The best 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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Fidelity Chessmaster 2100
DOS1989 The Software Toolworks
Hack
DOS1984freeware
Arrakis
DOS2000
No relation to Dune (except for being a total rip-off), Arrakis is a homebrew strategy game that feels like a tribute to the sandiest planet in sci-fi. You mine spice, fight vaguely Harkonnen-looking enemies, and try not to crash ...
Chess
DOS1981 International PC Owners
Decision at Gettysburg
DOS1990 TigLon Software
Incursion
Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS2007freeware
Iron Cross
DOS1994 New World Computing
Llamatron 2112
DOS1992 Llamasoft
Omega
DOSLinux1988freeware
Stratego
DOS1990 Accolade
Tracon: Air Traffic Control Simulator
DOS1989 Wesson International
Nobunaga's Ambition 2
DOS1989 KOEI
Beast
DOS1984
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...
Lawn Mower
DOS1987
Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) v1.1
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1996freeware
ADOM is what happens when a rogue, a wizard, and a hungry troll walk into a dungeon and never come out. Released in 1996, this roguelike classic is brutal, brilliant, and unapologetically text-heavy. Permadeath is the norm, the st...
Rampart
DOS1992 Atari
Rampart is an abandoned mix of strategy and shooter game designed by Dave Ralston and John Salwitz, developed by Atari and released by Electronic Arts in 1992 for DOS. Rampart was converted from the original arcade version to a nu...
Ms. Pac-Man
DOS1984 Atarisoft
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...
Mychess
DOS1984 The Software Toolworks
Pinball Illusions
DOS1995 Digital Illusions
Risk
Windows 3.x1991 Azeroth
Sarakon
DOS1991 Starbyte Software
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
Color Lines
DOS1992 Gamos
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 i...
Sensible World of Soccer 96/97
DOS1996protected Sensible Software
Operation: Inner Space
Windows 3.x1994protecteddemo Software Dynamics
Ballistix
DOS1989 Reflections Interactive
Ballistix asks: “What if air hockey was controlled by futuristic cannons?” The answer: chaos. You frantically shoot pucks with directional blasts while the physics engine does whatever it wants. It’s fast, it&rsq...
FlixMix
DOS1993 Celeris
Football Glory
DOS1995freeware Croteam
Global Domination
DOS1993 Impressions Games