abandonware games sorted by popularity

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.

Prince of Persia is an abandoned DOS platform game set in Middle East, developed and released by Broderbund in 1990. Designer Jordan Mechner created a game that made a lasting impression of gamers thanks to a clever use of a tecnique called rotoscoping which makes the animation of the protagonist very realistic.

DOSBox is an open-source emulator that allows you to run software and games designed for the MS-DOS operating system on modern computers. As you probably already know, MS-DOS was a popular operating system used in the 1980s and early 1990s. DOSBox emulates the necessary hardware components and provides a DOS-like environment, allowing users to...

Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs is an abandoned action sports basketball game. It was developed and released by Electronic Arts in 1989 for DOS. Lakers versus Celtics features 1988-1989 NBA teams and some of the NBA all-time star players. It can be played in single-player mode or by 2 players on the same screen.

Zork is one of the most popular text-adventures and one of the first interactive fiction games ever created. The first Zork was developed in the seventies and ported on various platform by Infocom in the early 80s. Infocom was one of the most prolific developers of text-adventures for home computers and created memorable interactive fiction ga...

House of the Dead is an old horror-themed rail shooter game, developed and released by Sega in 1998. The whole gameplay can be summarized in a single sentence "a first-person 3D shooting gallery with zombies". House of the Dead runs on older version of Windows, so you may need a virtual machine to play it properly.

SimCity 2000 is a classic city building simulation, part of the popular SimCity series, developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. SimCity 2000 is a huge step up from the 2D predecessor SimCity and boasts improvements like: isometric view, underground, water pipes, subways, new buildings like prisons, schools, libraries, museums, etc.

Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line, released in 1986. It was created by the duo of Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, who later became known as the "Two Guys from Andromeda". The game is renowned for its humor and engaging story set in a science fiction universe.In Space Quest I playe...

Ultima III: Exodus is a role-playing video game developed by Richard Garriott and published by Origin Systems. It was released in 1983 for the Apple II and later ported to various other platforms such as the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and NES.The game is set in the fantasy world of Sosaria, where the player controls a party of adventurers on a quest to ...

Quake II is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and released in 1997. It is the sequel to the original Quake and was a significant milestone in the evolution of 3D graphics in video games. Quake II maintained the fast-paced, frenetic gameplay of its predecessor. It is a first-person shooter that emphasizes multiplayer ac...

Grand Prix 2 is an abandoned Formula 1 racing game designed by Geoff Crammond and published by MicroProse Software in 1995 for DOS. Grand Prix 2 is the sequel to Formula One Grand Prix and was a one-man project (which was uncommon at the time). Grand Prix 2 was essentially an accurate simulation of the 1994 Formula 1 season.

Alley Cat is an arcade platform game designed by Bill Williams, developed by Synapse and released for IBM in 1984. As a cat, your goal is to jump around the neighborhood, enter apartments - each being a mini-game - to find your lost loved one.

Gods is a video game developed by The Bitmap Brothers and initially released in 1991. It is a platformer that combines action and puzzle-solving elements. The game was originally released for various platforms, including the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS.In Gods, players control a hero navigating through a series of levels filled with enemi...

Code-Name: Iceman is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. Designed by Jim Walls, known for his work on the "Police Quest" series, "Code-Name: Iceman" blends elements of adventure, puzzle-solving, and espionage in a Cold War-era setting.In the game, players assume the role of John Westland, a United States Navy...

Doom was released by id Software in 1993. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential and groundbreaking video games of all time, particularly within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.Set in the future on the moons of Mars, the game follows the player-controlled character, known as the "Doom Marine", as they battle through a research fa...

QBasic, or QuickBASIC, was an interpreted version of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft. It was designed to be easy to learn and use, making it accessible to beginners and hobbyist programmers. QBasic was part of Microsoft's QuickBASIC product line, which included both compiled and interpreted versions of the language. QBasi...

Volfied is an arcade game developed and released by Taito Corporation in 1989. It's a puzzle game that gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The game is named after the fictional planet "Volfied", where the gameplay is set.In Volfied, players control a small spaceship called "Challenger" and must eliminate 80% or more of the playfiel...

Paperboy was one of (if not THE) arcade hit of 1985. It was developed by Atari for the arcades and later published by Mindscape for DOS in 1988. More conversion were made for quite a few other platforms. Paperboy gameplay is peculiar: you control a boy riding a bicycle and your goal is to deliver as many newspapers as you can to a number of ho...

La Abadía del Crimen (The Abbey of Crime) is an action-adventure developed in Spain by Paco Menéndez in the mid-1980s. It was initially created for the Amstrad CPC and later ported to other popular home computer systems of the time, such as the ZX Spectrum and MSX. The game was released in 1987.

James Clavell's Shogun, a text adventure game developed by Infocom and released in 1989. Infocom was known for its interactive fiction games, and "James Clavell's Shogun" was one of its later releases.This text adventure game is based on James Clavell's novel "Shogun" and follows the story of John Blackthorne, an English navigator who becomes invol...