Windows XP/98/95 abandonware games

So you think you're ready to storm Normandy? Think again. 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy drops you into the chaos of World War II with all the grace of a paratrooper landing in a barn. This is a tactical strategy game that rewards patience, planning, and a high tolerance for being outflanked. It’s gritty, detailed, and makes you feel ...

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 fiction with mystery-solving gameplay.In 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, players take on the role of a detective investigating ...

This 1996 point-and-click western is what you’d get if Lucky Luke and Monkey Island had an awkward but lovable baby. 3 Skulls of the Toltecs throws you into a spaghetti western full of puzzles, puns, and characters with more mustache than common sense. Expect to outwit bandits, impersonate priests, and hunt ancient treasure while the game thr...

If your childhood involved model trains and elaborate setups that your cat kept destroying, 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown is digital therapy. Released in 2000 for Windows XP, it mixes puzzles, deliveries, and train management in a world where everything is charmingly cartoonish. You’ll haul ice cream, dodge cows, and solve math problems disguised...

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 themes. It was intended to be played in social settings, often among friends or couples, with the goal of breaking the...

Afterlife is a simulation strategy game developed and published by LucasArts. It was released in 1996 for Microsoft Windows and later made available on other platforms. The game was designed by Michael Stemmle and was known for its unique take on the simulation genre.Afterlife puts players in the role of a semi-divine being responsible for developi...

Released in 1997, Age of Empires is what happens when ancient history gets drunk and decides to party. You start in the Stone Age, bashing wild boars and clubbing trees, and before you know it, you’re building temples and flinging catapults. It’s like a time-traveling arms race with priests yelling "Wololo" as your units randomly switch...

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a landmark real-time strategy (RTS) game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999, it is the second installment in the Age of Empires series and remains one of the most influential RTS games of all time. The game is set in the medieval period, and it builds upon the gameplay m...

Mix one part turn-based strategy, one part fantasy novel, add a dash of dragon, and you get Age of Wonders (1999). This is the game where wizards rule, elves sulk in forests, and you get to conquer the world with tactical brilliance - or blind luck. It’s like chess, but with lightning bolts and skeleton armies. Diplomacy is an option, but hon...

Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne is a turn-based strategy game developed by Triumph Studios and published by Gathering of Developers. It was released in 2002 as a sequel to the original Age of Wonders. The game is set in a fantasy world where players take on the role of a leader, either as a wizard or a warlord, and compete for control of the...

Albion is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) developed and published by German studio Blue Byte Software. It was released in 1995 for MS-DOS and later for Amiga. Albion is notable for its blend of traditional RPG elements with a unique setting and storyline.The game takes place on the planet Albion, a world with a rich history and diver...

Sid Meier took one look at Earth and said, “Let’s leave this dump.” Thus, Alpha Centauri (1999, Windows XP) was born - a 4X strategy game that takes Civilization to space, then adds philosophy, moral dilemmas, and terrifying sentient fungi. It’s like if Civ II read too much Nietzsche and went off its meds. The factions are a...

American Conquest is the kind of game that throws hundreds of little soldiers at you and says, "Good luck, General!" Set during the early colonization of the Americas, this RTS blends history with chaos in a way that’s both educational and slightly overwhelming. Micromanaging battles with 16 cannons, 42 farmers, and 300 guys with muskets feel...

Amerzone is like stepping into a dream where logic is optional and atmosphere is everything. You play a journalist unraveling the mystery of a dying explorer’s last journey, which involves a lost civilization, mystical eggs, and a whole lot of lush, surreal landscapes. The gameplay leans heavily on point-and-click exploration with puzzles tha...

Battlespire is the weird, dark cousin of the Elder Scrolls family - the one who shows up late to the reunion with a sword and no pants. This first-person RPG strips out all the comfy open-world stuff and throws you into a linear, dungeon-based nightmare full of daedra, bugs (the technical kind), and voice acting that swings wildly between Shakespea...

Anachronox is a 2001 role-playing video game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive with a futuristic, cyberpunk-inspired setting. The game was written and directed by Tom Hall, one of the original developers behind Doom and Quake. The story of Anachronox takes place in a galaxy where technology and magic coexist. The game&r...

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 unapologetically text-heavy. Permadeath is the norm, the story is deep enough to drown in, and don’t even get me started on the corruption system. You’ll die often, po...

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 players into a 100-level deathtrap where the ultimate goal is to defeat Morgoth, because why not aim big? With perma-death looming over every decision, this game turns "op...

Step into the cockpit of the Apache Longbow, a 1995 combat flight simulator where you’ll experience the thrilling sensation of trying to figure out keyboard controls before getting shot down by invisible enemies. It's a serious military sim for serious joystick enthusiasts, or anyone who’s ever yelled, “I am the sky god!” be...

Dive into Aquanox (2001), where post-apocalyptic submarines battle it out beneath the ocean in a world that’s half Waterworld, half neon rave. With moody lighting and dialogue that screams “we’re trying to be deep,” it’s a game that takes itself very seriously while you zip around in your bubble-shooting doomfish. It's...

Army Men lets you live out your childhood fantasy of plastic soldier warfare without the hassle of crawling under the couch. You control Sarge, a green-tinted war machine with a stiff upper lip and an affinity for melting tan enemies into goo. It's part RTS, part shooter, and 100% nostalgia. The terrain’s made of sandboxes and kitchen floors,...

Army Men 2 doubles down on everything from the first game - more weapons, more plastic carnage, more trips to “The Real World” where you fight in bathtubs and backyards. It’s like Toy Story if Buzz Lightyear carried an M-16. The controls are clunky, the pathfinding a war crime, and the camera makes sure you never quite know what&r...

Atlantis: The Lost Tales is a graphic adventure game developed by Cryo Interactive and released in 1997. It is the first in a series of games set around the legendary lost city of Atlantis. You play as Seth, a young hero who becomes entangled in the political and mysterious happenings of the city. Seth is tasked with finding the missing queen,...

Atomic Bomberman (1997) takes the classic formula of blowing up your friends in adorable mayhem and gives it a 90s makeover — complete with voice quips, flashy graphics, and enough chaos to make a LAN party legendary. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s utterly ruthless. The computer opponents cheat like they’re auditioning...

In Auf Wiedersehen Monty, our favorite marsupial is back, and this time he's taking a very pixelated Eurotrip. Released for Windows XP in 2001, it's a nostalgia-fueled platformer that insists you master gravity-defying jumps and memorize half the map. Monty may not speak a word, but his backpack is full of traveler's checks and questionable decisio...

Ah, the late '90s: when cars exploded for no reason and acronyms made everything cooler. Axelerator: Have a N.I.C.E. day! is a 1997 Windows racer that asks, “What if racing was less about realism and more about chucking missiles at your friends?” The answer: pure chaos, terrible physics, and an oddly catchy techno soundtrack. Think Mari...

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 maneuvering little units across the world map, making huge plans and then watching them fail because you rolled a one. It&rsq...

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 play as Italy and change the course of history? Go for it. Just don’t expect your allies to be, you know, allied. ...

Released in 2003 for Windows XP, Babylon 5: I've Found Her is the kind of fan-made game that makes you question whether it’s actually fan-made or secretly a pilot for a new sci-fi show. You pilot sleek Starfuries in this space combat sim with all the dogfights and diplomacy of the iconic series, minus the studio budget. It’s free, it&rs...