Abandonware DOS title

Abandonware strategy games

Games based on strategy allow for reasoning and planning of one’s moves and actions. The gameplay may be based on player’s turns (Turn-based Strategy) or it may be in real time (Real-Time Strategy, RTS). These games focus on strategy and tactics rather than action, sometimes with the addition of financial or logistic features.

Recently added and trending strategy games

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101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy

Windows XP/98/951998 turn-based tactics
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 ...
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221B Baker Street

DOS1986 board game
You are Sherlock Holmes, and someone has committed a crime, possibly because they couldn’t handle the game’s UI. 221B Baker Street is a detective board game where your mind is your only weapon. And also a notepad, because keeping track of clues is half the game. You wander through foggy London, asking yourself how such elegant mystery-s...
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4 Queens Computer Casino

DOS1992 cards
This 1992 casino sim for DOS drops you into the neon-soaked carpet jungle of the Four Queens Hotel in Vegas. There’s no plot, no hero’s journey - just you, a digital bankroll, and the cold, soulless eyes of the slot machine. Blackjack, roulette, and video poker await as you attempt to cheat fate without cheating the game. The graphics a...
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4Play

Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995NSFW board game
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...
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5th Fleet

DOS1994 turn-based tactics, wargame, board game
This 1994 naval strategy game for DOS is based on the board game of the same name, which means you’ll spend more time squinting at menus than blowing up ships. It’s cerebral, methodical, and incredibly satisfying - if you’re the kind of person who organizes their spice rack alphabetically. You command modern naval forces in the In...
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8088 Othello

DOS1985 board game
There’s something oddly poetic about 8088 Othello, a 1985 take on the classic board game that feels like it was programmed by someone who had a personal vendetta against flashy graphics. The visuals are almost nonexistent, the sound is silent protest, and yet - somehow - it works. This is Othello in its purest form: black versus white, brain ...
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9 Poker

DOS1989 cards
Ah, 9 Poker. Released in 1989 for DOS, this game is less a glamorous casino sim and more a smoky backroom full of pixelated cards and questionable programming. You get nine variants of poker to lose fake money in, which is both generous and slightly overwhelming - do you go for Five Card Draw or risk everything on something called Guts? The interfa...
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A Line in the Sand

DOS1992protected board game, wargame, turn-based tactics
A Line in the Sand (1992) is what happens when a board game about modern Middle Eastern warfare gets turned into a DOS strategy title with all the subtlety of a cold war memo. You command military forces in a region that is perpetually on fire, and your job is to somehow make that worse - or better, depending on your alignment and ability to read p...
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Accordion

DOS1990 cards
It’s 1990, and you’re sitting at your DOS PC playing Accordion, a game that somehow turns solitaire into something slower and more passive-aggressive. It’s not flashy — unless you count blinking cards as flair — but it’s the kind of game you’ll boot up “just for five minutes” and look up two hou...
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Acquire

DOS1989 board game
Acquire (1989, DOS) brings boardroom drama to your DOS screen, turning you into a hotel tycoon in a game where the real enemy is... math. It's a faithful adaptation of the classic board game, complete with mergers, hostile takeovers, and the slow crushing realization that your cousin bought all the good stocks before you. There’s no real anim...
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Action in the North Atlantic

DOS1989 naval simulation
If you’ve ever dreamed of commanding a WWII convoy while cold, stressed, and staring at a pixelated radar screen, Action in the North Atlantic (1989, DOS) has you covered. It’s part strategy, part simulation, and all tension. You’ll guide merchant ships past U-boats, manage escorts, and occasionally scream at the screen when your ...
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Advanced Civilization

DOS1995 board game
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 ancient people from tribal hut to regional dominance—if you can survive plagues, invasions, and your own ambition. ...
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Age of Empires

Windows XP/98/951997protecteddemo real-time strategy
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...
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Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings

Windows XP/98/951999protecteddemo real-time strategy
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...
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Age of Wonders

Windows XP/98/951999protecteddemo turn-based tactics
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...
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Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne

Windows XP/98/952002protecteddemo turn-based tactics
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...
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Air Force Commander

DOS1992 real-time tactics
In Air Force Commander (1992), you don’t just fly planes - you run the whole air force. Think of it as being a general with a spreadsheet addiction. Assign squadrons, manage budgets, and try not to start World War III. It's dry in places, but the micromanagement will scratch an itch you didn’t know you had. A game where you’ll spe...
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Alien Legacy

DOS1994 4x
Alien Legacy (1994) is like SimCity crashed into Star Trek and nobody called the insurance company. It’s a real-time strategy/simulation game that has you managing a colony in deep space while solving the mystery of what happened to the previous crew. It's part detective story, part resource management, and part “Why is my oxygen supply...
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Alpha Centauri

Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1999protected 4x
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...
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Ambush at Sorinor

DOS1993 real-time strategy, real-time tactics
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American Conquest

Windows XP/98/952002protected real-time strategy
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Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021

DOS1987freeware 4x
Welcome to the future, where space empires are managed entirely via text and colored dots. Anacreon puts you in charge of an interstellar civilization and lets you conquer galaxies with the graphical intensity of an Excel spreadsheet. Micromanagement is the name of the game. You will harvest resources, move fleets, and wonder if your colonists are ...
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Annals of Rome

DOS1988 kingdom simulation
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Archon Ultra

DOS1994protected board game
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Archon: the Light and the Dark

DOS1984 board game
Archon: The Light and the Dark is an abandoned DOS fantasy blend of strategy and action game, developed by Free Fall Associates and published for DOS by Electronic Arts in 1984. Archon and its sequels are a unique mix of chess-like turn-based strategy and arcade action games. Take chess and add the fact that every time two pieces land on the same s...
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Armada 2525

DOS1991 4x
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Army Men

Windows XP/98/951998 real-time tactics
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Army Men 2

Windows XP/98/951998protected real-time tactics
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Arnhem: The Market Garden Operation

DOS1988 turn-based tactics, wargame