Abandonware DOS title

The most popular based on a novel games

A lot of old games were based on a book, being it a novel or even a short story. Some novels that inspired developers to create video games are The Lords of the Rings (by J. R. R. Tolkien, Rendez Vous with Rama (by Arthur Clarke), The Mist (by Stephen King).

Most popular based on a novel games

Dune 2000
strategyWindows XP/98/95
Dune
strategyDOS
dune2000-splash

Dune 2000

Windows XP/98/9519984.2/5 Westwood Studios
Dune 2000 is an abandoned science fiction classic real-time strategy game based on the popular Dune franchise. The Dune "universe" took form in the books of science fiction writer Frank Herbert and went on to include movies, TV series, comics, and of course video games. Dune 2000 is one of the finest RTS of its era; it was developed by We...
dune2-7

Dune II: The building of a dynasty

DOS19924.2/5 Westwood Studios
Dune II, released in 1992, is a pioneering real-time strategy game developed by Westwood Studios. Set in the world of Frank Herbert's Dune, players command noble houses in a battle for control over the planet Arrakis. With base-building, resource management, and tactical combat, the game introduced key elements of the genre and influenced future RT...
dune-4

Dune

DOS19924.1/5 Cryo Interactive Entertainment
Dune, released in 1992, is a game developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Virgin Games. It's based on the iconic science fiction novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. In Dune, players assume the role of Paul Atreides, the young scion of House Atreides, as he arrives on the desert planet Arrakis with his family to take control of spice pro...
discworld2-08

Discworld 2: Mortality Bytes!

DOS19964.1/5 Perfect Entertainment
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J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I

DOS19904/5 Interplay Productions
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is an abandoned fantasy top-down DOS RPG game set in the The Lord of the Rings universe. The Lord of the Rings I was developed and released by Interplay Productions in 1990. The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I is based on the popular The Lord Of The Rings book by J.R.R. Tolkien and it's focused on the f...
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Arrakis

DOS20003.9/5
emmanuelle-2

Emmanuelle: A Game of Eroticism

DOS1989NSFW4/5 Coktel Vision
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James Clavell's Shogun

DOS19894.2/5 Infocom
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J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers

DOS19923.9/5 Interplay Productions
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers is an abandoned fantasy top-down DOS RPG game set in the The Lord of the Rings universe. The Lord of the Rings II was developed and released by Interplay Productions in 1992. The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers is based on the popular The Lord Of The Rings book by J.R.R. Tol...
gateway1-3

Frederik Pohl's Gateway

DOS19924.1/5 Legend Entertainment
Frederik Pohl's Gateway is one of the best abandoned adventures games from Legend Entertainment. Gateway is an interactive fiction with graphics and an improved interface (unusual for IFs), based on the Frederik Pohl's novel Gateway. Tt was designed by Michael Verdu and Glen R. Dahlgren and published by Legend Entertainment in 1992.
discworld-splash

Discworld

DOS19954.2/5 Perfect Entertainment
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I have no Mouth and I Must Scream

DOS1995protected4.1/5 The Dreamers Guild
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The Hobbit

DOS19833.9/5 Beam Software
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20000 Leagues under the sea

DOS19883.8/5 Coktel Vision
prisonerofice-1

Prisoner of Ice

DOS1995protected4.1/5 Chaosium Inc.
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Spirit of Excalibur

DOS19903.8/5 Synergistic Software
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La Abadia del Crimen

DOS19874.2/5 Opera Soft
La Abadía del Crimen (The Abbey of Crime) is an action-adventure developed in Spain by Paco Menéndez in the mid-1980s. It was initially created for the Amstrad CPC and later ported to other popular home computer systems of the time, such as the ZX Spectrum and MSX. The game was released in 1987.
hitchhikerguide-1

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

DOSMac1984freeware4.2/5 Infocom
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous free text adventure game based on the novel of the same name written by Douglas Adams (if you never read it, shame on you!). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was designed by Douglas Adams himself and interactive fiction god Steve Eric Meretzky, it was released by Infocom in 1984 for DOS and for...
belowroot-1

Below The Root

DOS19843.7/5 Dale Disharoon, Inc.
Below the root is an atipycal early 2 dimensional adventure game based on the Zilpha Keatley Snyder novels: the Green Sky Trilogy. The player can choose one of many characters, each with different skills and embark in a quest to eliminate the distrust between two races: the Erdling and the Kindar.
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Betrayal at Krondor

DOS1993protected4/5 Dynamix
arthur-excalibur-02

Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur

DOS19894/5 Infocom
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The Crack of Doom

DOS19893.7/5 Beam Software
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Transarctica

DOS19933.9/5 Silmarils
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Mixed-up Mother Goose

DOS19874.1/5 Sierra On-Line
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Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer

DOS19954.1/5 Clipper Software
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Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

DOS19974/5 Legend Entertainment
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Circuit's Edge

DOS19904.1/5 Westwood Studios
Circuit's Edge is a single-player science fiction blend of adventure game and RPG, developed by Westwood Studios and released by Infocom in 1990. Circuit's Edge is based on George Alec Effinger's cyberpunk novel "When Gravity Fails".