Abandonware DOS title

Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

  • Amulets and Armor: a lesser known first-person CRPG

    Amulets and Armor: a lesser known first-person CRPG

    7th January 2022RPG
    Amulets & Armor is a first-person RPG with a fantasy setting. It was developed and published as shareware for DOS by United Software Artists in 1997. Amulets & Armor became freeware in 2013. Gameplay is mission-based; the player can take up quests in any order and even complete the same quests over ...
  • Abandonware DOS in 2021: let's say goodbye to a not so great year

    Abandonware DOS in 2021: let's say goodbye to a not so great year

    2nd January 2022Abandonware DOS updates
    First of all, I would like to thank everyone who donated a few bucks to help me keep working on Abandonware DOS. THANK YOU, THANK YOU and again THANK YOU! I must confess that I didn't put a lot of work in implementing new features these last year. I had ...
  • Play Elite online: the birth of space simulations

    Play Elite online: the birth of space simulations

    24th December 2021shooter, simulation
    The very first Elite was the kind of game that starts a whole genre. Space sims - I'm talking about the trade-fight-explore kind of sims - started with the creation of David Braben and Ian Bell. Games like Freelancer and EVE Online owe Elite a great deal. The Elite series ...
  • DOS game spotlight: Battle Chess

    DOS game spotlight: Battle Chess

    18th December 2021strategy
    Chess is a niche genre in video gaming. There were lots of chess simulations: black and white very old games, licensed games from chess champions, etc. No one ever attempted to broaden the audience until Interplay published Battle Chess. I'm a chess fan (I barely remember the rules), but I ...
  • Hail Caesar! For the second time

    Hail Caesar! For the second time

    11th December 2021simulation, strategy
    Caesar 2 is many things: a simulation set in ancient roman times, a city builder, a wonderful strategy game. Caesar 2 is all of this and more: it's one of the early games developed by Impressions that set the gameplay and quality standards later implemented in old strategy games like Zeus and ...
  • Retro game spotlight: Fantasy General by SSI

    Retro game spotlight: Fantasy General by SSI

    4th December 2021strategy
    Fantasy General is a hex-based turn-based strategy fantasy wargame set in a D&D world. The player can duel either against a computer or a human opponent or even take part in a longer campaign. There are two sides to chose from, one good and one evil (no neutral!), ...
  • Jones in the Fast Lane: board game meets life simulation

    Jones in the Fast Lane: board game meets life simulation

    27th November 2021simulation, strategy
    Jones in the Fast Lane is the kind of game that you don't see often these days. It's a mix between a digital board game and a modern day life simulation. The goal of the game is to live the life of Jones, making choices about school, work, your home, ...
  • Cadaver and Cadaver: The Payoff

    Cadaver and Cadaver: The Payoff

    20th November 2021action, adventure
    Cadaver (and the expansion Cadaver: The Payoff) is a blend of adventure and platform game developed by Bitmap Brothers. The gameplay reminds me of the glorious Head over Heels with a few differences: a fantasy setting, an inventory and the fact that you can die... and I died a lot ...
  • Heretic and Hexen: fantasy FPS

    Heretic and Hexen: fantasy FPS

    13th November 2021shooter
    Wolfenstein 3D made the FPS genre known to the world, Doom raised the quality bar and the popularity of First Person Shooters. Then came Heretic, a fantasy version of Doom with the addition of an inventory. Heretic was one of the few FPS I actually finished (and loved). I never ...
  • A classic RPG for Windows: Castle of the Winds

    A classic RPG for Windows: Castle of the Winds

    6th November 2021RPG
    Castle of the Winds is a perfect example of an atypical roguelike (no ASCII, runs in Windows) turned into a liberated game. Surprisingly, Castle of the Winds is still very playable to this day, if you can make it run under recent Windows editions.Genres: RPG, dungeon crawl, roguelike ...
  • Transport Tycoon: planes, trains, trucks

    Transport Tycoon: planes, trains, trucks

    30th October 2021simulation
    Transport Tycoon is a business simulation game that puts the player at the head of a transport company to compete against rival companies. The player can build stations, airports, railroads to transport passengers, mail and various goods using trucks, trains and planes. The game became a cult and a few ...
  • Cruise for a Corpse: crime and mystery on a ship

    Cruise for a Corpse: crime and mystery on a ship

    23rd October 2021adventure
    Cruise for a Corpse is a point and click adventure game developed by Delphine Software, the same guys behind Flashback, Operation Stealth and Future Wars.Cruise for a Corpse borrows heavily from Agatha Christie style and it's entirely set on a single cruise ship. If you like detective stories, go ...
  • SimTower: build your own skyscraper

    SimTower: build your own skyscraper

    16th October 2021simulation
    SimTower is an old Windows 3.x (1994) building and business simulation game where the player is tasked with the management of a skyscraper nonetheless. Raise floors, build apartments, shops, offices and try to avoid bankruptcy if you can.SimTower spawned some similar games for mobile devices, most notably the wonderful Tiny ...
  • Stunt Car Racer: falling off the track

    Stunt Car Racer: falling off the track

    9th October 2021racing
    I'm not a big fan of racing games, this one though catched my attention. I owned the original big box game for C64 and to this day I can't remember why I bought it. Anyway, I found Stunt Car Racer very engaging (and very difficult). The suspended tracks and the ...
  • Utopia: The Creation of a Nation (1992)

    Utopia: The Creation of a Nation (1992)

    25th September 2021strategy
    I bet not many of you remember Utopia: The Creation of a Nation. It's a single-player strategy game with strong city building elements set in the future. In Utopia your goal is to build and manage a planetary colony in an open-ended gameplay.ACE magazine review "Seems a little daunting ...
  • Retro game spotlight: Legend of Kyrandia (1992)

    Retro game spotlight: Legend of Kyrandia (1992)

    18th September 2021adventure
    Legend of Kyrandia is the first installment of the series of the same name. Kyrandia is a classic point & click adventure game set in a fantasy world; it was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin in 1992.There are different versions of the original Legend of Kyrandia. One ...
  • Developer spotlight: Magnetic Scrolls

    Developer spotlight: Magnetic Scrolls

    11th September 2021adventure
    Magnetic Scrolls was a British video game company active between 1984 and 1992. It was one of the most acclaimed interactive fiction developers of the 1980s and developed games such as The Pawn, Fish!, Guild of Thieves.Based In: United Kingdom United Kingdom Founded By: Anita Sinclair, Ken Gordon, Hugh Steers Established ...
  • The all time 100 best video games at Time.com

    The all time 100 best video games at Time.com

    4th September 2021the history of video games, top games and awards
    TIME magazine compiled a comprehensive list of the 100 best video games of all time for every platform that ever existed, according to them.Take a look and judge for yourself. Did you play most of them? Are you too young to know what Asteroid is?1970sAdventureAsteroidsBreakoutHunt the WumpusPongSpace InvadersThe ...
  • Abandonware classic: Captain Blood

    Abandonware classic: Captain Blood

    28th August 2021simulation
    Exxos released Captain Blood for PC, Amiga and Atari ST in 1988. Captain Blood is a peculiar science fiction game developed by french ERE Informatique which defies genres: it's part adventure, part space exploration, part simulation."It's very slickly presented, with excellent sound and graphics but it's a bit... ...
  • Retro game spotlight: Ultima 7 part 2 - Serpent Isle

    Retro game spotlight: Ultima 7 part 2 - Serpent Isle

    14th August 2021RPG
    After the well received Ultima 7 The Black Gate, Origin decided that the new Ultima engine could be used for one more game.Enter Serpent Isle.This time the Avatar travels to a whole new land, far away from the usual Britannia. Personally, I prefer The Black Gate, but Serpent Isle ...