Abandonware DOS title

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).
tracon-for-win-01

Tracon for Windows

Windows 3.x1993 Wesson International
sarge-02

Sarge

DOS1989
color-buster-03

Color Buster

DOS1992
Color Buster (1992, DOS) is Sokoban’s rebellious cousin. You push colored blocks across labyrinthine floors like an underpaid warehouse worker in a pastel fever dream. Simple premise? Sure. But give it five levels and your b...
burntime-01

Burntime

DOS1993 Max Design
Post-apocalyptic survival meets real estate management in Burntime, where the world is ruined, but you still need to hire employees and secure water rights. It’s like Mad Max if Max decided to open a franchise of fortified r...
titan-03

Titan

DOS1989 Titus Interactive
darkspyre-02

DarkSpyre

DOS1990 Event Horizon
Before Diablo made clicking on dungeons cool, DarkSpyre was already throwing players into labyrinths filled with monsters and puzzles. Released in 1990, it combines hack-and-slash action with surprisingly brainy challenges. The pr...
sword-of-aragon-05

Sword of Aragon

DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
hi-command-03

High Command: Europe 1939-45

DOS1992 Colorado Computer Creations
carnage-04

Carnage

DOS1993 Warped Minds
The name Carnage says it all—this top-down racer is less about precision driving and more about smashing into your enemies until they resemble digital roadkill. It’s fast, chaotic, and honestly looks like a game a 14-y...
doom-roguelike-02

Doom: The Roguelike

DOS2005freeware
Long before indie developers made “roguelike” a buzzword, someone decided to fuse Doom with permadeath and ASCII graphics. The result: Doom: The Roguelike (2005). On paper, it sounds ridiculous—text characters re...
moraffrevenge-2

Moraff's Revenge

DOS1988 Moraffware
tubular-worlds-04

Tubular Worlds

DOS1994
feud-03

Feud

DOS1988 Binary Design
acquire-splash

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 takeove...
arcade-pool-01

Arcade Pool

DOS1994 Team 17
Arcade Pool (1994) is like playing a game of billiards in your best friend’s basement—if your best friend happened to be a DOS machine with a serious competitive streak. It’s shockingly addictive, with physics th...
nfl-football-03

NFL Football

DOS1992 Distinctive Software
mirror-magic-2-02

Mirror Magic

Windows XP/98/95Linux1995freeware
merchant-colony-07

Merchant Colony

DOS1991 Impressions Games
warriors-of-legend-07

Warriors of Legend

DOS1993 Synergistic Software
fort-apache-02

Fort Apache

DOS1992 Impressions Games
finalcrusadekroz-2

The Final Crusade of Kroz

DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
civilwar-splash

The Civil War

DOS1987 Avalon Hill
uncover-it-02

Uncover It

DOS1994NSFW
grisby-pacific-war-03

Gary Grigsby's Pacific War

DOS1992 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
kingdoms-of-germany-04

Kingdoms of Germany

DOS1994 Realism Entertainment
meteors-05

Meteors

DOS1989 Apogee Software
caverns-of-kroz-2

Caverns of Kroz

DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
Forget modern physics—Caverns of Kroz lets you destroy walls with whips. Yes, whips. This 1989 ASCII masterpiece from Apogee is part puzzle, part action, and all danger. You descend into increasingly deadly caves to collect ...
welltris-3

Welltris

DOS1989 Sphere
Welltris is a puzzle video game designed by Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris. Released in 1989, Welltris offers a fresh take on the block-dropping mechanics of Tetris, expanding the gameplay into a 3D environment. Simil...
rollo-splash

Rollo and the Brush Brothers

DOS1983 Windmill Software