Abandonware DOS title

The most popular board game games

Classic board games like Backgammon, Othello, Checkers were an inspiration to the first wave of developers for their simplicity and appeal. In time, modern board games like Diplomacy, Risk, Monopoly or Scrabble were also adapted in a number of games. And let's not forget the strategy games NOT based on actual tabletop games which gameplay is clearly inspired by board games (like the excellent Archon).
auto-duel-05

Autoduel

DOS1985 Origin Systems
What do you get when you mix Mad Max, Car Wars, and a fondness for vehicular homicide? You get Autoduel (1985, DOS), a top-down driving RPG where your car is your castle and your guns are your diplomatic policy. Part racing game, ...
heroquest-1

HeroQuest

DOSMac OS1991 Gremlin Graphics / Gremlin Interactive
HeroQuest is a classic video game adaptation of the popular board game HeroQuest, released in 1991 by Gremlin Interactive. HeroQuest faithfully recreates the turn-based, dungeon-crawling, and role-playing gameplay of the...
4play-01

4Play

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995NSFW
4Play was a risqué trivia and multi-player board-style game released in the mid-1990s. Designed as a party game, it combined trivia questions, mini-games, and challenges that often leaned toward suggestive or adult the...
axis-and-allies-05

Axis and Allies

Windows XP/98/951998 Wargaming West
Board game night went digital in 1998 with Axis and Allies, a strategy title that lets you rewrite WWII—assuming you don’t forget where you left your infantry. Fans of the tabletop classic will feel right at home maneu...
battlechess-1

Battle Chess

DOS1988protected Interplay Productions
You’ve never really lived until you’ve watched a rook pick up a pawn and slam dunk it into the floor. Battle Chess (1988) turns the world’s most intellectual board game into a medieval cage match. The pieces don&...
monopoly-avalon-02

Monopoly

DOS1985
risk-3

Risk: the World Conquest Game

DOS1989 Mastertronic
archon-3

Archon: the Light and the Dark

DOS1984 Free Fall Associates
Before Battle Chess, there was Archon. Imagine a board game where pawns and knights settle disputes not with rules, but with full-on gladiatorial combat. Archon gives you light versus dark, spellcasters versus golems, and battles ...
chaos-overlord-02

Chaos Overlords

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1996protected Stick Man Games
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...
advanced-civilization-01

Advanced Civilization

DOS1995 Avalon Hill
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...
fields-of-glory-05

Fields of Glory

DOS1993protected MicroProse Software
mario-game-gallery-01

Mario's Game Gallery

DOSMac OS1995 Presage Software
btechcrescent-1

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception

DOS1988 Westwood Studios
Released in 1988, BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception is part RPG, part strategy, part “did I just die in the tutorial again?” You’re a young MechWarrior on the run, assembling allies and blowing stuff up w...
nuclearwar-splash

Nuclear War

DOS1989 New World Computing
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...
winrisk-01

WinRisk

Windows 3.x1992
space-hulk-3

Space Hulk

DOS1993 Electronic Arts
Space Hulk is an abandoned real-time tactical strategy game set in the Warhammer  40000 universe, developed and released by Electronic Arts in 1993 for DOS and Amiga systems. In Space Hulk, the player is tasked with wiping ou...
bushbuck-04

Bush Buck: Global Treasure Hunter

DOS1991 Pc globe
If Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego had a caffeinated younger cousin, it would be Bush Buck: Global Treasure Hunter. You race around the globe chasing clues, dodging rivals, and learning just enough geography to impress your ...
galaxy-4

Galaxy

DOS1981 Microcomputer Games Inc.
axis-allies-iron-blitz-07

Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz

Windows XP/98/951999 Wargaming West
Now with 27% more diplomacy and 300% more frustration! Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz (1999) takes everything from the original game and throws in extra scenarios, improved AI, and more ways to accidentally cause a Cold War. Want to ...
birthright-win-05

Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance

Windows XP/98/951996 Synergistic Software
Ever wanted to manage a kingdom, lead armies, go dungeon-crawling, and attend budget meetings? Birthright: The Gorgon’s Alliance makes all your fantasy micromanagement dreams come true. Released in 1996 for Windows XP (yes, ...
risk-3x-02

Risk

Windows 3.x1991 Azeroth
mahjongg-nels-01

Mah Jongg Solitaire

DOS1987 Arcanum Computing
monopoly-deluxe-virgin-01

Monopoly Deluxe

DOSWindows 3.x1992 Parker Brothers
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, ...
ishido-way-stones-03

Ishido: The Way of the Stones

DOSMac OS1990 Publishing International
space-1889-06

Space 1889

DOS1990 Paragon Software
Space 1889 is an abandoned top down RPG developed by Paragon Software and released in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga. Space 1889 setting is classic science fiction, but is set in the Victorian. It's worth noting that Space ...
star-saga-2-1

Star Saga: Two - The Clathran Menace

DOS1989 Masterplay Publishing Corporation
blackcrown-2

Black Crown

DOS1995
In Black Crown (1995), you play as a prince with a very punchable name, trying to reclaim his rightful throne by solving puzzles and dying a lot. It's one of those DOS-era games where half the difficulty is figuring out which pixe...
theatreofwar-splash

Theatre of War

DOS1992protected Artech Studios
harpoon-4

Harpoon

DOS1989protected Three-Sixty Pacific