Abandonware DOS title

Top-down perspective sorted by year, newest first

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).
omegacomplex-4

Omega

DOS19894/5 Origin Systems
Omega is an abandoned science fiction themed strategy game developed and released by Origin Systems in 1989 for DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, C64. Omega is a rare example of a programming game about robots.
pictionary-01

Pictionary: The Game of Quick Draw

DOS19893/5 Oxford Mobius
pipedreams-2

Pipe Dream

DOSWindows 3.x19894.3/5 The Assembly Line
Pipe Mania (also known as Pipe Dream is a tile-matching (sort of) puzzle game about flowing liquids developed by The Assembly Line in 1989. You must build a path made of pipe pieces to let a green liquid (sewer goo?) flow. It's simple, original and addicting, that's why Pipe Mania was cloned a number of times.
prophecy-trinadon-6

Prophecy: the Fall of Trinadon

DOS19893.4/5 Activision
pyramidsegypt-4

Pyramids of Egypt

DOS19894/5 Ideas From the Deep
qixtaito-2

Qix

DOS19894.1/5 Taito
risk-3

Risk: the World Conquest Game

DOS19893.8/5 Mastertronic
rock-and-roll-03

Rock 'n Roll

DOS19894/5 Rainbow Arts
romance3king-2

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

DOS19893.9/5 KOEI
sarge-02

Sarge

DOS19893.3/5
scrabble-01

Scrabble

DOS19893.6/5
simcity-6

SimCity

DOSWindows 3.xWindows XP/98/951989protected4.1/5 Maxis
SimCity (or SimCity Classic) is a popular city building simulation in which you, the mayor of a city, have to build a metropolis from the ground up. You can build police and fire departments, assign industrial, residential or commercial areas, manage power distribution, build ports and airports. Grow your city from village to metropolis and try to ...
skyshark-04

Sky Shark

DOS19893.5/5 Toaplan
spacerogue-2

Space Rogue

DOS19894/5 Origin Systems
Space Rogue is a science fiction RPG developed by Richard Garriott's Origin and desined by Paul Neurath. Space Rogue combines a 3D space simulation with a top down view RPG gameplay. As a space pilot you can hunt bounties, buy and sell goods, land on starbases or outposts and talk to NPCs, do quests, etc.
star-trek-combat-arena-04

Star Trek Combat Arena

DOS19893.7/5
star-wars-2-04

Star Wars 2

DOS19894.1/5
sword-of-aragon-05

Sword of Aragon

DOS1989protected4.2/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
sword-of-samurai-06

Sword of the Samurai

DOS1989protected4/5 MicroProse Software
tangled-tales-03

Tangled Tales

DOS19893.5/5 Origin Systems
scrabble-1

The computer edition of Scrabble

DOS19893.2/5 Leisure Genius
magiccandle-1

The Magic Candle

DOS19894/5 Mindcraft Software
The Magic Candle: Volume 1 is the first chapter of a series of fantasy old school RPGs. The Magic Candle was developed and released by Mindcraft Software in 1989 for DOS but was also published for Apple II and Commodore 64. The whole Magic Candle series is very similar to some of the early Ultima games in every aspect: turn-based combat, top-down v...
thunderblade-05

Thunderblade

DOS19893.4/5 Sega
time-bandit-08

Time Bandit

DOS19894.4/5 MichTron
Time Bandit is a classic top-down arcade-style video game that was released in 1982 for various home computer systems, such as the Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and others. It was developed by MichTron. In Time Bandit, players control a character who must navigate through a series of maze-like levels, battling various enemies and collecting treasure a...
timesoflore-4

Times of Lore

DOS19894.1/5 Origin Systems
Times of Lore is an abandoned action RPG designed by Chris Roberts, developed and released by Origin Systems in 1989 for DOS and many more 8 bit and 16 bit platforms. Compared to Ultima (the much more popular franchise also by Origin) Times of Lore is a washed down RPG, more similar to a NES game. In fact, Roberts was inspired by The Legend of Zelda.
titan-03

Titan

DOS19893.5/5 Titus Interactive
toobin-2

Toobin

DOS19894.1/5 Domark Software
Toobin is an abandoned action game developed by Domark Software and released in 1989. Toobin runs on DOS but was also published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy Color, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum. It's a conversion from a popular arcade game (at the time).
tracon1-02

Tracon: Air Traffic Control Simulator

DOS19893.8/5 Wesson International
trivial-pursuit-03

Trivial Pursuit

DOS19893.4/5
Trivial Pursuit is a popular trivia board game that was adapted into a computer game for various platforms, including DOS. In the game, players answer trivia questions from various categories in order to collect pie pieces that correspond to those categories. The goal is to collect all the pie pieces and complete a full pie before your opponents.