Best abandonware games by year
Abandonware DOS hosts games from the early age of Personal Computer videogaming. I'm referring to a time when some of you weren't even born: the 80s.
The golden age of PC games came in the 90s, with classic games still remembered today. In the new millennium, many small developers struggled to stay afloat in the gaming sea now dominated by leviathan companies that ate one software house after another. The golden age ended and "abandonware" started to be a thing.
Here are the top 10 games for every year of that golden age, according to user's votes.
| # | 1982 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | PC-Man | action |
4.12
|
| 02 | Zork I: The Great Underground Empire | adventure |
4.11
|
| 03 | Microsoft Decathlon | sports |
3.92
|
| 04 | Paratrooper | shooter |
3.85
|
| 05 | Executive Suite | simulation |
3.85
|
| 06 | Deadline | adventure |
3.76
|
| 07 | The Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow | strategy |
3.71
|
| 08 | Wizardry 2: The knight of diamonds | rpg |
3.71
|
| 09 | Adventure in Serenia | adventure |
3.65
|
| 10 | Pac-girl | action |
3.64
|
| # | 1983 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Battlezone | shooter |
4.25
|
| 02 | Digger | action |
4.23
|
| 03 | Lode Runner | action |
4.17
|
| 04 | Defender | shooter |
4.13
|
| 05 | Borland Turbo Pascal 2.0 | application |
4.12
|
| 06 | Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz | adventure |
4.12
|
| 07 | Donkey Kong | action |
4.11
|
| 08 | Frogger | action |
4.09
|
| 09 | Planetfall | adventure |
4.08
|
| 10 | Sleuth: A Murder Mystery | simulation |
4.04
|
| # | 1984 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alley Cat | action |
4.30
|
| 02 | King's Quest 1: Quest for the Crown | adventure |
4.14
|
| 03 | Rogue | rpg |
4.13
|
| 04 | Montezuma's Revenge | action |
4.13
|
| 05 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | adventure |
4.13
|
| 06 | Soko-Ban | puzzle |
4.11
|
| 07 | DBase 3 | application |
4.05
|
| 08 | DND | rpg |
4.04
|
| 09 | Archon: the Light and the Dark | strategy |
4.03
|
| 10 | Chess88 | strategy |
4.00
|
| # | 1985 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alice: The Personal Pascal | application |
4.38
|
| 02 | Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar | rpg |
4.18
|
| 03 | 9 Princes in Amber | adventure |
4.18
|
| 04 | A mind forever voyaging | adventure |
4.14
|
| 05 | Rambo First Blood Part 2 | adventure |
4.12
|
| 06 | Ultima 3: Exodus | rpg |
4.03
|
| 07 | The mist | adventure |
4.03
|
| 08 | Spacewar | shooter |
4.03
|
| 09 | Star Trek: the Kobayashi alternative | adventure |
4.00
|
| 10 | King's Quest 2: Romancing the Throne | adventure |
4.00
|
| # | 1986 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter | adventure |
4.25
|
| 02 | The Chessmaster 2000 | strategy |
4.18
|
| 03 | Wordstar 4 | application |
4.15
|
| 04 | Gunship | vehicle simulation |
4.13
|
| 05 | Starflight | rpg |
4.13
|
| 06 | Alter Ego: Male Version | simulation |
4.11
|
| 07 | Conflict in Vietnam | strategy |
4.11
|
| 08 | Turbo Prolog 2.0 | application |
4.10
|
| 09 | Leather Goddesses of Phobos | adventure |
4.10
|
| 10 | Alter Ego: Female Version | simulation |
4.08
|
| # | 1987 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Borland Turbo C v1 | application |
4.42
|
| 02 | Bad Street Brawler | action |
4.25
|
| 03 | Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards | adventure |
4.23
|
| 04 | Earl Weaver Baseball | sports |
4.22
|
| 05 | Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel | adventure |
4.20
|
| 06 | Borland Turbo Basic 1.0 | application |
4.20
|
| 07 | Maniac Mansion | adventure |
4.18
|
| 08 | Driller | action-adventure |
4.17
|
| 09 | Wheel of fortune | puzzle |
4.12
|
| 10 | Test Drive | racing |
4.11
|
| # | 1988 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Deluxe Paint 2 | application |
4.36
|
| 02 | GW-BASIC 3 | application |
4.28
|
| 03 | Skate or Die | sports |
4.26
|
| 04 | Impossible Mission 2 | action-adventure |
4.24
|
| 05 | Battle Chess | strategy |
4.22
|
| 06 | Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny | rpg |
4.18
|
| 07 | Super Hang-On | racing |
4.18
|
| 08 | World class leaderboard | sports |
4.18
|
| 09 | Corruption | adventure |
4.17
|
| 10 | Police Quest 2: The Vengeance | adventure |
4.16
|
| # | 1989 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Duel: Test Drive 2 | racing |
4.26
|
| 02 | Pipe Dream | puzzle |
4.26
|
| 03 | Rick Dangerous | action |
4.25
|
| 04 | Operation Wolf | shooter |
4.24
|
| 05 | Heavy Metal | vehicle simulation |
4.23
|
| 06 | Hero's Quest: So you want to be a hero | adventure |
4.21
|
| 07 | Bubble Bobble | action |
4.21
|
| 08 | Stunt Car Racer | racing |
4.15
|
| 09 | Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs | sports |
4.15
|
| 10 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | adventure |
4.15
|
| # | 1990 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Secret of Monkey Island | adventure |
4.29
|
| 02 | Norton Editor 2 | application |
4.26
|
| 03 | Tetris 2.0 | puzzle |
4.25
|
| 04 | Arj | application |
4.23
|
| 05 | The Bard's Tale 3: Thief of Fate | rpg |
4.22
|
| 06 | Prince of Persia | action |
4.22
|
| 07 | SimEarth | simulation |
4.22
|
| 08 | Mario Bros VGA | action |
4.21
|
| 09 | Ultima 6: The False Prophet | rpg |
4.20
|
| 10 | F29 Retaliator | vehicle simulation |
4.20
|
| # | 1991 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | QBASIC | application |
4.53
|
| 02 | Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge | adventure |
4.28
|
| 03 | Chip's Challenge | puzzle |
4.28
|
| 04 | Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate my Baby Sitter! | action |
4.25
|
| 05 | Eye of the Beholder | rpg |
4.25
|
| 06 | Pools of Darkness | rpg |
4.25
|
| 07 | Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon | rpg |
4.25
|
| 08 | Duke Nukem | action |
4.25
|
| 09 | Golden Axe | action |
4.22
|
| 10 | Gods | action |
4.21
|
| # | 1992 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 | application |
4.36
|
| 02 | Street Fighter 2 | action |
4.33
|
| 03 | Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate | rpg |
4.29
|
| 04 | Tetris Classic | puzzle |
4.29
|
| 05 | The Oregon Trail Deluxe | simulation |
4.26
|
| 06 | Dark Seed | adventure |
4.23
|
| 07 | Jill of the Jungle 2: Jill Goes Underground | action |
4.23
|
| 08 | Minesweeper | puzzle |
4.23
|
| 09 | Car and Driver | racing |
4.21
|
| 10 | Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant | rpg |
4.21
|
| # | 1993 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Lost Vikings | action |
4.26
|
| 02 | Mortal Kombat | action |
4.25
|
| 03 | 3D Studio 3 | application |
4.24
|
| 04 | Tom and Jerry | action |
4.23
|
| 05 | Doom | shooter |
4.22
|
| 06 | Populous 2: Trials of the Olympian Gods | strategy |
4.21
|
| 07 | SimCity 2000 | simulation |
4.20
|
| 08 | Dungeon Hack | rpg |
4.20
|
| 09 | Flashback: The Quest for Identity | action |
4.20
|
| 10 | Police Quest: Open Season | adventure |
4.20
|
| # | 1994 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Micro Machines | racing |
4.29
|
| 02 | X-COM: Ufo Defense | strategy |
4.29
|
| 03 | Colonization | strategy |
4.27
|
| 04 | Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf | shooter |
4.27
|
| 05 | Doom 2: Hell on Earth | shooter |
4.26
|
| 06 | The Incredible Toon Machine | puzzle |
4.26
|
| 07 | Disney's Aladdin | action |
4.25
|
| 08 | Pinball Fantasies | action |
4.24
|
| 09 | Heretic | shooter |
4.23
|
| 10 | Cannon Fodder | strategy |
4.22
|
| # | 1995 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Caesar 2 | simulation |
4.25
|
| 02 | The Need for Speed | racing |
4.24
|
| 03 | Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons | simulation |
4.23
|
| 04 | William Shatner's TekWar | shooter |
4.23
|
| 05 | Star Wars: Dark Forces | shooter |
4.22
|
| 06 | Hexen: Beyond Heretic | shooter |
4.21
|
| 07 | Grand Prix 2 | racing |
4.20
|
| 08 | Virtual Pool | sports |
4.18
|
| 09 | Screamer | racing |
4.17
|
| 10 | Whiplash | racing |
4.17
|
| # | 1996 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Civilization 2 | strategy |
4.27
|
| 02 | Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares | strategy |
4.27
|
| 03 | The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall | rpg |
4.26
|
| 04 | Quake | shooter |
4.23
|
| 05 | F-22 Lightning 2 | vehicle simulation |
4.22
|
| 06 | Road Rash | racing |
4.22
|
| 07 | Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition) | strategy |
4.21
|
| 08 | Alien Trilogy | shooter |
4.20
|
| 09 | Super Street Fighter 2 | action |
4.19
|
| 10 | Marathon 2: Durandal | shooter |
4.19
|
| # | 1997 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Virtua Cop 2 | shooter |
4.23
|
| 02 | Interstate '76 | racing |
4.23
|
| 03 | Atomic Bomberman | action |
4.22
|
| 04 | Age of Empires | strategy |
4.22
|
| 05 | Carmageddon | racing |
4.21
|
| 06 | Lucky Luke | action |
4.19
|
| 07 | Season of the Sakura | adventure |
4.18
|
| 08 | Entrepreneur | simulation |
4.17
|
| 09 | Slash'Em | rpg |
4.17
|
| 10 | Blood | shooter |
4.15
|
| # | 1998 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Caesar 3 | simulation |
4.24
|
| 02 | Mega Man X3 | shooter |
4.23
|
| 03 | Dune 2000 | strategy |
4.20
|
| 04 | Norton Commander 5.5 | application |
4.19
|
| 05 | Army Men | strategy |
4.18
|
| 06 | Fallout 2 | rpg |
4.17
|
| 07 | Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | strategy |
4.17
|
| 08 | People's General | strategy |
4.15
|
| 09 | House of the Dead | shooter |
4.14
|
| 10 | Railroad Tycoon 2 | simulation |
4.14
|
| # | 1999 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz | strategy |
4.23
|
| 02 | Outcast | action-adventure |
4.23
|
| 03 | Age of Wonders | strategy |
4.22
|
| 04 | Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | strategy |
4.22
|
| 05 | Mick's Strip Poker | strategy |
4.22
|
| 06 | Grand Theft Auto 2 | action-adventure |
4.21
|
| 07 | Pharaoh | simulation |
4.20
|
| 08 | System Shock 2 | action-adventure |
4.20
|
| 09 | Might and Magic 7: For Blood and Honor | rpg |
4.19
|
| 10 | Jagged Alliance 2 | strategy |
4.18
|
| # | 2000 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nox | rpg |
4.19
|
| 02 | Ground Control | strategy |
4.18
|
| 03 | Deus Ex | rpg |
4.16
|
| 04 | Zeus: Master of Olympus | simulation |
4.14
|
| 05 | Patrician 2: Quest for Power | simulation |
4.11
|
| 06 | 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown | puzzle |
4.04
|
| 07 | Gal Pani X | action |
4.00
|
| 08 | Cultures | strategy |
3.88
|
| 09 | Arrakis | strategy |
3.88
|
| 10 | Icewind Dale | rpg |
3.85
|
| # | 2001 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Capitalism 2 | simulation |
4.21
|
| 02 | Anachronox | rpg |
4.19
|
| 03 | Empire Earth | strategy |
4.18
|
| 04 | Zoo Tycoon | simulation |
4.16
|
| 05 | ScummVM | application |
4.14
|
| 06 | Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura | rpg |
4.11
|
| 07 | Mario and Luigi | action |
4.11
|
| 08 | Creatures Village | action-adventure |
4.09
|
| 09 | Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds | strategy |
4.02
|
| 10 | Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel | strategy |
3.97
|
| # | 2002 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Crazy Taxi | racing |
4.21
|
| 02 | Chessmaster 9000 | strategy |
4.20
|
| 03 | Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 | simulation |
4.18
|
| 04 | DOSBox | application |
4.16
|
| 05 | Hooligans: Storm Over Europe | strategy |
4.14
|
| 06 | Syberia | adventure |
4.05
|
| 07 | Sid Meier's SimGolf | sports |
4.04
|
| 08 | Industry Giant 2 | simulation |
3.94
|
| 09 | Icewind Dale 2 | rpg |
3.77
|
| 10 | X-COM: Alliance | shooter |
3.72
|