Before Windows ’95 started the change to a GUI-only operating system, playing games on PCs meant dealing with DOS. Games from this era were much like games of today but required much more configuration and fine-tuning to play properly. PC gamers today don’t have to bother with problems common to the DOS era—like boot disks. For the young people reading this, boot disks were floppy disks that bypassed programs like Windows to free enough extended memory to run a game.
These early DOS games would begin gaming franchises that are still around today. Here is a list of notable DOS games that are still worth playing. Most of these games can be found on Steam or GOG.com (Good Old Games) if you wish to give one a try.
10 X-Com: UFO Defense
This is the game that started a franchise that endures to this day. X-Com is a turn-based strategy game that includes base management and research elements. The fights are turn-based squad matches pitting the player’s group of soldiers against groups of alien invaders. The player can have scientists study the alien weapons and artifacts your soldiers bring back to the base after a mission.
The battle maps also reflect the areas in which a UFO lands or crashes. If it lands away from a city, the battle map will typically include farms or wilderness, but if the UFO lands near a city, the maps are a more urban setting. The player can also equip each individual soldier as they choose.
9 Nuclear War
Nuclear War is a fun strategy game that has the feel of playing a board game. This is due to it being based on a board game published by Flying Buffalo. The game takes a satirical view of the political leaders of the era (1989) with names like Ronnie Raygun.
A single match can be played in about 5-10 minutes, so it’s a great game to play if you don’t want to get deeply involved in a game. However, playing only one match is difficult because of how addictive this simple game can be. Nuclear War game plays well on a phone or tablet too because of the simple interface with large icons.
8 Warcraft II: Tides Of Darkness
The original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is also a great game, but Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness improved on every aspect of the original. Warcraft II is a real-time strategy game (RTS) where the player picks to control either the human or orc forces. The game plays like most RTS games: collect resources to build structures, train troops, and upgrade armaments.
In the early 1990s, there was a flood of RTS games, but the Warcraft series and Command and Conquer series (also still worth playing) were the two franchises by which all other RTS games were measured. Warcraft II is also surprisingly humorous at times. Click on the individual units repeatedly to hear amusing responses to your continual prodding.
7 Master Of Magic
Master of Magic is basically the Civilization series infused with magic and fantasy. The player builds towns in strategic spots to make the best use of the world map’s resources. The towns can then be improved with new structures, which provide bonuses to research, mana production, industry, your economy, or newer and stronger troop types.
Since it is based on the Civilization series, it is a turn-based game. As the player explores the world map, they will eventually come across the towns and forces of opposing wizards. Unlike the Civilization games, battles are not decided by the computer but instead can played out by on a battlefield with an overhead isometric view.
6 Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck’s Revenge
It is strongly recommended the Secret of Monkey Island (also still worth playing) be played first since the plot of Monkey Island 2 takes place a few months later. Monkey Island 2 is a point and click adventure game in a Pirates of the Caribbean-type setting.
In Monkey Island 2, the player controls Guybrush Threepwood on his quest to find the treasure of Big Whoop. The game has beautiful set pieces with vibrant and well-drawn graphics. The best aspect of Monkey Island 2 is the humor – this might be the funniest game ever made. There was a remake of Monkey Island 2 released in 2010 which improved on the graphics and audio, but the original is still definitely worth playing.
5 Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters
This game is so beloved that, even to this day, 27 years after its original release, it is still being updated and modded by fans. In Star Control 2, the player must explore the galaxy to find resources to improve your main ship, as well as encounter new species. All this is done in hopes of discovering a way to defeat the Ur-Quan and ending their evil reign over the galaxy.
The galaxy map in Star Control 2 is HUGE, and it’s fun just exploring this giant galaxy. The battles are fought out in successive one-on-one fights using a top-down view that plays out in real time. The DOS version is still worth playing, but the definitive version is for the 3DO game console, which has spoken dialogue instead of written text and improved audio.
4 Day Of The Tentacle
Much like Monkey Island 2, Day of the Tentacle is a point-and-click adventure game. The graphics in Day of the Tentacle are colorful and give the player the feel of playing a cartoon. This game is the sequel to Maniac Mansion and lets the player control three characters: Bernard, Laverne, and Hoagie.
The plot revolves around a sentient tentacle gaining “hands” by drinking hazardous waste. With its hands, the tentacle chooses to take over the world. The player controls the three heroes through three different time periods to stop the deranged tentacle. Like Monkey Island 2, this game is filled with many humorous moments – like getting a talking horse’s false teeth to put on a mummy so it can win a beauty contest.
3 Scorched Earth
This game is about as basic as they come, but is still highly addictive. Scorched Earth is a turn-based tank battle game that was the inspiration of the popular Worms franchise. The player controls the angle and power of their shots to hit enemy tanks on a 2D battlefield. Between matches, the player can spend money earned during the battles to purchase new weapons and tools.
This is where the game gets really fun. Trying out each new weapon to see how it performs on the battlefield is a blast. The graphical effects of some of the weapons are flashy and still fun to watch.
2 Heroes Of Might And Magic
Heroes of Might and Magic is a turn-based strategy game set in a sword and sorcery fantasy world. The player controls his hired heroes to explore the world map and claim resource-producing structures, which can then be used to upgrade your towns and recruit new troops.
The battles in Heroes of Might and Magic are handled on a separate battle map made up of hexagonal tiles and sometimes require some serious strategic planning to win. This game is so much fun that it began a franchise that is now on its seventh game. This game will keep you playing for hours, so play at your own risk.
1 Rise Of The Triad
This was an extremely underrated first-person shooter from Apogee Software. Rise of the Triad uses the Wolfenstein 3D engine and pushes it to its limits. The game features intense shoot-outs that can get quite gory. Instead of sticking to conventional weapons, Rise of the Triad also has several magical weapons for the player to use.
This also had a feature not found in first-person shooters of the time: the ability to choose different characters to play. Each character had different ratios of height, speed, and endurance. This allowed players to pick a character that would complement their preferred style of play. There were better first-person shooters in the DOS era of computer gaming, but Rise of the Triad is a fun and well-made title fans of the genre should give a try.
NEXT: The PC Classic Is A Mini Console Loaded With Old-School DOS Games
