# Old computer games **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 24, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804 "2016-08-24T12:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/81 "2016-08-28T04:13:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or they bought it used and didn’t get the manual, or they only played it on school computers and didn’t have access to it, or they lost it, or they didn’t have time to go reading any silly manuals when there was a game to be played. No we had it at home, not at school. And we are a family of obsessive readers, so we would have read the manual if we’d had it. I have this vague feeling we received it as part of some sort of bundle. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/82 "2016-08-28T10:41:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or they bought it used and didn’t get the manual, or they only played it on school computers and didn’t have access to it, or they lost it, or they didn’t have time to go reading any silly manuals when there was a game to be played. Meh I was a geek in suburban Wollongong Australia (eg butt fuck nowhere) who got Loderunner when I was 15 and I knew there was a level editor. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/83 "2016-08-28T14:25:02Z")
i spent many hours on CIV II. The falcon series was great, Falcon 3 with the padlock view was a fave. Lemmings for shear silliness along with Worms 2. Great voice packs and sounds that could be applied to many computer actions ( oh noooo boom , and the holy hand grenade haleluja) . ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/84 "2016-08-29T13:08:20Z")
Soo many have been mentioned: Civ, Sim City, Baldur’s Gate (I only had II, so I guess it doesn’t count?), X-Wing, Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Tank Wars . . . We had a game I loved where you built a series of castles during the Edwardian Conquest of Wales. I think it was simply called _Castles_. And there was also _The Ancient Art of War at Sea_. If the Duke of Medina Sidonia or Blackbeard grappled your ship it was gone! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/85 "2016-08-29T15:23:09Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > Star Control 2 This really is an amazing game. I don’t even typically like this genre of games and am amazed by the writing and exploratory aspects. The characterization of various alien races (the artwork, the voice acting if you’re playing that version, down to the fonts) and their personalities is just so well written. The problem is, I never quite got around to finishing it. I only started playing it about three years ago as the Ur-Quan Masters, but the game requires some concentration and note taking. I walked away from it for a few weeks, lost my notes, and completely forgot where I was in the game and what to do next. Same thing happened to me last year, but I got a little farther in the game. One of these days, I swear I’ll finish it! Ultima IV The Lucasfilm/Lucas Arts games: Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders; Maniac Mansion; Monkey Island series, etc. Archon Of these games, though, Archon is the only one I’ll really replay with any regularity, as the other games are games that once you win, you’ve kind of solved it and there’s not that much interest in replaying it (except maybe Maniac Mansion, where there’s several different endings.) But I have replayed them at least once in the last ten years in a bit of nostalgia and because enough time had passed that I forgot many of the puzzles and had to resolve them. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/86 "2016-08-29T16:25:18Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > We had a game I loved where you built a series of castles during the Edwardian Conquest of Wales. I think it was simply called _Castles_. Heh, speaking of castles, I remember my dad once bought me a game (_Lords of the Realm_) but it wouldn’t run on our greenscreen 16XT. Or my friend’s… I don’t remember what piece of shit they had. For literal _years_ I read that manual, again and again, salivating at the thought someday I’d play it. It seemed so cool - you’d build castles and armies and besiege other guys’ castles and tell peasants what to do… It wasn’t that great. 🙂 Or maybe it’s just that the castles I wanted to build all took 999 years to complete :D. Would have been real bitches to besiege, though ! ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/87 "2016-08-29T16:31:26Z")
> [@Lok](#): > > And I forgot one, Railroad Tycoon, from some nobody named Sid something-or-other. Really loved that game. Crap, I forgot all about that one! Railroad Tycoon 1 and 2 are proof (independent of Civ) that Sid Meier is a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/88 "2016-08-29T16:34:07Z")
Here’s a “Name That Game” from back in the 90s. It was a circus-themed game, but it was seriously effed up. The clowns were evil-looking and everything was pretty “American Horror Story” like. I remember that in order to play it you had to put in a certain word from the manual, and we lost the manual so we could never play. Once time we magically guessed the right word and played it and we were the high-dive guy trying to jump into a little cup. Does this ring any bells? ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/89 "2016-08-29T19:57:29Z")
Oh how could I forget _Hugo’s House of Horrors_?! It was the first computer game I ever completed! I remember I had gotten to the very end, but didn’t know the answer to all the questions (I was like 9 or something). My sitter knew some, but we ended up calling the library to ask who wrote _Dracula_. Ah, the days before the World Wide Web . . . ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/90 "2016-09-14T00:11:19Z")
C64: _Pirates_ _The Bard’s Tale_ _Red Storm Rising_ _MULE_ PC: _Civ II_ _Civ CtP_ _Railroad Tycoon_ The Gold Box AD&D games ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/91 "2016-09-16T07:11:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Star Control 2] really is an amazing game. I don’t even typically like this genre of games and am amazed by the writing and exploratory aspects. The characterization of various alien races (the artwork, the voice acting if you’re playing that version, down to the fonts) and their personalities is just so well written. The problem is, I never quite got around to finishing it. I only started playing it about three years ago as the Ur-Quan Masters, but the game requires some concentration and note taking. I walked away from it for a few weeks, lost my notes, and completely forgot where I was in the game and what to do next. Same thing happened to me last year, but I got a little farther in the game. One of these days, I swear I’ll finish it! Star Control 2 is my #1 favorite old game. If you decide you want to explore all of it, [here](http://uqm.stack.nl/forum/index.php?topic=3825.0) is a comprehensive walkthrough I replay every now and again. (I wrote it.) More of my favorites include: Age of Empires Starcraft EDIT: And I have all three installed on my Windows 10 machine, and still play all three. Occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/92 "2016-09-16T08:58:20Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > What is your favorite pre-2000 game? And if it ran on windows 98 or 95 do you still run it? Gosh, I really liked Sim City, Warcraft, and Myst. Never got into the more updated versions of Sim City (got distracted by those other two games). Played Myst and it’s relatives through the early 00’s. _Still_ playing Warcraft, but it’s the MMORPG version, not the 1994 version. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/93 "2016-09-16T14:56:19Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Here’s a “Name That Game” from back in the 90s. > > It was a circus-themed game, but it was seriously effed up. The clowns were evil-looking and everything was pretty “American Horror Story” like. > > I remember that in order to play it you had to put in a certain word from the manual, and we lost the manual so we could never play. > > Once time we magically guessed the right word and played it and we were the high-dive guy trying to jump into a little cup. > > Does this ring any bells? [Fiendish Freddy](http://www.mobygames.com/game/fiendish-freddys-big-top-o-fun), perhaps? If not, [here’s a list of circus-themed games](http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/theme-circus). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/94 "2016-09-16T15:01:01Z")
I hate clown games. :mad: I could never afford mmorpg…☹ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/95 "2016-09-16T15:13:38Z")
The whole _Might And Magic_ series(not “Heroes Of”), from #1(“Secret Of The Inner Sanctum”-1986) through #9(2002) I loved all 10 of those games. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/96 "2016-09-16T16:13:14Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Fiendish Freddy](http://www.mobygames.com/game/fiendish-freddys-big-top-o-fun), perhaps? If not, [here’s a list of circus-themed games](http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/theme-circus). By Joe I do believe this is it. Man if I could go back in time and look at that list of games I had… ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/97 "2016-09-16T19:39:38Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Wing Commander 2. > Doom. > > I still play Doom now and then but WC2 is but a memory Yes, Doom for me. It still has a thriving community modding for it and the game is still incredibly immersive and enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/98 "2016-09-16T20:00:55Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > C64: > _Pirates_ > _The Bard’s Tale_ > _Red Storm Rising_ > _MULE_ > > PC: > _Civ II_ > _Civ CtP_ > _Railroad Tycoon_ > The Gold Box AD&D games Ah, M.U.L.E. I loved that game; the only problem was with trying to gather four players at once. 'Ware the wampus! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/99 "2016-09-17T07:05:01Z")
Starsiege Tribes…OMG this game. Chaos Overlords, I do actually still play this one some times, (thanks GOG) its basically a board game thats to complex for playing on a board so its a computer board game that was multiplayer over the net on win95 iirc. I sorta still play Tribes, just a different version of it. and Everquest, only I played on Sullon Zek so I played a pretty different game than the rest of you. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804/100 "2016-09-17T13:56:03Z")
_Myst: Riven_ and _Tomb Raider 2_. I haven’t played Riven since about 1999, but TR2 I play every year, if I can. My Steam copy says I’ve played 230hrs, which must be at least 8 times through. That doesn’t include the disc version I played originally, which must have been three or four times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-computer-games/763804.md?page=6)