Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

Wizball in a world without colors

Wizball is a  shoot 'em up video game developed by Sensible Software and originally released for various home computer platforms in 1987. The game was published by Ocean Software. In Wizball, players control a wizard who rides a magical green ball. The wizard's mission is to restore color to ...

Demo versions: what happened to game demos?

Let's start by emphasizing a crucial point: not every classic game has been "abandoned". With the resurgence of all things "vintage", there's a renewed fascination with retro items, including video games. Consequently, certain companies have acquired entire back catalogs of old games and begun selling them anew. Hence, many captivating ...

The early Batman: the Caped Crusader

Batman: The Caped Crusader is an action-adventure video game released in the late 1980s. It was developed and published by Ocean Software and was available on various home computer systems of that era, including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and, of course, DOS. The game was ...

Block breakers: the Breakout legacy

Block breaker is a term often used to describe a type of video game that involves breaking or destroying blocks or bricks within the game environment. These games are typically characterized by a paddle or platform at the bottom of the screen that the player controls, and a wall of ...

GameSpy's 25 Favorite PC Games of the '90s

"The 1990s were landmark years for PC gaming, giving rise to three of the most deeply ingrained genres on the platform, and delivering memorable classics in the role-playing and adventure genres that the PC had long been known for. To celebrate this monumental decade we've put together some reflections ...

The shareware business model

Shareware is a type of software distribution model that allows users to try a program before purchasing it. It's a marketing strategy and distribution method that was particularly popular in the early days of personal computing, primarily during the 1980s and 1990s.Shareware games were released for free with limited ...

Volfied: a Qix clone on steroids

Volfied is an abandoned action heavily inspired by the classic Qix (draw rectangles in a fixed screen to trap and destroy enemies). Volfied was designed by Fukio Mitsuji, developed by Taito and released by Empire Interactive in 1991 for DOS.

The Incredible Machine: puzzles and contraptions

The Incredible Machine (part of The Incredible Machine series) is a peculiar DOS puzzle game developed by Jeff Tunnell Productions and published by Sierra On-Line in 1993. The goal of the game is to build strange contraptions using the few pieces at your disposal. The result of each puzzle is often ...

Pipe Mania: a liquid puzzle game

Pipe Mania (also known as Pipe Dream is a tile-matching (sort of) puzzle game about flowing liquids developed by The Assembly Line in 1989. You must build a path made of pipe pieces to let a green liquid (sewer goo?) flow. It's simple, original and addicting, that's why Pipe Mania was ...

Gobliiins: half adventure, half puzzle game

Gobliiins is a peculiar adventure game designed by Pierre Gilhodes, developed by French company Coktel Vision and released by Sierra On-Line in 1991 for DOS, Mac, Amiga and Atari ST. In Gobliiins, you control multiple goblins and you must find a way to progress to the next area by solving typical ...

A game to play on Christmas day: Holiday Lemmings

Lemmings was one of the most iconic puzzle games ever made. It was also one of the most inventive. The idea behind those tiny furred punk suicidal rodents is truly a stroke of genius. Not surprisingly, after the huge success of the first game a lot of sequels followed. Holiday ...

Retro game spotlight: The Lost Vikings

I'm not a fan of platformers. I love RPGs, I enjoyed many point & click adventures, I like most strategy games, but I never got excited while playing a platform game. Lost Viking is different. I LOVED the concept of controlling three different vikings in order to solve riddles and ...

Bomb Jack: an arcade classic

Bomb Jack is a classic arcade platform game developed and published by Tecmo in 1984. The goal of the game is to collect bombs while avoiding enemies; the whole game takes place in a fixed screen. Bomb Jack for DOS is a conversion from the arcade original version. The arcade and ...

Play Qix online on Abandonware DOS

Qix is a classic arcade games that every vintage game conoisseur should know. The original version hit the arcades in 1981 and was an instant success. The gameplay is really simple: draw squares and rectangles to captures areas of the screen without dyiing. When you manage to claim the majority of ...

1998 in PC gaming: Dune 2000, Axis and Allies, Railroad Tycoon 2

20 years ago PC gaming was thriving. Half-Life re-defined the game design of FPSs. Baldur's Gate and Fallout 2 gave hope to gamers who were waiting for the next generation of RPGs. Adventure gamers enjoyed Grim Fandango immensely. Real-time strategy fans spent countless hours playing StarCraft. And let's not forget&...

Puzzle games based on TV game shows

Games based on TV game shows were popular in the early days of DOS video gaming on older PCs. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that every major game show of the eighties was translated into a video game: Family Feud, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and more.Here's ...

Minesweeping at the office

The Microsoft Windows 3.x family of operating environment wasn't known for games, but it popularized the Windows software pretty much everywhere. One of the best known Windows 3.x games was Minesweeper.Minesweeper was a simple puzzle game that required the player to clear a field full of mines and numbers ...

Sokoban is a puzzle game genre

When I had to add sub-genres to the puzzle games category, I really didn't know how to do it. I consulted Wikipedia, Home of the Underdogs (the original one) and a few other gaming sites. I thought a lot about it and then I came up with the current sub-genres: ...

Puzzles: word games, sokoban, action puzzles

The puzzle genre for PCs did not leave lots of memories of the past. I mean, if you exclude Tetris and Lemmings, it's not that easy to remember REALLY good puzzle games for DOS or even Windows. Sure, there's The Incredible Machine, Atomix, Logical, but none of them comes immediatly ...

Sentinel Returns is online!

Hookstone developed Sentinel Returns in 1998 for Windows; Psygnosis published it. Sentinel Returns is the follow up to one of the most popular puzzle games ever: The Sentinel (A.K.A. The Sentry).