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).

Sort by:

Hack

DOS1984freeware

The Final Crusade of Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software

Kingdom of Kroz 2

DOS1990 Apogee Software

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, and challenges while keeping the core mechanics of exploration, permadeath, and turn-based combat intact. SLASH'EM is...

Flying Tigers 2

DOS1994

Pango

DOS1983remake

Tempest 2000

DOS1996remake Atari

Tempest 2000 is a video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation. It was released in 1994 for DOS, Mac, the Atari Jaguar console, etc. Tempest 2000 is an enhanced remake of the original Tempest, which was released in arcades in 1981.In Tempest 2000, players control a claw-shaped ship that moves around the edges of geometric sh...

Total Carnage

DOS1994 Midway Manufacturing Company

Pac PC

DOS1995freewareremake

Space 1889

DOS1990 Paragon Software

Space 1889 is an abandoned top down RPG developed by Paragon Software and released in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga. Space 1889 setting is classic science fiction, but is set in the Victorian. It's worth noting that Space 1889 is loosely based on the tabletop game of the same name.

Sensible World of Soccer 96/97

DOS1996protected Sensible Software

Mirror Magic

Windows XP/98/95Linux1995freeware

War in Middle Earth

DOS1989 Synergistic Software

War in Middle-earth is a real-time strategy game developed by Synergistic Software and published by Melbourne House. It was released in 1988 for various platforms including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC.The game is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy world of Middle-earth, specifically focusing on the events depicted in "The Lor...

Telengard

DOS1985freeware Avalon Hill

Telengard is one of the earliest computer role-playing games, released in 1982 for various home computers like the Commodore 64, Apple II, and TRS-80 and later for PC. It was developed by Daniel Lawrence and was heavily inspired by DND, a 1970s mainframe game that itself took influence from Dungeons & Dragons. Telengard is a dungeon crawle...

Austerlitz 1805

DOS1989 Cornerstone Software

Power Dolls

DOS1994 Kogado Software Products

Beverly Hills Cop

DOS1990 Tynesoft Computer Software

Take Eddie Murphy’s swagger, remove the charm, add some DOS chiptunes, and you get Beverly Hills Cop—a game adaptation that asks: “What if being a wisecracking detective meant stiff animations and random driving segments?” It’s a mash-up of shooting, driving, and wondering what just happened, loosely held together by t...

Carrier Strike: South Pacific 1942-44

DOS1992protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.

Super ZZT

DOS1992 Epic MegaGames

Infiltrator 2

DOS1988 Chris Gray Enterprises

Dogs of War

Windows XP/98/951996demo Software Engineering

Global Effect

DOS1992 Millennium Interactive

High Command: Europe 1939-45

DOS1992 Colorado Computer Creations

Ascii Sector

Windows 10/11LinuxDOS2007freeware

Ascii Sector is what happens when someone takes Privateer, removes the graphics, and replaces them with pure ASCII and sheer willpower. It’s open-world space sim meets roguelike: you trade, fight, explore, get stabbed in shady bars, and generally try not to die in a universe drawn entirely with keyboard characters. The depth is insane, the le...

Fleet Command

DOS1999protected Sonalysts

Subtrade: Return to Irata

DOS1993 Century Interactive

Subtrade: Return to Irata is an abandoned science fiction business simulation game developed by Century Interactive and published by Boeder Software in 1993 for Amiga and later ported to DOS. Subtrade is an updated multiplayer clone of the classic M.U.L.E., set underwater on an oceanic world.

Acquire

DOS1989 IBM

Acquire (1989, DOS) brings boardroom drama to your DOS screen, turning you into a hotel tycoon in a game where the real enemy is... math. It's a faithful adaptation of the classic board game, complete with mergers, hostile takeovers, and the slow crushing realization that your cousin bought all the good stocks before you. There’s no real anim...