Abandonware DOS title

The most popular 4x games

4x stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate. Players of these games control a whole empire by managing resources and technical developments (eXploit), expanding their domains (eXplore and eXpand), and fighting against the computer or other players (eXterminate). Among the most popular 4x games are Civilization and Master of Orion.
civilization2-4

Civilization 2

Windows XP/98/951996 MicroProse Software
Civilization II is a turn-based strategy game developed by MicroProse and released in 1996. It's the second installment in the "Civilization" series, created by Sid Meier. The game...
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Civilization

DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1991 MicroProse Software
Sid Meier’s Civilization is the game that tricked an entire generation into loving history, city planning, and the occasional world domination. Starting with a tribe of stick...
moo2-administratoroffer

Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares

DOSWindows XP/98/951996protected SimTex
Master of Orion II is a 4X turn-based sci-fi strategy game set in space. Master of Orion 2 gives the player an empire to run by controlling food and production, managing economy an...
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Star Trek: Birth of the Federation

Windows XP/98/951999 MicroProse Software
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation is a turn-based strategy video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by MicroProse Software and published by Infogrames for ...
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Civilization II: Test of Time

Windows XP/98/951999remake Atari
Test of Time is what happens when Civilization II meets a Star Trek convention. This version takes the classic formula and adds space colonization, fantasy realms, and weird alien ...
colonization-6

Colonization

DOSWindows 3.xLinuxMac OS1994protected MicroProse Software
Sid Meier's Colonization is Civilization’s scrappy, historically charged cousin. You start with a tiny ship and a dream: exploit the New World before the other European power...
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Warlords

DOS1990 SSG Strategic Studies Group
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Warlords 2

DOS1993 SSG Strategic Studies Group
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Alpha Centauri

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1999protected Firaxis Games
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 ...
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Ascendancy

DOS1995 The Logic Factory
Ascendancy is the friendlier, trippier cousin of Master of Orion. It’s 4X strategy in space, with bizarre alien races, psychedelic menus, and a soundtrack that sounds like it...
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Centurion: Defender of Rome

DOS1990 Bits of magic
Rome wasn’t built in a day—but you’ll conquer it in one afternoon. Centurion (1990) lets you play as a Roman commander with delusions of grandeur and a thing for ...
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Warlords 2 Deluxe

DOS1995 SSG Strategic Studies Group
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Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021

DOS1987freeware Thinking Machine Associates
Welcome to the future, where space empires are managed entirely via text and colored dots. Anacreon puts you in charge of an interstellar civilization and lets you conquer galaxies...
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Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes

Windows XP/98/951997 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is an abandoned turn-based fantasy strategy game designed by Steve Fawkner, developed by SSG Strategic Studies Group and released by Red Orb Entertainme...
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Spaceward Ho!

Windows 3.xDOS1992 Delta Tao Software
With a name that sounds like an interstellar pirate greeting, Spaceward Ho! is actually a strategic space colonization game, not an intergalactic dating sim. It's got a simple inte...
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Deadlock: Planetary Conquest

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1996protected Accolade
If you’ve ever wanted to play interstellar Monopoly while arguing with alien neighbors, Deadlock: Planetary Conquest is your ticket. Released in 1996, this strategy gem tosse...
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Stellar Crusade

DOS1988protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
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Alien Legacy

DOS1994 Ybarra Productions
Alien Legacy (1994) is like SimCity crashed into Star Trek and nobody called the insurance company. It’s a real-time strategy/simulation game that has you managing a colony i...
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Master of Orion

DOS1993protected SimTex
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Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition)

DOSWindows XP/98/951996protected Quicksilver Software
Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition) invites you to discover new lands, build colonies, and occasionally “accidentally” wipe out entire civilizations while smilin...
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Iron Seed

DOS1994freeware
Released in 1994, Iron Seed is a DOS space sim that tried to be both philosophical and technical. You’re leading a fledgling human colony across the stars, tinkering with dip...
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Imperium

DOS1990 Electronic Arts
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Emperor of the Fading Suns

Windows XP/98/951996 Holistic Design
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Master of Orion 3

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2003protected Quicksilver Software
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Sid Meier's CivNet

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995 MicroProse Software
CivNet is a multiplayer adaptation of the original Sid Meier's Civilization game, released in 1995. It was developed and published by MicroProse for MS-DOS and Windows. This versio...
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Master of Magic

DOSWindows XP/98/951994protected SimTex
Master of Magic is a turn based 4x strategy game developed by SimTex and published by the well know Microprose, very similar to Civilization, with a fantasy twist. You play as a wi...
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Reach for the Stars

DOS1988 SSG Strategic Studies Group
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Armada 2525

DOS1991
Armada 2525 is what happens when a spreadsheet decides it wants to conquer the galaxy. This is classic 4X strategy with all the bells, whistles, and menus your early '90s heart cou...
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Sword of Aragon

DOS1989protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
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Civilization 3

Windows XP/98/95Windows 10/11Mac OS2001protected Firaxis Games
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