Abandonware DOS title

The most popular 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 These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.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.
sorcerer-splash

Sorcerer

DOS1984 Infocom
promanager-splash

Pro Manager

DOS1985 Avalon Hill
pacgal-01

Pac Gal

DOS1982
shadowsmordor-3

The Shadows of Mordor

DOS1988 Beam Software
moonmist-splash

Moonmist

DOS1986 Infocom
hack-5

Hack

DOS1984freeware
esuite_splash

Executive Suite

DOS1982 Armonk Corporation
dungeons_kroz2_003

Dungeons of Kroz 2

DOS1989 Apogee Software
doszipcommander-1

Doszip Commander

DOS2007freeware
dnd_text-01

DND

DOS1984
slashem-vampire-03

Slash'Em

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS1997freewareremake
SLASH'EM (Super Lotsa Added Stuff Hack - Extended Magic) is a roguelike game based on NetHack, one of the most famous dungeon-crawling games of all time. It expands upon NetHack 3.4.3, adding new monsters, items, spells, roles, an...
magnetic-scrolls-collection-02

Magnetic Scrolls Collection

DOS1991 Magnetic Scrolls
Magnetic Scrolls was one of the finest developer companies dedicated to Interactive Fiction. The Magnetic Scrolls Collection is a trilogy of Magnenic Scrolls adventures remade using the Wonderland engine: Fish!, Corruption, The Gu...
lancelot-01

Lancelot

DOS1988 Level 9 Computing
stationfall-01

Stationfall

DOS1987 Infocom
borland-turbo-pascal-1-01

Borland Turbo Pascal 1.0

DOS1983 Borland Software Corporation
word-perfect-5-02

Word Perfect 5

DOS1989 Corel
caves-of-thor-05

Caves of Thor

DOS1989 Apogee Software
starfleet1-battle-begins03

Star Fleet 1: The War Begins

DOSMac OS1985 Interstel Corporation
at-the-carnival-06

At the Carnival

DOS1990freeware
Step right up to At the Carnival (1990), a puzzle game that mixes traditional brain-teasers with the kind of carnival theming that makes you question whether the developers had ever actually been to one. Brought to you by Cliff Jo...
borland-reflex-2-01

Borland Reflex 2.0

DOS1986 Borland Software Corporation
Borland Reflex was a relational database management system (RDBMS) developed by Borland International, a software company that was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Reflex was released in the mid-1980s as a graphical database soft...
rawcopy-01

Rawcopy

DOS1992
jewels-of-darkness-06

Jewels of Darkness

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
baseball-mogul-01

Baseball Mogul

Windows XP/98/951997 Infinite Monkey Systems
Baseball Mogul (1997) was the original release that kicked off the whole franchise. Developed by Clay Dreslough and published by Infinite Monkey Systems, this was a pioneer in the world of sports management sims. It was released f...
gumboots-australia-02

Gumboots Australia

DOS1990 Reckon Software
treasure-island-01

Treasure Island

DOS1985 Byron Preiss Video Productions
champ-manager-93-01

Championship Manager 93

DOS1993 Domark Software
f-prot-01

F-Prot

DOS1995
F-PROT is an antivirus developed by FRISK Software International. The name "F-PROT" stands for "FRISK-PROActive," emphasizing its proactive approach to virus detection and prevention. F-PROT Antivirus is designed to protect comput...