The most popular abandonware strategy games
Games based on strategy allow for reasoning and planning of one’s moves and actions. The gameplay may be based on player’s turns (Turn-based Strategy) or it may be in real time (Real-Time Strategy, RTS). These games focus on strategy and tactics rather than action, sometimes with the addition of financial or logistic features.
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Colonization
DOSWindows 3.xLinuxMac OS1994protected 4x
Colonization is a turn-based strategy 4x game developed and published by MicroProse in 1994 for DOS, Windows 3.1, Linux and Mac. The setting is the European Colonization of the New World. Colonization gameplay and interface are si...
Nuclear War
DOS1989 board game
Nuclear War is an abandoned turn-based strategy game designed by Eric Hyman and Jon Van Caneghem. Nuclear War was developed and released by New World Computing in 1989 for Amiga and, later, for DOS, and it's loosely based on a car...
Panzer General
DOS1994protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Panger General is a turn based strategy wargame developed by SSI set in World War 2. The player can choose Axis or Allies and fight against the AI or another human player in more than 30 scenarios on a classic hex based map.
Stellar Crusade
DOS1988protected 4x
Castles
DOS1991protected real-time strategy
Castles is what happens when SimCity meets Game of Thrones. You design your own fortress, manage the budget, and tell unruly peasants why the walls are more important than food. Between building bricks and issuing royal edicts, yo...
Advanced Civilization
DOS1995 board game
Think you’re good at making tough decisions under pressure? Advanced Civilization dares you to prove it by turning diplomacy into passive-aggressive warfare. Based on the classic board game, this DOS gem lets you take your a...
Dark Legions
DOS1994protected board game
The Ancient Art of War
DOS1984 real-time strategy
The Ancient Art of War is a classic video game that was released in the late 1980s. Developed by Evryware and published by Broderbund, it was available on various platforms, including Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, and MS-DOS. The Anc...
Total Annihilation
Windows XP/98/951997protected real-time strategy
Panzer General 2
Windows XP/98/951997protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Risk: the World Conquest Game
DOS1989 board game
Monopoly Deluxe
DOSWindows 3.x1992 board game
Monopoly Deluxe is an abandoned turn-based top-down Monopoly adaptation of the classic board game, developed by Parker Brothers and released by Virgin Interactive in 1992. Monopoly Deluxe was published for DOS, Windows 3.1, ...
Warheads
Windows XP/98/951997 artillery
American Conquest
Windows XP/98/952002protected real-time strategy
American Conquest is the kind of game that throws hundreds of little soldiers at you and says, "Good luck, General!" Set during the early colonization of the Americas, this RTS blends history with chaos in a way that’s both ...
Rampart
DOS1992 artillery
Rampart is an abandoned mix of strategy and shooter game designed by Dave Ralston and John Salwitz, developed by Atari and released by Electronic Arts in 1992 for DOS. Rampart was converted from the original arcade version to a nu...
Kasparov's Gambit
DOS1993 chess
BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge
DOS1990 real-time tactics
BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge is a turn-based strategy game developed by Westwood Associates and published by Infocom in 1990. It is the sequel to "Crescent Hawk's Inception" and is set in the BattleTech universe, a...
X-COM: Apocalypse
DOSWindows XP/98/951997protected turn-based tactics
X-COM: Apocalypse is the third installment of the very popular X-COM franchise. After X-COM: Ufo Defence and Terror From the Deep, fans expected another smash hit. Apocalypse is quite different under many aspects, from gameplay to...
Chaos Overlords
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1996protected board game
Chaos Overlords is a cyberpunk-themed strategy game developed by Stick Man Games and published by New World Computing in 1996. Set in a dystopian future, the game focuses on controlling the underworld of a city dominated by corrup...
Alpha Centauri
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1999protected 4x
Sid Meier took one look at Earth and said, “Let’s leave this dump.” Thus, Alpha Centauri (1999, Windows XP) was born - a 4X strategy game that takes Civilization to space, then adds philosophy, moral dilemmas, an...
The Grandest Fleet
DOS1994 wargame
Vlad Tepes Dracula
Windows XP/98/951997 real-time strategy, business simulation
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2001protected real-time strategy
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds is a science fiction real-time strategy game set in the Star Wars universe, focused both on the first and the second Star Wars trilogy. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was developed by LucasArts...
Reunion
DOS1994 real-time strategy
V for victory: Velikiye Luki
DOS1992protected wargame, turn-based tactics
Star Control 2
DOS1992protected shoot 'em up
Castles 2: Siege and Conquest
DOSMac OS1992protected real-time strategy
Castles 2 took everything the first game did and cranked it up with actual diplomacy, espionage, and conquest mechanics. Now you’re not just stacking bricks—you’re plotting political marriages and assassinating r...
Defender of the Crown
DOS1991protected
Defender of the crown is a strategy game set in the middle ages, in England. You control a Saxon and must fight Normans to control the country. The player can conquest territories, lay siege to castles, join tournaments, rescue da...
QBasic Gorillas
DOS1991freeware artillery
Gorillas, also known as "Gorillas.bas," is a turn-based artillery game that was included as a sample program with Microsoft QBasic, an IDE and interpreter for a variant of the BASIC programming language. QBasic was commo...
V for victory: Market-Garden
DOS1993protected wargame, turn-based tactics