Abandonware DOS title

Games with procedural generation

Procedural generation in games refers to the use of algorithms to automatically create game content, rather than having it manually designed by developers. This method allows for the creation of vast and varied game environments, objects, levels, or even narrative elements without needing each piece to be handcrafted.
Procedural generation can be applied to many aspects of a game, including terrain, levels, characters, quests, and even music. Procedural generation is particularly effective in games where exploration and replayability are important.

Procedural generation has been a part of gaming since the old days, long before modern technology made massive open-world games possible. Early games had extremely limited memory, typically in the range of kilobytes or megabytes. Procedural generation allowed developers to create large and varied worlds without needing to store vast amounts of data.

Procedural generation: most popular games

Star Wars: Yoda Stories
Star Wars: Yoda Stories
action-adventureWindows XP/98/95
Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares
Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares
strategyDOS, Windows XP/98/95
Transport Tycoon Deluxe
Transport Tycoon Deluxe
simulationDOS, Windows XP/98/95
alphaman-02

AlphaMan

DOS1995
Ever wondered what would happen if a roguelike and a B-movie had a radioactive baby? AlphaMan is the answer. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where mutant banana slugs might be your...
adom1.1-05

Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) v1.1

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1996freeware
ADOM is what happens when a rogue, a wizard, and a hungry troll walk into a dungeon and never come out. Released in 1996, this roguelike classic is brutal, brilliant, and unapologe...
angband-03

Angband

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1992freeware
If you’ve ever thought The Lord of the Rings needed more ASCII and fewer hobbit feelings, Angband is your jam. Since 1992, this dungeon-crawling roguelike has been throwing p...
archipelagos-title

Archipelagos

DOS1989 Astral Software
Archipelagos is like a fever dream after watching too much Myst. You’re dropped onto strange, floating islands inhabited by stone monoliths and evil terrain-infecting sludge....
capitalism-2-01

Capitalism 2

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2001protected Ensemble Studios
If spreadsheets are your love language, Capitalism 2 is pure romance. This brutally detailed simulation lets you create your own corporate empire from scratch—manufacturing, ...
capitalism-plus-01

Capitalism Plus

DOSWindows XP/98/951997protected Enlight Software
Before there was Capitalism 2, there was Capitalism Plus, which basically took the original and added a few bells, whistles, and ways to fail spectacularly. It’s like being h...
castleofthewinds-3

Castle of the Winds

Windows 3.x1993freeware SaadaSoft
Castle of the Winds is a fantasy roguelike role-playing game developed by SaadaSoft in the early 1990s. It was designed for Windows 3.x and is notable for being one of the earliest...
diablo1-06

Diablo

Windows XP/98/951996protecteddemo Blizzard Entertainment
In 1996, Diablo descended onto PCs and basically defined the “click until everything dies” genre. The gothic town of Tristram sits atop a dungeon stuffed with demons, l...
dungeon-crawl-dos-03

Dungeon Crawl

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1997freeware
If you ever wanted to explore endless, procedurally generated tunnels filled with monsters, traps, and the occasional existential crisis, Dungeon Crawl is your kind of misery. Rele...
dungeonhack-2

Dungeon Hack

DOS1993protecteddemo DreamForge Intertainment
Dungeon Hack is a dungeon-crawling role-playing game (RPG) developed by DreamForge Intertainment and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). It was released in 1993 for MS-...
elite-1

Elite

DOS1987freeware Firebird
elite-plus-title

Elite Plus

DOS1991 Realtime Games
Elite Plus is an enhanced version of the classic space trading and combat simulator Elite, released by MicroPlay in 1991 for MS-DOS. It was designed as an update to the original 19...
evets-5

Evets

DOS1988freeware SAck Enterprizes
frontier-1

Frontier: Elite 2

DOS1993 Frontier Developments
Frontier: Elite II is a classic space simulation and trading game released in 1993, developed by David Braben and his company Frontier Developments. Frontier is the sequel to the p...
hack-5

Hack

DOS1984freeware
indy-desktop-adventures-1

Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures

Windows 3.xMac OS1996demo LucasArts
ivan-rl-04

IVAN (Iter Vehemens ad Necem)

DOSWindows 10/11LinuxMac OS2001freeware
larn-5

Larn

DOS1986freeware
masterofmagic-6

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...
masteroforion-5

Master of Orion

DOS1993protected SimTex
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...
midwinter-5

Midwinter

DOS1990 Maelstrom Games
moria-5

Moria

DOS1992freeware
nethack-2

NetHack

DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OSLinux1987freeware
NetHack is an open-source roguelike game that's been around since the early 1980s. It's a single-player dungeon exploration game where you navigate your character through a randoml...
nethack-falcon-eye-02

NetHack - Falcon's Eye

Windows XP/98/952001freeware
ragnarok-2

Ragnarok

DOS1993freeware Gray Design Associates
rogue-1

Rogue

Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS1984 Artificial Intelligence Design
Rogue is one of the first RPGs in the history of video gaming. It's a text-based dungeon crawler in which you have to fight your way in the dungeon to recover the Amulet of Yendor....
scavengersmutant-splash

Scavengers of the Mutant World

DOS1988 Interstel Corporation
Scavengers of the Mutant World (1988) takes you to a post-apocalyptic wasteland where radiation has turned most life forms into something between a potato and a death machine. Your...
scorched-3d-03

Scorched 3D

Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2001freeware
Scorched 3D is a free and open-source artillery game that serves as a modern adaptation of the classic MS-DOS game Scorched Earth. Developed by Gavin Camp, it was first released in...
scorched-earth-05

Scorched Earth

DOS1991protected
Scorched Earth (1991) was the “mother of all games” long before Doom took the title. Two or more tanks face off on a randomly generated terrain, and your only mission i...