DOS Adventure / RPG
Classic Adventure: The Original Colossal Cave! is the most faithful remake of the first adventure game ever, called Colossal Cave (1974). Consult a walkthrough when you're stuck. There's also a useful collection of hints available online. Play it and get the ultimate retro feeling (50 years back in time)!
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1977), developed by Infocom on a mainframe computer, was inspired by The Colossal Cave Adenture (1974), making it the second adventure game in the history of computer games. Infocom created memorable interactive fiction games; Zork was perhaps their most popular one. In Zork, the player explores the eponymous Underground Empire in search of treasures. Get a walkthrough to avoid sudden death ;-)
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (1984) is a captivating and funny text adventure game in which the player, in the role of Arthur Dent, solves a number of tricky puzzles to complete various objectives to win the game. The game itself is considered to be cruel in its difficulty. In particular, it's possible to forget to collect an item early in the game and therefore deadlock a puzzle at the end. Don't Panic! Get a walkthrough. If you're a fan of the book, the TV-series and the movie (argh...) and you love to play text-adventures, this one is a must. It was co-created by Douglas Adams himself! And don't forget the Towel Day...
Rogue (1984) is a great ASCII RPG that started an entire subgenre back in the day, called the "roguelike" ones. They may have primitive graphics and no sound, but they're still quite enjoyable. People love Roguelikes because they're so indepth and different every time you play them. Here's the PDF manual. Check out this one to see a piece of gaming history!
Neuromancer (1988) is a cyberpunk adventure with roleplaying elements based on the William Gibson novel by the same name. Undoubtedly the best "hacking" game in existence. Although initially there are not many locations for you to visit in the game, there is a great deal to find out and cyberspace locations ("WELLs") you can visit. A notepad is absolutely essential for playing Neuromancer, as there is a lot of information and WELL addresses to keep track of. Before you start, you should carefully read the manual, as there are many hints hidden. And also very important: save often. Start it with the NEUROCRK.COM-file and get yourself a walkthrough!
Don't go Alone (1989), the one and only RPG from Accolade, is a refreshing game set in a modern-day haunted house. Control a party of four intrepid adventurers as they battle over 100 spooks in a multi-level maze. Innovative touches include making alchemical formulae (the equivalent of spellcasting in this game), which is done with an actual periodic table, and a good variety of ghosts. Overall, an above-average RPG that does what it does well. And here's the manual...
„Monkey Island 1: The Secret of Monkey Island“ (1990): Hier übernehmen Sie die Rolle des ungeschickt und planlos agierenden Guybrush Threepwood, der sich vorgenommen hat, Pirat in der Karibik zu werden. Im legendären Point-&-Click-Adventure lösen Sie auf humorvolle Art verschiedene Aufgaben und Rätsel, bei denen Sie Ihr Können als angehender Freibeuter unter Beweis stellen müssen. Das Kultspiel erfreut sich bis heute großer Beliebtheit.
Dune (10191) is a neat adventure/strategy hybrid with enough strategy elements to keep things interesting: you must allocate your followers (the native Fremen) to various jobs, maximize spice production, and ultimately fight the Harkonnen with armies. Also features beautiful VGA graphics depicting passages of time. Easily one of the most graphically stunning games ever made, and one of the most unique. Start it with a bat-file containing:@echo off
logo
duneprg GER VGA EMS 386 SDB2207
und Sie haben das Spiel in Deutsch mit Musik. Und hier noch das Manual.
Dungeon Master (1992) is an epic RPG masterpiece that revolutionized and rejuvenated the genre. You control a party of up to four adventurers of various races who must find their way through a 12-level dungeon and defeat its owner (an evil wizard, of course). Sheer playability, fiendish riddles, ingenious puzzles and an incredible atmosphere wait for you. Dungeon Master is one of the most addictive RPGs. For an in-depth dungeon crawl, there's no better game in town. However, you must download the manual for a proper entry. Dungeon Master was the beginning of it all, folks. It set the gold standard and shaped computer games into what they've now become.
Discworld (1993) is a beautiful and funny adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's pun-filled fantasy Discworld books. As bumbling wizard Rincewind, you prevent a Dragon from destroying the world and find a way to convince a disillusioned Death to resume his day job. The game has great humor and some of the most devious but logical puzzles ever designed. Highly recommended for Pratchett fans and fans of zany adventure games in general. Download the floppy version for easy setup and get yourself a walkthrough!
Return to Ringworld (1994) is a great science-fiction point-and-click adventure game. The title that came out for DOS is based on the novels of Larry Niven, first published in 1970 under the name Ringworld. It's a satisfying game that should please all sci-fi fans. Depiction of Niven's complex political drama is very faithful, and coordinating actions between the three main characters and hearing them tease each other is a lot of fun. Here's the walkthrough.
The Elder Scrolls II - Daggerfall (1996) is an incredibly huge open-world single-player action RPG by Bethesda Softworks. The game takes place in the middle ages on Tamriel, a fictional continent with a whopping 161,600 square kilometers and 750,000 NPCs! Daggerfall is open-ended and you can use one of the premade characters or create your own from a plethora of features. The sheer amount of things to do, dungeons to explore, quests to accomplish and people to interact with, ensures that you never get bored. Here's the PDF-manual. Download already includes a complete DOSBox installation, so no further action is necessary. You start it with the *.bat file.