Abandonware DOS title

Games part of the Ultima series

The Ultima series is a highly influential and long-running series of role-playing video games created by Richard Garriott, also known as Lord British. The series was developed and published primarily by Origin Systems, with the first game released in 1981 and subsequent titles appearing over the course of several decades. Several spin-offs, remakes, and expansions were released over the years.

The Ultima games take place in the fictional realm of Britannia, a land filled with diverse races, magic, and conflicts between good and evil. Each game in the series builds upon the established lore and introduces new characters, locations, and gameplay elements. The core gameplay typically involves exploring an open-ended world, undertaking quests, battling enemies, and progressing through an overarching narrative. The series evolved over time, incorporating advancements in graphics, sound, and gameplay systems.The concept of "virtues" plays a significant role in many of the games, presenting players with moral dilemmas and opportunities to embody specific virtues or vices, which in turn affects their character's development and the overall story.


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Akalabeth: World of Doom

DOS1981freeware rpg
Ah yes, the game that crawled so Ultima could run. Akalabeth is a wireframe dungeon crawl where you descend into monster-infested labyrinths with the elegance of a lost spreadsheet. The graphics are so old school they could legall...
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Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness

DOS1981 rpg
Before Ultima 1 came along, role-playing games on PC were about as sophisticated as a pocket calculator. Then Richard Garriott threw players into a digital world full of space travel, dungeons, and dragons—yes, all at once. ...
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Ultima 2: Revenge of the Enchantress

DOS1983 rpg
Ultima 2 asks the pressing question: what if you mixed time travel with fantasy and a truly mean sorceress named Minax? The answer is chaos. You’ll bounce between eras—from prehistoric landscapes to futuristic space co...
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Ultima 3: Exodus

DOSMac OS1985 rpg
By Ultima 3, the series had discovered the magic of party-based adventuring. No longer a lonely trek, now you command a ragtag group of heroes who bicker only in your imagination. Exodus, the mysterious villain, is less a person a...
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Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar

DOS1985freeware rpg
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is one of the most influential and innovative role-playing games (RPGs) in video game history. Released in 1985 by Richard Garriott under the Origin Systems banner, it is the fourth installment of th...
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Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny

DOS1988 rpg
Ultima 5 takes a darker turn. Lord British is missing, and his regent, Lord Blackthorn, has turned Britannia into a police state where virtues are enforced at sword-point. You know things are bad when honesty is compulsory and pun...
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Ultima 6: The False Prophet

DOS1990protected rpg
In Ultima 6, you finally meet the Gargoyles, who aren’t the snarling monsters everyone assumed—they’re just misunderstood neighbors with a different perspective. Cue moral dilemmas and cross-cultural negotiations...
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Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire

DOS1990freeware rpg
After the success of Ultima 6: The False Prophet, Origin decided to "create worlds" not part of the popular Ultima series (strictly speaking) using the same engine of Ultima 6. They came up with two games: The Savage Empire and Ma...
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Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams

DOS1991 rpg
Then there’s Martian Dreams, the Ultima game where you travel to Mars in the 19th century with none other than Sigmund Freud and Nikola Tesla. Yes, it’s as delightfully bizarre as it sounds. Instead of Britannia, you&r...
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Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate

DOS1992 rpg
Ultima 7 is often hailed as the crown jewel of the series, and with good reason. It throws you into an open world that feels startlingly alive, even decades later. Townsfolk go about their daily routines, you can bake bread if you...
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Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

DOS1992protected rpg
Before immersive sims were a buzzword, there was Ultima Underworld. Dropping you into a massive first-person dungeon, it gave players freedom unthinkable at the time. Want to negotiate with monsters instead of killing them? Go ahe...
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Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle

DOS1993 rpg
As sequels go, Serpent Isle is less “more of the same” and more “everything is different, good luck.” Shipwrecked on a strange new land, you’ll deal with political intrigue, bizarre magical phenomena,...
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Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds

DOS1993protected rpg
Building on its predecessor, Labyrinth of Worlds expands the formula by throwing you across multiple dimensions. Each world has its own flavor—icy wastelands, alien landscapes, and more. It’s ambitious, sometimes to a ...
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Ultima 8: Pagan

DOS1994protected rpg
Ultima 8 drops the Avatar into a grim, volcanic world where “fun” is defined as plummeting to your death from badly timed jumps. Yes, the infamous platforming mechanics nearly sank the whole ship. Beneath that frustrat...
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Ultima 8: The Lost Vale

DOS1994canceled rpg
The Lost Vale is the great “what if” of the Ultima series. Developed as an expansion to Pagan but never officially released, it became the stuff of legend. Players were meant to explore new lands, uncover lore, and may...
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Ultima 9: Ascension

Windows XP/98/951999protected rpg
By the time Ultima 9 rolled around, expectations were sky-high—and the result was… divisive. It looked gorgeous for 1999, with sweeping 3D landscapes and dramatic voice acting. But the story was muddled, bugs were ram...