Top-down perspective
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:
Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
Windows 3.xMac OS19903/5 Activision
Shard of Spring
DOS1987protected3.9/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Shawl
DOS19863.4/5 AcademySoft
Sherlock: The Game of Logic
DOS1991protected4.1/5 Everett Kaser Software
Sid Meier's Pirates!
DOS1987protected4.1/5 MicroProse Software
Siege
DOS19924/5 Mindcraft Software
Silly Master Blaster
DOS19853.6/5
SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony
DOS19914.1/5 Maxis
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 ...
SimEarth
DOSWindows 3.x19904.2/5 Maxis
SimEarth is a simulation in which you can shape and mold a planet in almost every way you can imagine. In SimEarth our planet is simulated as a whole: life, climate, atmosphere are all aspects of a single Gaia-like Earth. SimEarth can be played in two modes: game and experimental. In game mode, you have to to develop (and preserve) Earth with limit...
SimFarm
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS19934.1/5 Maxis
SimFarm is a simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts in 1993. In SimFarm, players take on the role of a farmer and manage various aspects of running a farm, including planting crops, raising livestock, and dealing with natural disasters.Players start with a basic farm and a limited amount of resources, and they mus...
SimLife
DOSMac OSWindows 3.x19924/5 Maxis
SimLife is an abandoned simulation game focused on managing a ecosystems and experimenting with genetics. SimLife was designed by Ken Karakotsios, developed and released by Maxis in 1992 for DOS and later also published for Macintosh, Amiga, Windows 3.x and Amiga.
Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix
DOS19903.9/5 Zigurat Software
Skate or Die
DOS19884.3/5 Electronic Arts
Skate or Die is an abandoned sports game, developed and released by Electronic Arts in 1988 for DOS and a number of other platforms. Skate or Die is a multi-sport kind of game, including every kind of unconventional "sport" done on skateboard. A sequel, Ski or Die, was released an year later.
Ski or Die
DOS19904.1/5 Electronic Arts
Ski or Die is a winter sports-themed video game that was originally released in 1990 for various platforms, including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS. The game was developed by Electronic Arts and was a follow-up to their earlier title, "California Games". Ski or Die features a collection of winter sports events: downhill blitz, acro aerials, s...
SkiFree
Windows 3.x19913.9/5
Skullduggery: Adventures in Horror
DOS19863.4/5
Sky Shark
DOS19893.7/5 Toaplan
Slash'Em
Windows XP/98/95Linux1997freeware4.1/5
Sleuth: A Murder Mystery
DOS1983freeware4.2/5 Norland Software
Slicks 'n' Slide
DOS19934.2/5
Snack Attack 2
DOS19823.2/5 Funtastic
Socrates
DOS19934/5
Soko-Ban
DOS19844.1/5 ASCII Corporation
Solar hockey league
DOS19923.5/5 Bethesda Softworks
Solar Winds 2: Galaxy
DOS19933.9/5 Stone Interactive Media
Solidarnosc
DOS19913.4/5 P. Z. Karen Co. Development Group
Sorcerer Lord
DOS19874/5 Personal Software Services
Soviet
DOS19904.1/5 Opera Soft
Space 1889
DOS19903.6/5 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.