Abandonware DOS title

The best text-based games

In the past, lots of games used ASCII characters (text) to represent the game world. These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.
ZAngband-02

ZAngband

WindowsMacDOSLinux1999freeware4/5
Zangband is a variant of the popular roguelike game Angband. Zangband, short for Zelazny Angband, was developed by Chris Weisiger and first released in 1994. The game features a fantasy world with diverse races, classes, and monsters. Players explore dungeons, caves, and other environments in a quest to reach the bottom level of the dungeon, d...
zork3-1

Zork III: The Dungeon Master

DOS19844/5 Infocom
angband-03

Angband

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1992freeware4/5
dungeon-crawl-dos-03

Dungeon Crawl

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1997freeware4/5
Dungeon Crawl (also known as Linley's Dungeon Crawl from the name of the original programmer: Linley Henzell) is a classic roguelike: an RPG with permadeath, procedural generation and high replayability. Dungeon Crawl was released on 1997 but it's not maintained anymore. The spiritual successr of Crawl is DCCS (Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup).
uplink-v1.3-5

Uplink: Hacker Elite

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac2001protected4/5 Introversion Software Limited
Uplink is a computer hacking simulation game released in 2001 by Introversion Software. The game allows players to take on the role of a hacker for hire and engage in various hacking activities.In Uplink, players perform tasks such as hacking into systems, stealing data, and covering their tracks. The game features a realistic representation of hac...
norton-desktop1-02

Norton Desktop

DOS19924/5 Peter Norton Computing
xtrek91-02

Xtrek

DOS1991freewareNSFW4/5
empire1-1

Empire: Wargame of the Century

DOS19874/5 Northwest Software
pkunzip-1

PKzip

DOS1989protected4/5 PKware
borland-turbo-pascal-1-01

Borland Turbo Pascal 1.0

DOS19834/5 Borland Software Corporation
moria-5

Moria

DOS1992freeware3.9/5
acquire-1

Acquire

DOS19893.9/5 IBM
plunderedhearts-1

Plundered Hearts

DOSMac19873.9/5 Infocom
global-thermo-war-02

Global Thermo War

DOS19853.9/5
spellbreaker-02

Spellbreaker

DOS19853.9/5 Infocom
stationfall-01

Stationfall

DOS19873.9/5 Infocom
video-trek-88-02

Video Trek 88

DOS19823.9/5 Windmill Software
redskyatmorning-3

Red sky at morning

DOS19933.9/5 Simulations Canada
skthemist-1

The mist

DOS19853.9/5 Angelsoft
questprobe-hulk-01

Questprobe featuring The Hulk

DOS19843.9/5 Adventure International
doszipcommander-1

Doszip Commander

DOS2007freeware3.9/5
word-perfect-5-02

Word Perfect 5

DOS19893.9/5 Corel
zyll-1

Zyll

DOS19843.9/5 IBM
suspended-01

Suspended

DOS19833.9/5 Infocom
jamesbondview2kill-1

James Bond 007: A View to a Kill

DOS19853.9/5 Angelsoft
star-saga-2-2

Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace

DOS19893.9/5 Masterplay Publishing Corporation
borland-eureka-1-04

Borland Eureka: the Solver

DOS19873.9/5 Borland Software Corporation
Borland Eureka: the Solver is an abandoned text-based application developed by Borland Software Corporation and released in 1987 for DOS. The product is designed to solve complex problems, generate tables and plots, and perform what-if analysis. The user writes an equation, sets options, and instructs the software to solve the problem. The pro...
business-simulator-03

Business Simulator

DOS19873.9/5 Reality Development
Business Simulator is an abandoned business simulation game developed and released by Reality Development in 1987 for DOS only. Business Simulator is a text-based management simulation designed by an university professor.