Abandonware strategy games sorted by release date
Games based on strategy allow for reasoning and planning of one’s moves and actions. The gameplay may be based on player’s turns (Turn-based Strategy) or it may be in real time (Real-Time Strategy, RTS). These games focus on strategy and tactics rather than action, sometimes with the addition of financial or logistic features.
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Star General
Windows XP/98/95DOS1996protected turn-based tactics, wargame
Star General is a turn-based strategy game developed by Catware and published by SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.). It was released in 1996 for MS-DOS and later for Windows. The game is set in a science fiction universe where play...
Syndicate Wars
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1996protected real-time tactics
Syndicate Wars is the sequel to the much acclaimed Syndicate developed by Bullfrog in its golden years. Like its predecessor, Syndicate Wars is a real-time tactics strategy game set in a cyberpunk dystopian world involving excessi...
The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici
DOSMac OS1996protected sandbox strategy, real-time strategy, city building
Z
DOS1996protected real-time strategy
Welcome to Z, the real-time strategy game where psychotic robots with British accents duke it out over territory in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Think Command & Conquer if the developers had a few too many pints and a twisted...
Age of Empires
Windows XP/98/951997protecteddemo real-time strategy
Released in 1997, Age of Empires is what happens when ancient history gets drunk and decides to party. You start in the Stone Age, bashing wild boars and clubbing trees, and before you know it, you’re building temples and fl...
Checkers for Windows
Windows 3.x1997 board game
Combat Chess
Windows XP/98/951997protected chess
Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor
Windows XP/98/951997 real-time strategy
Dark Reign: The Future of War
Windows XP/98/951997protected real-time strategy, real-time tactics
Dungeon Keeper
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1997protected sandbox strategy, god game, real-time strategy
Dungeon Keeper 2
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1997protected sandbox strategy, god game, real-time strategy
J.R.R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan
DOS1997 real-time tactics
Magic: The Gathering
Windows XP/98/951997 collectible card game, cards
Magic: The Gathering (sometimes also referred as Shandalar) is an abandoned strategy game based on the popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, developed and released by MicroProse Software for Windows in 1997. MTG is s...
Myth: The Fallen Lords
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1997 real-time tactics, real-time strategy
NetStorm: Islands at War
Windows XP/98/951997 real-time strategy
Pacific General
Windows XP/98/951997protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Panzer General 2
Windows XP/98/951997protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Steel Panthers 3: Brigade Command - 1939-1999
DOS1997protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Total Annihilation
Windows XP/98/951997protected real-time strategy
Vlad Tepes Dracula
Windows XP/98/951997 real-time strategy, business simulation
Warheads
Windows XP/98/951997 artillery
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes
Windows XP/98/951997 4x, wargame
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 Heroe...
Waterworld
DOS1997 real-time tactics
X-COM: Apocalypse
DOSWindows XP/98/951997protected turn-based tactics
X-COM: Apocalypse is the third installment of the very popular X-COM franchise. After X-COM: Ufo Defence and Terror From the Deep, fans expected another smash hit. Apocalypse is quite different under many aspects, from gameplay to...
101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy
Windows XP/98/951998 turn-based tactics
So you think you're ready to storm Normandy? Think again. 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy drops you into the chaos of World War II with all the grace of a paratrooper landing in a barn. This is a tactical strategy game that...
Army Men
Windows XP/98/951998 real-time tactics
Army Men lets you live out your childhood fantasy of plastic soldier warfare without the hassle of crawling under the couch. You control Sarge, a green-tinted war machine with a stiff upper lip and an affinity for melting tan enem...
Army Men 2
Windows XP/98/951998protected real-time tactics
Army Men 2 doubles down on everything from the first game - more weapons, more plastic carnage, more trips to “The Real World” where you fight in bathtubs and backyards. It’s like Toy Story if Buzz Lightyear carr...
Axis and Allies
Windows XP/98/951998 board game, wargame
Board game night went digital in 1998 with Axis and Allies, a strategy title that lets you rewrite WWII—assuming you don’t forget where you left your infantry. Fans of the tabletop classic will feel right at home maneu...
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Windows XP/98/951998protected real-time tactics
Dune 2000
Windows XP/98/951998 real-time strategy
Dune 2000 is an abandoned science fiction classic real-time strategy game based on the popular Dune franchise. The Dune "universe" took form in the books of science fiction writer Frank Herbert and went on to include mov...