry board game. It’s got strategy, sci-fi flair, and just enough AI ruthlessnes...
Dark Sun 2: Wake of the Ravager
DOS1994protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Alien Breed: Tower Assault
DOS1994protected Team 17
Alien Breed: Tower Assault (1994) takes everything you loved about the original - creepy corridors, limited ammo, sudden death - and adds something revolutionary for the time: non-linear level design. That's right, you can now die...
Flying Tigers
DOS1994 Ticsoft
Flying Tigers is an abandoned vertical-scrolling sci-fi themed shoot 'em up game developed and released by Ticsoft in 1994 for MS-DOS only. Flying Tigers is the first chapter of the two parts Flying Tigers video game series.
Star Control
DOS1990protected Toys for Bob
Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!
DOS1990protected id software
Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine
DOS1991protected id software
Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine is a science fiction action oriented platform game designed by Tom Hall, developed by id Software and released by Apogee Software in 1991 for DOS only. Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Mach...
Free Enterprise
Windows XP/98/951996 Tsunami Media
Dehumanizing offices? Check. Depressing environment? Check. No windows in the whole place? Check. Good, I'm ready to exploit my workers and become great entrepreneur. All of this thanks to Free Enterprise, a simulation for Windows...
Bass Duel
DOS1993
Fish or be fished could be the motto of Bass Duel (1993), a competitive angling game that pits you against a friend or an AI in a fight to the last splash. Strategy is key: where to cast, how to reel, and when to brag about your c...
Ajax
DOS1989 Konami
Ajax (1989) is like an arcade fever dream: vertical shooter, transforming vehicles, lasers everywhere, and a soundtrack that yells “blast stuff!” every few seconds. One minute you’re flying a helicopter, the next...
Allan Border's Cricket
DOS1993 Audiogenic
In Allan Border’s Cricket (1993), you get to live the thrill of... waiting. A lot. But when the action kicks in, it’s surprisingly engaging. Named after the Australian cricket legend, the game offers realistic mechanic...
Alex Higgins World Snooker
DOS1986 Lindensoft
The title Alex Higgins World Snooker might imply world-class snooker. What it delivers is 1986 DOS ball physics that sometimes feel like they were modeled in an alternate dimension. But who needs realism when you have charm, right...
Dungeons of Kroz 2
DOS1989 Apogee Software
Astro Dodge
DOS1982 Digital Marketing Corporation
Astro Dodge (1982) is basically Frogger — in space. You control a tiny spacecraft tasked with dodging endless waves of meteors, space debris, and possibly your own questionable life choices. There’s no shooting, no exp...
Motor City
DOS1994 Max Design
DND
DOS1984
Rockford: The Arcade Game
DOS1987protected Arcadia Systems
Slash'Em
Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS1997freewareremake
SLASH'EM (Super Lotsa Added Stuff Hack - Extended Magic) is a roguelike game based on NetHack, one of the most famous dungeon-crawling games of all time. It expands upon NetHack 3.4.3, adding new monsters, items, spells, roles, an...
Emperor of the Fading Suns
Windows XP/98/951996 Holistic Design
Monopoly
DOS1985
Mine Shaft
DOS1983 Sierra On-Line
Battle for Atlantis
DOS1990
Fancy a war under the sea? Battle for Atlantis (1990) asks the age-old question: what if submarines had grudges? This top-down, action strategy title throws you into a deep-sea turf war with clunky controls and a soundtrack that f...
Ikari Warriors 2: Victory Road
DOS1988 SNK Corporation