Category: Role Playing and Adventure Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Don Daglow GAME DEVELOPER:Beyond Software GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1992, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Gateway to the Savage Frontier and Treasures of the Savage Frontier are the last two releases in SSI’s famous but by-now-overused “Gold Box” engine. Both games take place in the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Don Daglow GAME DEVELOPER:Beyond Software GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1991, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Gateway to the Savage Frontier and Treasures of the Savage Frontier are the last two releases in SSI’s famous but by-now-overused “Gold Box” engine. Both games take place in the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:First Row Software GAME PUBLISHER:First Row Software Copyright 1988, First Row Software One of the rarest games ever made – for PC and other 8-bit systems – is First Row’s first release, and one of the first “space opera” adventure games that StarFlight would…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Hoge GAME DEVELOPER:Piranha Bytes GAME PUBLISHER:JoWood Productions Copyright 2003, Piranha Bytes Gothic II is a superb sequel to Gothic, one of the best RPGs in recent years (and also resident of our Hall of Belated Fame). As great as the first game is, Gothic II…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Aubyn GAME DEVELOPER:Micro Power GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Ovine by Design One of the best fanmade remakes ever made, Imogen is a great Windows version of a huge, and highly underrated, adventure/puzzle gem from Michael St. Aubyn of Micro Power. As the remake authors describe,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Artech GAME PUBLISHER:Hoffman + Associates (H+A) Copyright 1997, Artech UFOs (released as Gnap in Europe) is a fun point-and-click cartoon adventure in the same vein as Toonstruck, except a lot shorter and not as clever. Gordon Aplin’s review at Quandary says it all: “Gnap…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Veritas Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Grolier Interactive Copyright 1997, Veritas Productions Perfect Assassin is a bad sci-fi action/adventure hybrid that is nowhere near as good as the classics in the genre, but nonetheless deserves much more attention than it got in the gaming press. As the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compro Games GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1996, Compro Games NET:Zone is a below-average Myst-style adventure game that plays much worse than the cool premise would have you believe. Although I normally dislike their reviews, GameSpot is so spot-on (pardon the pun) with this disappointing Myst-clone…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:cly5m GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, cly5m Seiklus is a superb adventure game that is hard to describe. Imagine a cross between Out of This World, Below the Root, and Super Mario, and you will have a vague idea of what the game is like…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Pay GAME DEVELOPER:Natomic Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Natomic Studios The Spirit Engine is a superb freeware RPG/strategy game from Mark Pay of Natomic Studios. The game not only raises the bar for freeware games, but also introduces a unique (although not quite innovative) style…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dorcan GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Dorcan A short but sweet freeware adventure game from a lone French developer who goes by the ?handle of Dorcan, Mourir en Mer (To Die at Sea in English) is a great amateur game that showcases the breadth of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Krisalis GAME PUBLISHER:MicroProse Copyright 1997, Krisalis One of the few action/adventure games that truly succeeded in appealing to fans of both camps, Krisalis’ highly underrated Dark Earth is a great game that makes up for the short length with captivating artwork, a smooth interface…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ben Croshaw GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Ben Croshaw One of the best freeware adventure games I have ever played, 5 Days a Stranger is yet another excellent medium-sized adventure from Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, the freelance author behind such classics as the Rob Blanc trilogy.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:PowerVision GAME PUBLISHER:PowerVision Copyright 1995, PowerVision One of the most – if not THE most – obscure CD-ROM adventure games in existence, Down Under Dan is a funny, a bit above-average adventure game from PowerVision, a small developer in Australia. The main reason the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Glenn Andreas GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1991, Glenn Andreas Theldrow is yet another excellent amateur RPG that has remained largely unknown to PC gamers because it was released only as a Mac shareware game. A first-person perspective game similar to Bard’s Tale or Might &…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Larkin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1994, David Larkin The Odyssey is a fun Macintosh-only RPG from David Larkin, a lone programmer. The game harks back to the olden days of Ultima IV, when RPGs were played from a bird’s eye perspective, and offered a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Elias Pschernig & Paul Pridham GAME DEVELOPER:Epyx GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Elias Pschernig & Paul Pridham The Sword of Fargoal Remake is a superb remake of Sword of Fargoal, a classic Commodore 64 RPG that was never released on PC. The game is a very faithful…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Project 2 Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Project 2 Interactive Copyright 1997, Project 2 Interactive Sign of the Sun is a decent adventure game that unfortunately descends into mediocrity quickly after a fascinating intro and never quite recovers. The best thing about the game is the interesting…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Frank Dutton GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1986, Frank Dutton Leygref’s Castle is a fun, unassuming Roguelike RPG that deserves to be much better known. In this game, you will explore one of the largest gaming worlds in history – a castle with 512 rooms. But…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Hoenie GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1991, Michael Hoenie The Dungeons of Morabis is a decent freeware Roguelike designed by Michael Hoenie in 1992. Your quest is to find the Amulet of Sae’Gore. During that quest, you will learn magic spells, fight boss monsters, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tom Hanlin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Tom Hanlin Some interesting info on this obscure Roguelike RPG from Balrog’s page: “Here’s an obscure Telengard clone for the PC, possibly written before Telengard itself was ported to MS-DOS. Released in 1984. Telengard-like in most ways, a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ian Schlaepfer GAME DEVELOPER:Herculean Effort Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Herculean Effort Productions Apprentice is a superb freeware point-and-click adventure game from newcomer Herculean Effort Productions. Coded with the increasingly popular Adventure Game Studio, Apprentice sets itself apart from most other amateur adventures with very well…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Scheifler GAME DEVELOPER:MegaCorp International GAME PUBLISHER:MegaCorp International Copyright 1996, David Scheifler Mission: Firestorm is the first and only sequel to Mission: Thunderbolt, probably the most underrated commercial Roguelike RPG ever made. Released only for the Macintosh, Firestorm is a sci-fi Roguelike that is has even…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Cook GAME DEVELOPER:Storm Impact GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, Storm Impact Two of the most underrated shareware RPGs ever made are TaskMaker and the sequel Tomb of the TaskMaker for the Macintosh. Both games are top-down RPGs reminiscent of Ultima III, albeit not as complex or…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Cook GAME DEVELOPER:Storm Impact GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Storm Impact Two of the most underrated shareware RPGs ever made are TaskMaker and the sequel Tomb of the TaskMaker for the Macintosh. Both games are top-down RPGs reminiscent of Ultima III, albeit not as complex or…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Doak GAME DEVELOPER:SOCKO! Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:SOCKO! Entertainment Copyright 2003, SOCKO! Entertainment The Adventures of Fatman: Toxic Revenge is an excellent independently-published game by Michael Doak of SOCKO! Entertainment. Created with Chris Jones’ popular freeware Adventure Game Studio, Fatman combines a wacky plot, a wonderful sense…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Linley Henzell GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Linley Henzell One of the best Roguelike RPGs today, Dungeon Crawl is a brainchild of Linley Henzell, who first released the game into the public domain in 1995. Many years later, Dungeon Crawl today is a regularly updated,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steven Ackerman GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1988, Steven Ackerman Evets is a decent Roguelike game that is not as good as the fuss around it seems to suggest. Trav’s review says it all: “Honestly, when I took my first look at this game I don’t…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Orochi Kusanagi GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Orochi Kusanagi Final Fantasy: Endless Nova is a fun console-style RPG inspired by Square’s popular Final Fantasy series. The setting, in the designer’s words, is as follows: “…[the] game is set in a solar system with the sun…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Damianzeking GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Damianzeking A great sequel to one of the best freeware console-style RPGs, Laxius Power II is even larger and more polished than Laxius Power, the prequel which was already an epic-sized RPG. Everything that was great about the first…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ii Shenron GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Ii Shenron Three the Hard Way is an excellent freeware console-style RPG that features an excellent storyline, 40+ hours of gameplay, and a well-balanced combat system. Similar to Square’s Romancing Sa-Ga series (that was never released outside Asia),…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jason Rubin & Andy Gavin GAME DEVELOPER:Naughty Dog GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1991, Naughty Dog Rings of Power is one of the rare isometric RPGs on SEGA Genesis (Megadrive in Europe) that is much more similar to computer RPGs than typical console fare. It also happens…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Rick Saada GAME DEVELOPER:Epic Megagames GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, Rick Saada Castle of the Winds is a fun graphical Roguelike RPG designed by Rick Saada and published as shareware by Epic-Megagames. The game contains 2 episodes: the first was titled “A Question of Vengeance” and is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Charybdis Limited GAME PUBLISHER:Alternative Copyright 1996, Charybdis Limited Roundly criticized by many reviewers as one of the worst adventure games ever made, Spud! is actually a pretty decent point-and-click 3D cartoon adventure from UK developer Charybdis Limited. Similar to Zork Nemesis, the game features…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonathan Boakes GAME DEVELOPER:XXv Productions GAME PUBLISHER:XXv Productions Copyright 2002, XXv Productions One of the best adventure games I have ever played, Dark Fall is also one of the very few games billed as “horror” titles that manage to be really scary. Essentially a one-man, self-published…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Cryo Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1996, Cryo Interactive Paleontologists and scientists alike have researched the existence of the dinosaurs. From time to time, it has been theorized and speculated about what would have happened if man and dinosaur had co-existed on the earth.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Davide D’Aversa & Francesco Iorio GAME DEVELOPER:ProGraph Research GAME PUBLISHER:GotGame Entertainment Copyright 2002, ProGraph Research Here’s a riddle. What do you get when you cross an underappreciated detective who believes in aliens, Halloween Night, stolen candy, a kidnapped purple dog (actually a Tapir), and high-grade hijinks…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eduardo Campos GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Eduardo Campos The Uncertainty Machine is a fun freeware sci-fi point-and-click adventure game. Here we have the same hackneyed “dangerous new invention threatens survival of the world” premise seen in countless other games, but the designer Eduardo Campos…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:LucasFan GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, LucasFan The New Adventures of Zak McKracken is an excellent fanmade game that stars one of LucasArts’ most beloved characters: the hapless reporter Zak McKracken. The game started seamlessly where LucasArts’ game left off more than 14 years ago.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ben Croshaw GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Ben Croshaw The Trials of Odysseus Kent is a short but very entertaining adventure game reminiscent of Monkey Island 2. The plot: you are Odysseus Kent, who has recently arrived in a small village in search of the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Shawn Guzzo GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Shawn Guzzo Rode Quest 2 is a fun “bite-size” freeware adventure game from Shawn Guzzo, designer of Rode Kill a Top Dog game on this site. As Rode, the amicable hapless hero from Rode Kill, your goal this…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Istvan Pely GAME DEVELOPER:Istvan Pely Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Piranha Interactive Copyright 1995, Istvan Pely Productions Majestic is another very short but entertaining sci-fi adventure from Istvan Pely, who also designed Zero Critical and Syn-Factor (the latter re-released as Symbiocom). Steve Ramsey of The Quandary says it all…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Istvan Pely GAME DEVELOPER:Istvan Pely Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Bethesda Softworks Copyright 1999, Istvan Pely Productions The last game to date by Istvan Pely, Zero Critical is definitely the best game out of all three games he designed (the other two being Majestic and Syn-Factor). Which is to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Don Worth GAME DEVELOPER:Quality Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1983, Don Worth One of the oldest Roguelike RPGs in existence, Beneath Apple Manor is a very rare IBM version of the Apple II game of the same name which was designed by Don Worth and published by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Condor Software GAME PUBLISHER:Condor Software Copyright 1996, Haribo Hariboy’s Quest is a decent point-and-click cartoon adventure game created by Condor Software to promote Haribo candies. The plot is clich?, but passable: similar to Simon in Simon the Sorcerer, you play Hariboy, a young boy…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ron Heuse GAME DEVELOPER:Anonymous GAME PUBLISHER:Anonymous Copyright 1997, Ron Heuse Reaping the Dungeon (now called Dungeon Rogue) is a shareware sci-fi Roguelike RPG – a rare kind of games in a genre where fantasy/D&D motif is much more common. In addition to being a pretty good…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gary Bolton GAME DEVELOPER:Canvas GAME PUBLISHER:Canvas Copyright 1987, Canvas Wizard Warz is an “oldie but goodie” action-oriented RPG from Canvas that boasts much more entertainment value than its crusty 4-color CGA palette may suggest. You start the game as an apprentice wizard with relatively little power…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Denoy DeBoer GAME DEVELOPER:Inter-Active Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Inter-Active Arts Legend of the Silver Talisman is a fun action/RPG hybrid from Inter-Active Arts. The game is similar to coin-op classic Gauntlet, except with many more weapons, monsters, and levels. Your ultimate goal – the objective…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Scheifler GAME DEVELOPER:MegaCorp International GAME PUBLISHER:MegaCorp International Copyright 1994, David Scheifler Most likely the rarest Roguelike game in existence, JauntTrooper – Mission: Thunderbolt is not only a great Roguelike RPG, but also one of the few sci-fi Roguelikes designed on the Macintosh – making it…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tim Furnish GAME DEVELOPER:Hungry Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Tim Furnish One of the best freeware adventure games I have ever played, Out of Order is an excellent point-and-click adventure from Hungry Software. The premise is banal, but the game gets much more interesting later on:…