- Important: this page is for MS-DOS games only. Windows games go to their own pages, regardless of when they were released.
Before 95, Windows was not really suited for gaming, so most developers stuck to tried-and-true MS-DOS.
This was an era of many changes and creativity. Point and click adventure games were in vogue with companies like Sierra and Lucas Arts leading the charge. Due to simple graphics more emphasis was put on the plot in general with humor livening things up across multiple genres. Not everything was plain, however: this was also the time when the first 3D engines rolled out with games like Blood making use of the new tech to it's fullest.
Games didn't have to be politically correct and often weren't. This was especially true in the shooter genre, but sometimes even the more innocuous-seeming genres like platformers had content that would have been censored in modern eras! In fact, this is the era that brought the infamous Leisure Suit Larry and the associated lawsuit that led to the modern game ratings systems and stricter censorship rules in general. This is the era of playing games before you let the kids play them just to be sure they're "safe".
The vast majority of the games on this page can be played via DOSbox or purchased ready to play on modern systems from vendors such as Good Old Games for those wishing to experience old school games from this era. A lot of these games are now abandonware, and can also be found, legally, on myabandonware.com and abandonia.com for free.
- You may be able to find a few more DOS games here: Low end computer games.
| Picture | Title | Genre | Year Released | Description | Where To Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Another World Coverart.png | Another World | Platformer | 1991 | Also known as Out of This World in North America, and Outer World in Japan. A simple platformer where you take the role of a human who's teleported to a hostile alien world and needs to find a way out.The gameplay is reminiscent of Prince of Persia, but the experience is much more cinematic.
Warning: You WILL die a lot, even if it's a pretty short game. |
GOG |
| File:Betrayal at Krondor6.jpg | Betrayal at Krondor | RPG | 1993 | Based in Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia, Betrayal at Krondor is often a forgotten gem of Western RPG history. Fire up Dosbox and enjoy one of the best RPGs from the Golden Age of PC games. | GOG |
| File:41VJFJAB8GL. SL500 AA203 .jpg | Blackthorne | Platformer | 1994 | Interesting platform shooter, somewhat like the old Prince of Persia games, but with shotguns and ugly orcs. | |
| File:Blood logo.jpg | Blood | FPS | 1997 | Play as a charismatic anti-hero Caleb, shooting through incredibly gory scenes to kick Tchernobog's ass. Tons of black humor, references and mentioned red liquid. | GOG.com |
| File:Commander-keen-5-ss1.gif | Commander Keen | Platformer | 1990 | Classic platformer that involves shooting aliens and shit. Developed by the head guys who made Doom. | Steam |
| File:Darkseed .jpg | Darkseed | Point and Click/Horror | 1989 | H.R. Giger's Mind-Fuck brainchild, In it you are a man who has been experiencing strange dreams after having moved into a mansion, which you soon find to be caused by a rift connecting his world to the "Darkworld", he must switch between these worlds and destroy the machine that is causing the rift, and save the world. A very "original" story I know, but with Giger's psychotic art style mixed with the best worst writing I've seen in an adventure game sense Kings Quest it all adds up to make one of the best adventure games of its time, being hard but enjoyable all the way through. | |
| File:Dgen.jpg | D/Generation | Action | 1991 | An cyberpunk isometric action game where you're sent into a corporate building of a bioweapons developer to stop the actual weapons that have taken the building and its inhabitants hostage. | |
| File:Dottboxart 2.jpg | Day of the Tentacle | Adventure | 1993 | Adventure game with lots of quality art, puzzles, humor and story.
One of the greatest Adventures you can play. |
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| File:Doom.jpg | DOOM | FPS | 1993 | While DOOM was not the first FPS, it singlehandedly kick-started not only one of the most popular genres of gaming, but also multiplayer gaming. Blasting demons has never been more fun.
Don't even bother with the original DOS/Windows engine.For a better experience Try one of the Source ports: Zdoom, or if you want multiplayer action try SkulltagFor "modern" effects such as models, 3dfloors, and high frame rates, try Doom Legacy, GZDoom, or Risen3D. These source ports work on any system, all you need is the original DOOM.WAD or DOOM2.WAD file. |
Steam |
| File:Doom II small.jpg | DOOM II | FPS | 1994 | Super-shotgun. Not a lot of improvement over Doom, but it has some new enemies and the super-shotgun, it should be enough. Its as fun. Has a lot of Maps and Mods. | Steam |
| File:DuneII.jpg | Dune 2 | RTS | 1992 | Old school RTS, one of the first (if not the first). Dated interface but fun for its age. Will run on fucking old machines. | |
| File:Full Throttle.jpg | Full Throttle | Adventure | 1995 | You're Ben--beaten, framed for murder and left for dead on the roadside. You've got a lump on your back and a feeling in your gut that the road you're on is about to get a lot rougher. Full Throttle features an amazingly simple interface and fast-paced action. Brilliant graphics and animation provide a strong cartoon feel, while the voice acting is powerful and cinematic. Players find themselves racing to the finish to help Ben find the bad guys. | |
| File:Gods.jpg | Gods | Platformer | 1991 | Great platformer with unique atmosphere of pseudo-Greece. Average rating 93%. | |
| File:Goldenaxe.jpg | Golden Axe | Platformer/Action | 1990 | Old ass side-scrolling fighting game with a fantasy theme and co-operative gameplay. Conside/r all of its sequels too. Solid arcade coinop. Timeless. Note:You may need Dosbox to run this Game . | |
| File:Hexenbox.jpg | Hexen: Beyond Heretic | FPS | 1995 |
Fantasy FPS running in what is essentially the DOOM engine. A new series feature introduced in Hexen is the choice of character class. Players may choose to play as a fighter, cleric, or mage. Each character has unique weapons and physical characteristics, lending an additional degree of variety and replayability to the gameplay. The fighter relies mainly on melee attacks and is tougher and faster than the other characters. The cleric uses specialized weapons, some of which have limited range or healing effects. The mage uses long-range weapons, whose reach is counterbalanced by dealing relatively little damage and the fact that the mage is the most fragile of the classes. |
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| File:Leisure Suit Larry 1.jpg | Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards | Erotic Adventure | 1987 (Original Release) 1991 (Remake) 1997 (Re-release) |
Set in the fictional city of Lost Wages, the story follows a middle-aged virgin named Larry Laffer who resolves to sleep with a woman before midnight. Land of the Lounge Lizards establishes several elements which recur in later games, including Larry's out-of-date attire, perpetually bad luck with women, and penchant for double-entendres. | |
| File:LSL6.jpg | Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! | Erotic Adventure | 1993 | Set in the exclusive health spa, La Costa Lotta, Larry returns in his funniest adventure game to date. The graphics are hi-res, there are far more girls to test your luck with, much more things you can do and Larry is given his memorable voice (by Jan Rabson). It's also one of the few Sierra adventure games that has no dead ends so you can die as much as you want in the many humorous situations because you won't have to restart the game. Be sure to find the hi-res CD version that has audio dialogue rather than the text only lo-res version. | |
| File:LittleBigAdvent.jpg | Little Big Adventure (Also known as Relentless) | Action Adventure | 1994 | Where it all began. You play Twinsen, an escapee from an asylum on the planet Twinsun, in a quest to overthrow the evil dictator Funfrock. Graphics are the same as the sequel and the music and gameplay is top notch. Also to be admired is the freedom in the game that is sort of a proto-sandbox title. You can punch anyone in this world, give your girlfriend a bloody nose or knock civilians down a flight of stairs. Some of the music in the game is CD audio so be sure to find an actual disk image. | GOG |
| File:Mad TV DOS cover.jpg | Mad TV | Sim | 1991 | A television station management simulation, You're in charge of selecting programming and earning advertising for the station, while simultaneously trying to marry Betty. Not related to MADtv or the MAD magazine at all. | |
| File:Magic Carpet.jpg | Magic Carpet | FPS | 1994 | YOU'RE A BADASS SANDNIGGER HADOUKENING BEASTS OUT OF THE MOTHERFUCKING SKY ON A GODDAMN MAGIC CARPET! WHAT IS THERE NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THIS GAME? BESIDES, IT'S A FUCKING BULLFROG GAMEBULLFROG, PEOPLE! | GOG |
| File:Maniac Mansion artwork.jpg | Maniac Mansion | Adventure | 1988 | Hilarious and somewhat spooky adventure game with a stellar reputation for all the right reasons. After playing through the game, you'll definitely feel rewarded, it's that good. Be sure to read a walkthrough before you start or you can get trapped in an unwinnable game. Also available on the NES. | |
| File:MoM.jpg | Master of Magic | TBS | 1995 | One of the best TBS games ever. It plays like Civilization, but there's magic in this game, making it very interesting. You start with a small Hamlet and a few units, you will need to explore and expand, while researching new spells and managing your armies and cities. You can also get heroes, thay may be weak at low levels, but will become god-like after some battles. There are six type of magic, and hundred of spells, that will make each game interesting and challenging. You can get the Official Strategy Guide from here. | GOG |
| File:Mechwarrior BOXCOVER.jpg | Mechwarrior | RPG/Action | 1989 | Pilot 3 giant robots (you can switch between them to take it off computer control), kill other giant robots, salvage their parts and proceed to kill more robots. The lack of terrible Japanese influence means this is a very good game with balanced and interesting combat. More recent versions are also around and playable, though avoid the Japanese-influenced ones. | |
| File:Inspace.jpg | Operation: Inner Space | 1994 | The Inner Demon and its viruses have invaded the player's computer and infected its icons. Then the Inner Demon set up a lair in a black hole which changes position. Guarding this lair are 4 dragons each holding one of the Inner Demon's powers. Using a little spaceship, the player goes into the computer's "Inner Space" to collect the uninfected icons and stop the Inner Demon, while simultaneously improving his ship and maintaining relationships with the population of Inner Space. | ||
| File:Prehistorik-v.gif | Prehistorik | Platformer | 1991 | Old platformer starring a fat old Prehistoric guy who eats everything. Even insects, remote controls and fridges. Fun and with an end-game boss so hard it's stupid. | |
| File:Returnfire pc cover.jpg | Return Fire | Combat | 1995, 1996 | Return Fire has four selectable vehicles, each one more suitable for one kind of mission. Each one can carry a limited amount of fuel and ammo (which can be refilled at ammo tents and fuel depots) and can take different amounts of damage. | |
| File:ROTT Packshot.jpeg | Rise of the Triad | FPS | 1995 | An "intentionally disgusting" shooter with some plot about secret ops trying to destroy an alien cult, but who cares about plot when you can get hopped up on 'shrooms, turn yourself into a dog, and wield the almighty Excalibat? Also contains lots of blood and fleshy chunks spraying everywhere! Good times, even by modern standards. | GOG |
| File:Road Rash (2008) (PC).jpg | Road Rash | Racing | 1991 | Build up a bike from scrap, customize your biker, then beat the crap out of all the other racers on the way to the finish line. Did I mention all of this takes place in a normal city street with pedestrians you can run over, cars you can fling other bikers into, and cops to outrun? And all of it is set to a 90's grunge and metal soundtrack where you pick the tunes! It's racing, only awesome. | |
| File:Sam max cover.jpg | Sam and Max: Hit the Road | Adventure | 1993 | Pretty crazy adventure featuring a detective dog and his partner, a cute homicidical rabbit on their mission to find a disappeared yeti. Puzzles are sometimes TOO crazy, but the game's a lot of fun nevertheless. | |
| File:The Secret of Monkey Island artwork.jpg | The Secret of Monkey Island | Adventure | 1990(original) 2009(remake) | One of the most famous and successful adventure games ever made, this one is considered a cult classic by many. Help the "mighty pirate" Guybrush Threepwood defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck, win the love of the beautiful Elaine Marley and uncover the titular secret of Monkey Island. Exceptional writing and humor, this game is a mandatory play for everyone who loves adventures everyone.
Has a remake with modern graphics and voice acting on Steam. The artstyle is generally agreed upon to be ugly and the controls are fucktarded, but you can also switch to the original graphics and interface just with the press of a button. |
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| File:System Shock.jpg | System Shock | FPS | 1994 | ||
| File:LeChuck's Revenge artwork.jpg | Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge | Adventure | 1991 | Just like Monkey Island 1, but longer, funnier, and all around better. Get a job by tainting soup with a rat, kidnap two large animals for your twisted machinations, practice voodoo against your foes, and cause two huge explosions while stealing everything that's not nailed down. (Fun Fact: Pirates of the Caribbean stole a lot of stuff from this series.)
Also has a remake with redone graphics and full voice acting which is available on Steam. |
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| File:CIVILIZATION-V-FRONT-OF-BOX.jpg | Sid Meier's Civilization (series) | TBS | 1991 - 2010 | Big TBS series, comprising four games and a bunch of expansions. Play as any number of civs with a leader and build armies to conquer other dipshits. (I'm looking at you Gandhi) Or, play as a nice guy and win with nice cities, or ally everyone and win that way. Pansy. You know you wanna nuke their shit up.
Highly addictive, just ONE MORE TURN...
PROTIP: Civilization IV is still very easy to get into (3D graphics, great interface etc.) and is regarded by many as the best in the series. Civilization V is still fun, |
Steam (Civilization III) /Steam (Civilization IV) /Steam (Civilization V) |
| File:SimCity 2000 Coverart.png | Sim City 2000 | Sim | 1993 | Take control of a city as its Mayor, and try to expand whilst keeping the residents happy. | GOG |
| File:Stunts DOS cover.jpg | Stunts | Racing | 1990 | Like Trackmania for MS-DOS. Tracks Includes: loops, jumps (including over tall buildings), slalom roads and corkscrews. Design tracks or modify existing ones, features |
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| File:Superturbo.jpg | Super Street Fighter II Turbo | Fighting | 1995 | The best version of Street Fighter 2 is on DOS! Very accurate representation of arcade version (arguably better than on 3DO), with all combos and moves, but due to low resolution sprites of all characters are a bit bigger, but that's only for the better. You can use 6-button controller with that beast. | |
| File:Starcontrol2.jpg | Star Control 2 | RPG | 1992 | Unique Space-Tripping-RPG where you play as a guy who has to organise an alliance of alien races to fight off galactic assholes, the ur-quan and kohr-ah. In addition to the marvelous plot and music, the game has a funky arcade-style battle game blended into the main quest that makes the fighting a lot of fun. The 3DO version was unshackled from copyright in 2002, and thus an open source version was born].
File:Aarchie-bunker1.jpg Note: This game has a hidden timer that will bite you in the ass if you waste too much time. |
GOG (Original) /Open Source Homepage |
| File:Swtiefightercd.jpg | Star Wars: TIE Fighter | Sim | 1994 | A fuckwin flight sim where you fly around in your TIE Fighter fucking up the Rebel Alliance during the Empire Strikes Back era. | |
| File:250px-Futureshockcover.jpg |
Terminator: Future Shock |
FPS | 1995 | Set in the future, you play an unknown soldier reminiscent of John Connor, sent out to stop the Terminator menace and destroy Skynet. Packing every weapon imaginable, from shotguns, to rocket launchers, to laser rifles, you carve your way through an apocalyptic landscape full of T-1000's, spider mechs, and other droids hell bent on your death. Conserve ammo, blow shit up, and shoot for the moon. Literally | |
| File:Warcraft - Orcs & Humans Coverart.png | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | RTS | 1994 | Starcraft is better for rated games. Warcraft has more features and better custom games. | |
| File:Wolfenstein 3D title screen.png | Wolfenstein 3D | FPS | 1992 | VERY brown, but good fun. Take on Nazis, then Zombies, then other weird occult things (such as a flying monster torso), all within the time frame of WWII. | Play in-browser |
| File:X-com - ufo defense coverart.png | X-Com: UFO defense | TBS | 1993 | Turn-based, squad-level strategy with management aspect too. Tense sci-fi atmosphere.Practically the creator of its genre, and still one of the best offerings of it. | Steam |
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Original image from /VR/