Text-based games: ASCII, etc.

In the past, lots of games used ASCII characters (text) to represent the game world. These text-only video games may seem primitive and outdated and, in fact, the genre almost died with the fast evolving graphics of modern games.
A few genres traditionally linked to the beautiful world of ascii characters still survives: roguelikes (nethack, angband, etc.) and interactive fiction, for example.

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Scapeghost

DOS1989 Level 9 Computing

Seastalker

DOS1984 Infocom

Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos

DOS1986 Magicom Multimedia

Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels

DOS1988 Challenge

Silicon Dreams

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing

Silicon Dreams by Level 9 Computing is a trilogy of interactive fiction (text adventure) games released in the mid-1980s. The trilogy includes three separate games: Snowball, Return to Eden, and The Worm in Paradise. Each game combines elements of science fiction with puzzle-solving and exploration. All three games are text-based, relying on d...

Skullduggery: Adventures in Horror

DOS1986

Slash'Em

Windows XP/98/95Linux1997freeware

Sleuth: A Murder Mystery

DOS1983freeware Norland Software

Softporn Adventure

DOS1981freewareNSFW Sierra On-Line

Sorcerer

DOS1984 Infocom

Spellbreaker

DOS1985 Infocom

Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance

DOS1991protectedNSFW Legend Entertainment

Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance is an adventure game released in 1991, developed by Steve Meretzky and published by Legend Entertainment. It’s the second installment in the "Spellcasting" series. In Spellcasting 201, you reprise the role of Ernie Eaglebeak, an apprentice wizard who is attending the Sorcerer University. The sto...