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).
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Quest for the Unicorn
DOSWindows XP/98/95Linux1990freeware
Air Force Commander
DOS1992 Impressions Games
In Air Force Commander (1992), you don’t just fly planes - you run the whole air force. Think of it as being a general with a spreadsheet addiction. Assign squadrons, manage budgets, and try not to start World War III. It's ...
Crazy Nick's Parlor Games with Laura Bow
DOS1992 Sierra On-Line
Blitz Draughts
DOS1992 PC Solutions
Don’t let the title fool you — Blitz Draughts isn’t a military simulation but rather a gloriously intense checkers game from 1992. This DOS brain-bender turns the classic board game into a high-speed duel of wits...
Battle for Atlantis
DOS1990
Fancy a war under the sea? Battle for Atlantis (1990) asks the age-old question: what if submarines had grudges? This top-down, action strategy title throws you into a deep-sea turf war with clunky controls and a soundtrack that f...
Pinball Magic
DOS1990 Loriciels
Super Pinball by Russco
DOS1987 Russco
Super Speed
DOS1995
Battle Master
DOS1991 Personal Software Services
In Battle Master (1991), you play as a heavily armored murder-hobo leading an army across a fantasy world that really doesn’t want you there. It’s part action-RPG, part tactical slog, with clunky pathfinding and surpri...
Epidemic!
DOS1983protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Gulf Strike
DOS1986 Microcomputer Games Inc.
Liverpool: the Computer Game
DOS1992 Arc Developments
War of the Lance
DOS1990protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Disciples of Steel
DOS1994
Gold of the Americas: The Conquest of the New World
DOS1989 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Global Domination
DOS1993 Impressions Games
The Punisher
DOS1990 Paragon Software
Lord of Destruction
DOS1994 Rebelsoft
Super Battleship
DOS1988
Battleship
DOS1983 Mirror Images Software
Released in 1983, this is your grandpa’s Battleship—minus the plastic pegs, but with all the tension of blind naval warfare. There are no fancy graphics, no Hollywood explosions, just good old-fashioned "Is it a hit?" ...
Checkers for Windows
Windows 3.x1997
Omega
DOS1989 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.
When Two Worlds War
DOS1993 Impressions Games
O-Pong
DOS1996
Monopoly
DOS1985
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...
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...
Mine Shaft
DOS1983 Sierra On-Line
Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix
DOS1990 Zigurat Software
NFL Pro League Football
DOS1989 Micro Sports