Top 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 | Zork I: The Great Underground Empire | adventure |
4.01
|
| 02 | PC-Man | action |
4.00
|
| 03 | Paratrooper | shooter |
3.91
|
| 04 | Executive Suite | simulation |
3.76
|
| 05 | Microsoft Decathlon | sports |
3.74
|
| 06 | Deadline | adventure |
3.72
|
| 07 | The Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow | strategy |
3.60
|
| 08 | Adventure in Serenia | adventure |
3.59
|
| 09 | Crossfire | shooter |
3.52
|
| 10 | Astro Dodge | shooter |
3.50
|
| # | 1983 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lode Runner | action |
4.07
|
| 02 | Frogger | action |
4.06
|
| 03 | Rogue | rpg |
4.00
|
| 04 | Donkey Kong | action |
4.00
|
| 05 | Digger | action |
4.00
|
| 06 | Sleuth: A Murder Mystery | simulation |
4.00
|
| 07 | Defender | shooter |
3.96
|
| 08 | Borland Turbo Pascal 2.0 | application |
3.95
|
| 09 | Battlezone | shooter |
3.94
|
| 10 | The Hobbit | adventure |
3.93
|
| # | 1984 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alley Cat | action |
4.13
|
| 02 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | adventure |
4.05
|
| 03 | Montezuma's Revenge | action |
4.04
|
| 04 | Archon: the Light and the Dark | strategy |
4.00
|
| 05 | Soko-Ban | puzzle |
3.98
|
| 06 | DND | rpg |
3.93
|
| 07 | Zork III: The Dungeon Master | adventure |
3.89
|
| 08 | King's Quest 1: Quest for the Crown | adventure |
3.86
|
| 09 | Jumpman | action |
3.84
|
| 10 | Styx | action |
3.78
|
| # | 1985 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Rambo First Blood Part 2 | adventure |
4.07
|
| 02 | A mind forever voyaging | adventure |
4.05
|
| 03 | 9 Princes in Amber | adventure |
4.00
|
| 04 | Star Trek: the Kobayashi alternative | adventure |
4.00
|
| 05 | Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar | rpg |
4.00
|
| 06 | King's Quest 2: Romancing the Throne | adventure |
3.97
|
| 07 | Hacker | simulation |
3.94
|
| 08 | Spacewar | shooter |
3.91
|
| 09 | Wishbringer | adventure |
3.90
|
| 10 | The mist | adventure |
3.89
|
| # | 1986 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter | adventure |
4.11
|
| 02 | Turbo Prolog 2.0 | application |
4.10
|
| 03 | Norton Commander 5.5 | application |
4.10
|
| 04 | Gunship | vehicle simulation |
4.06
|
| 05 | Alter Ego: Male Version | simulation |
4.05
|
| 06 | The Chessmaster 2000 | strategy |
4.04
|
| 07 | Conflict in Vietnam | strategy |
4.03
|
| 08 | Alter Ego: Female Version | simulation |
4.03
|
| 09 | The Great Escape | action-adventure |
4.00
|
| 10 | James Bond 007: Goldfinger | adventure |
3.96
|
| # | 1987 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards | adventure |
4.17
|
| 02 | Maniac Mansion | adventure |
4.12
|
| 03 | Test Drive | racing |
4.11
|
| 04 | Driller | action-adventure |
4.10
|
| 05 | Borland Turbo Basic 1.0 | application |
4.08
|
| 06 | Tetris | puzzle |
4.08
|
| 07 | Sid Meier's Pirates! | strategy |
4.07
|
| 08 | Elite | vehicle simulation |
4.07
|
| 09 | The lurking horror | adventure |
3.96
|
| 10 | Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel | adventure |
3.96
|
| # | 1988 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Grand Prix Circuit | racing |
4.16
|
| 02 | Leisure Suit Larry 2: Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places) | adventure |
4.09
|
| 03 | Life & Death | simulation |
4.08
|
| 04 | Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny | rpg |
4.08
|
| 05 | Batman: the Caped Crusader | action-adventure |
4.05
|
| 06 | Arkanoid | action |
4.05
|
| 07 | Shadowgate | adventure |
4.04
|
| 08 | Alternate Reality: The City | rpg |
4.04
|
| 09 | 2400 A.D. | rpg |
4.03
|
| 10 | Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 | vehicle simulation |
4.03
|
| # | 1989 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Pipe Dream | puzzle |
4.16
|
| 02 | Bubble Bobble | action |
4.13
|
| 03 | Qix | action |
4.13
|
| 04 | Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals | adventure |
4.11
|
| 05 | Rick Dangerous | action |
4.11
|
| 06 | Dungeon Master | rpg |
4.10
|
| 07 | Stunt Car Racer | racing |
4.09
|
| 08 | Operation Wolf | shooter |
4.09
|
| 09 | The Cycles | racing |
4.09
|
| 10 | Indianapolis 500 | racing |
4.08
|
| # | 1990 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Secret of Monkey Island | adventure |
4.18
|
| 02 | Loom | adventure |
4.12
|
| 03 | F29 Retaliator | vehicle simulation |
4.12
|
| 04 | Centurion: Defender of Rome | strategy |
4.10
|
| 05 | Xenon 2: Megablast | shooter |
4.10
|
| 06 | The Bard's Tale 3: Thief of Fate | rpg |
4.10
|
| 07 | SimEarth | simulation |
4.09
|
| 08 | The Oregon Trail | simulation |
4.09
|
| 09 | Ultima 6: The False Prophet | rpg |
4.08
|
| 10 | North and South | strategy |
4.08
|
| # | 1991 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Eye of the Beholder | rpg |
4.17
|
| 02 | Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon | rpg |
4.16
|
| 03 | Chip's Challenge | puzzle |
4.16
|
| 04 | Golden Axe | action |
4.15
|
| 05 | Volfied | action |
4.12
|
| 06 | Civilization | strategy |
4.11
|
| 07 | Castle of Dr. Brain | adventure |
4.10
|
| 08 | Chuck Yeager's Air Combat | vehicle simulation |
4.10
|
| 09 | Duke Nukem | action |
4.09
|
| 10 | Les Manley in: Lost in L.A. | adventure |
4.09
|
| # | 1992 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Street Fighter 2 | action |
4.19
|
| 02 | Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 | application |
4.19
|
| 03 | Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate | rpg |
4.17
|
| 04 | Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant | rpg |
4.14
|
| 05 | Gobliiins | adventure |
4.13
|
| 06 | Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis | adventure |
4.11
|
| 07 | 1000 Miglia | racing |
4.11
|
| 08 | KGB | adventure |
4.10
|
| 09 | Dune II: The building of a dynasty | strategy |
4.10
|
| 10 | Dune | strategy |
4.10
|
| # | 1993 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Lost Vikings | action |
4.16
|
| 02 | Doom | shooter |
4.14
|
| 03 | Mortal Kombat | action |
4.13
|
| 04 | Space Quest 5: The Next Mutation | adventure |
4.13
|
| 05 | Frontier: Elite 2 | vehicle simulation |
4.12
|
| 06 | Castle of the Winds | rpg |
4.11
|
| 07 | Space Hulk | strategy |
4.11
|
| 08 | Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers | adventure |
4.11
|
| 09 | V for victory: Market-Garden | strategy |
4.10
|
| 10 | Wing Commander: Privateer | vehicle simulation |
4.10
|
| # | 1994 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | X-COM: Ufo Defense | strategy |
4.24
|
| 02 | NASCAR Racing | racing |
4.13
|
| 03 | Doom 2: Hell on Earth | shooter |
4.13
|
| 04 | Warcraft: Orcs and Humans | strategy |
4.11
|
| 05 | Master of Magic | strategy |
4.11
|
| 06 | Hocus Pocus | action |
4.10
|
| 07 | Panzer General | strategy |
4.09
|
| 08 | Colonization | strategy |
4.09
|
| 09 | The Elder Scrolls: Arena | rpg |
4.09
|
| 10 | Marathon | shooter |
4.09
|
| # | 1995 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hexen: Beyond Heretic | shooter |
4.15
|
| 02 | Grand Prix 2 | racing |
4.15
|
| 03 | Frontier: First Encounters | vehicle simulation |
4.09
|
| 04 | Star Wars: Dark Forces | shooter |
4.09
|
| 05 | Caesar 2 | simulation |
4.08
|
| 06 | High Seas Trader | simulation |
4.06
|
| 07 | FIFA Soccer 96 | sports |
4.06
|
| 08 | Heroes of Might and Magic | strategy |
4.05
|
| 09 | Earthworm Jim | action |
4.04
|
| 10 | The Dig | adventure |
4.03
|
| # | 1996 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares | strategy |
4.18
|
| 02 | Civilization 2 | strategy |
4.17
|
| 03 | The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall | rpg |
4.17
|
| 04 | Road Rash | racing |
4.11
|
| 05 | Fantasy General | strategy |
4.10
|
| 06 | Conquest of the New World (Deluxe Edition) | strategy |
4.09
|
| 07 | Duke Nukem 3D | shooter |
4.09
|
| 08 | Command & Conquer: Red Alert | strategy |
4.09
|
| 09 | Crusader: No Regret | shooter |
4.08
|
| 10 | Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games | strategy |
4.07
|
| # | 1997 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Age of Empires | strategy |
4.15
|
| 02 | Virtua Cop 2 | shooter |
4.12
|
| 03 | Dilbert's Desktop Games | action |
4.10
|
| 04 | Virtua Cop | shooter |
4.09
|
| 05 | Fallout | rpg |
4.06
|
| 06 | Entrepreneur | simulation |
4.06
|
| 07 | Slash'Em | rpg |
4.05
|
| 08 | Theme Hospital | simulation |
4.05
|
| 09 | Panzer General 2 | strategy |
4.04
|
| 10 | X-COM: Apocalypse | strategy |
4.03
|
| # | 1998 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Caesar 3 | simulation |
4.12
|
| 02 | 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy | strategy |
4.10
|
| 03 | Mega Man X3 | shooter |
4.09
|
| 04 | House of the Dead | shooter |
4.08
|
| 05 | Dope Wars | simulation |
4.06
|
| 06 | Dune 2000 | strategy |
4.05
|
| 07 | Army Men | strategy |
4.04
|
| 08 | Axis and Allies | strategy |
4.03
|
| 09 | People's General | strategy |
4.00
|
| 10 | Railroad Tycoon 2 | simulation |
3.99
|
| # | 1999 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Jagged Alliance 2 | strategy |
4.23
|
| 02 | Tyrian 2000 | shooter |
4.17
|
| 03 | System Shock 2 | action-adventure |
4.14
|
| 04 | Roller Coaster Tycoon | simulation |
4.13
|
| 05 | Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | strategy |
4.13
|
| 06 | Age of Wonders | strategy |
4.10
|
| 07 | Three Sisters' Story | adventure |
4.08
|
| 08 | Black Moon Chronicles | strategy |
4.04
|
| 09 | Pharaoh | simulation |
4.02
|
| 10 | Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia | strategy |
3.99
|
| # | 2000 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Zeus: Master of Olympus | simulation |
4.04
|
| 02 | Patrician 2: Quest for Power | simulation |
4.02
|
| 03 | Cultures | strategy |
4.00
|
| 04 | Icewind Dale | rpg |
4.00
|
| 05 | Ground Control | strategy |
3.96
|
| 06 | 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown | puzzle |
3.78
|
| 07 | Arrakis | strategy |
3.66
|
| # | 2001 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds | strategy |
4.00
|
| 02 | Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura | rpg |
3.95
|
| 03 | Mario and Luigi | action |
3.93
|
| 04 | Empire Earth | strategy |
3.89
|
| # | 2002 | genre | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 | simulation |
4.09
|
| 02 | Hooligans: Storm Over Europe | strategy |
4.02
|
| 03 | Syberia | adventure |
3.97
|
| 04 | DOSBox | application |
3.94
|
| 05 | Sid Meier's SimGolf | sports |
3.90
|
| 06 | Industry Giant 2 | simulation |
3.86
|
| 07 | Icewind Dale 2 | rpg |
3.80
|