Abandonware DOS title

The most popular interactive fiction games

Interactive fiction games (or text adventures) are adventure games in which the player gives textual commands in order to act within the given story. The story itself is told both using text and static pictures or with no graphics of any kind, just text. The genre's stepping stones are Adventure (developed in 1975) and the Zork series. Infocom, Legend Entertainment and Magnetic scrolls were some of the most popular interactive fiction developers of the 80s.
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Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

DOS1982 Infocom
Zork is one of the most popular text-adventures and one of the first interactive fiction games ever created. The first Zork was developed in the seventies and ported on various platform by Infocom in the early 80s. Infocom wa...
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The Hobbit

DOS1983 Beam Software
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Sex Vixens from Space

DOS1989NSFW Free Spirit Software
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Planetfall

DOS1983 Infocom
Planetfall is an interactive fiction sci-fie game released in 1983 by Infocom, written by Steve Meretzky. It is often considered one of Infocom's best titles. You play as a low-ranking Ensign Seventh Class in the Stellar Patr...
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

DOSMac OS1984freeware 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 D...
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A Night with Troi

DOS1991NSFW
A Night with Troi (1991) sounds like a fan fiction gone too far - and, well, that’s pretty much what it is. It’s a DOS-based “adventure” in the loosest sense, where you find yourself on the Enterprise with ...
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Circuit's Edge

DOS1990 Westwood Studios
Circuit's Edge is a cyberpunk-themed role-playing game developed by Westwood Associates and published by Infocom. It was released in 1990 for MS-DOS. Set in a dystopian future, Circuit's Edge takes place in the fictional city of R...
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1893: A World's Fair Mystery

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2003
1893: A World's Fair Mystery is an interactive fiction game developed by the American studio Illuminated Lantern and released in 2002. Set during the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the game combines historical ficti...
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Softporn Adventure

DOS1981freewareNSFW Sierra On-Line
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20000 Leagues under the sea

DOS1988 Coktel Vision
Based loosely on Jules Verne’s famous tale, this game lets you live your steampunk submarine dreams with all the elegance of a DOS interface. You command the Nautilus, explore the ocean depths, and encounter strange sea crea...
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Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance

DOS1991protectedNSFW Legend Entertainment
Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance is an adventure game released in 1991, developed by Steve Meretzky and published by Legend Entertainment. It’s the second installment in the "Spellcasting" series. In Spellcast...
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Amnesia

DOS1986 Cognetics corporation
In Amnesia, you wake up in a hotel room with no idea who you are, where you are, or why someone wants you dead. And no, this isn’t a gritty FPS—it’s a text adventure. That’s right, no graphics, just your im...
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The Fellowship of the Ring

DOS1986 Beam Software
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The Crack of Doom

DOS1989 Beam Software
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The Pawn

DOS1986 Magnetic Scrolls
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A Mind Forever Voyaging

DOSMac OS1985 Infocom
If you ever wanted to play a video game that doubles as a philosophical think piece, A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) is your ride. Released for DOS and Macintosh, this is one of Infocom’s most ambitious works - a text adventu...
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Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy

DOSMac OS1986 TRANS Fiction Systems
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Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz

DOS1989 Infocom
With Zork Zero, Infocom decided to throw everything into the cauldron: graphics, mouse support, and a jester who won’t shut up. A prequel to the original trilogy, it’s stuffed with puzzles, jokes, and deeply Zorkian no...
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Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur

DOS1989 Infocom
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur is a text adventure with occasional graphics, in which you, the not-yet-king, bumble your way through Camelot trying to prove you’re not just some kid with a weird haircut. The writing is witt...
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The mist

DOS1985 Angelsoft
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Jack the Ripper

DOS1995 Intergalactic Development
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Frederik Pohl's Gateway

DOS1992 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 ...
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The Hound of Shadow

DOS1989 Eldritch Games
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Corruption

DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
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Questprobe Featuring Spider-Man

DOS1986 Adventure International
Questprobe Featuring Spider-Man is an abandoned text-based adventure game designed by Scott Adams, developed and released by Adventure International in 1986 for DOS but was also published for Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro...
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Wishbringer

DOS1985 Infocom
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Plundered Hearts

DOSMac OS1987 Infocom
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Star Trek: First Contact

DOS1988 Simon & Schuster Interactive
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The Lurking Horror

DOS1987 Infocom