Keldric's Favorite DOS Games

These are some of my all-time favorite DOS games, in no particular order.  Sure, there's a ton of really incredible froms from the 80s and early 90s, but these are the ones I spent a lot of time with, and kept returning to in later years.



ultima 7 cover


  • To me, one of the most immersive, alive, and captivating world and storyline every created. Every Ultima game has a lot of value, but Ultima VII is what I consider the must play game. 
  • Sparked an incredible amount of fan made versions and total conversions of other games. 
  • You can bake bread! 
  • Available from Origin and GOG. 




transport tycoon deluxe cover
  • Extremely fun transport simulation game. There's been a number of others made since. I personally don't believe any have come close.
  • Open style of gameplay. Stick to one type of vehicle and cargo, or build an empire of trucks, buses, trains, monorails, planes, and boats, while shipping oil, goods, lumber, coal, people, mail, etc...
  • TTD has evolved into OpenTTD, a completely free, open source version with countless mods and upgrades.
  • Personal recommendation - get your hands on the original music and play in the background!



Loom cover
  • There's a lot of outstanding point and click adventures out there, but Loom always stood out for me. Very unique gameplay. Great story. Music and sound was awesome.
  • Lucasarts was awesome.  The end.
  • Available on Steam and GOG.



police quest 1 cover
  • My favorite of all the "Quest" games.   Work your way up from beat cop to narcotics detective, pull over drunk drivers, discover bodies in the park, play poker, and be sure not to type "take off clothes" anywhere before saving.
  • No tutorial, no pause, no spell check.  The way adventure games were meant to be played. 
  • Available on Abandonia.



space 1889 cover
  • Not nearly as well known as the rest, but a true diamond in the rough.  Probably one of the first "steampunk" games there was.  Top down, turn based RPG.  
  • VERY COMPLICATED - you'll need the manual.  Very detailed in all respects.  
  • If you have the patience for it, and love the genre, you'll love this once you get the hang of it.  
  • Available on Abandonia.



master of magic cover
  • For the Civ fans out there, definitely give this a shot.  World domination, tactical combat, magic research, city management, and HEROES!  
  • I think this was one of the games I got with one of the early copies of PCGamer.  
  • Available on Abandonia.



curse of the azure bonds cover
  • I played a ton of the TSR AD&D game, but Curse of the Azure Bonds was the one I actually completed.  Great story and fun tactical battles.
  • If you've ever played AD&D, then nearly everything in these games are familiar.
  • Others that are very noteworthy are the Krynn Series (Champions of, Death Knights of, and Dark Queen of), and Pool of Radiance.
  • Available on Abandonia.



ultima underworld 2 cover
  • Wouldn't be my favorites of all time list without another Ultima.  Underword II was a 3D dungeon crawler type take on Ultima, but with a lot more storyline and depth than the standard crawler.
  • Significant improvement over the first one, very playable still today.
  • Continues a lot of the themes from Ultima VII.
  • Available on Origin and GOG.



pirates! cover
  • Absolute incredible feat of game programming for the time that this came out.  Very open ended, tons to do, play however you want, endless replayability. Lots of wenches to try and marry.
  • Had several iterations, including the more recent Sid Meier's Pirates! which was a nice upgrade.
  • Be sure to keep lots of alcohol on board.



pyrotechnica cover
  • Another very little known, but super fun one.  Fly through enclosed, very brightly colored rooms to save your wingmen.
  • I consider it a precursor to Descent. Very similar gameplay, just less rocky textures and not as serious.
  • Available on Abandonia.






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