finally doing it.

[sidneys1@infosec.exchange]

@eniko “Math Invaders”, it’s terrible but also kind of chill. https://archive.org/details/MathInvaders. I reverse engineered it a few years ago and even got ahold of the original source code.

Edit: I’m dumb, it’s for Win 95/98 not DOS. Runs well under DosBox-X though!

[eniko@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@oblomov yeh

[mahadevank@mastodon.social]

@eniko Transport Tycoon - I still play it's open source counterpart OpenTTD

[rocky1138@dosgame.club]

@eniko Castles from 1991. Fantastic title. https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/castles/

[dcoderlt@ohai.social]

@ck0 @eniko
Speaking of puzzles, I would also mention Supaplex. That game and its fan levels are so good. 🤓

[pecet@f3d1.eu]

@eniko Jill of the jungle.

[e_net4@hachyderm.io]

@eniko Alone in the Dark.

... Wait, you said chill games, not games that give you chills, sorry. 😅

Crystal Pixels is originally a DOS game/simulation, and aside from the rather unusual controls it's pretty chill. Jones in the Fast Lane is turn based and there's a one player mode where you can try to make progress at your own pace. Animal Quest is rather simple, but you get to learn a few things about animals along the way.

[mkj@social.mkj.earth]

@eniko I will probably think of others later but Pizza Worm is kind of cute.

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@mahadevank @eniko really hard to go back to playing TT in a world where OpenTTD exists, tho

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@eniko i'd say Toonstruck but i am honestly not sure if that's a DOS or Win32 game?

edit: yeah, it's DOS. Should run fine in Dosbox too

[clyde@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@eniko Hubie by Serendipity Software is so unknown for how solid of a game it is.

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@eniko For somewhat chill games I can try to think of a few.

Commander Keen series
Discworld 1 & 2
Jazz Jackrabbit
Hocus Pocus
H2O
Princess Maker 2
Lemmings series
Lode Runner Online (the one by Sierra Online)
Redneck Rampage (really really dumb Build engine game)
One Must Fall 2097
Rise of the Triad
Return to Zork
The Incredible Machine series (inc. Toon)
King's Quest & Quest for Glory series
Terminal Velocity
Tyrian 2000
Witch Haven
Wacky Wheels

Here's something you might find interesting: ZZT, SuperZZT, and, best of all, MegaZeux. They use an OOP language and people have done crazy stuff with them. They each come with a base game.

I'd like to recommend Dungeon Keeper, but you're better off with KeeperFX now.

Perhaps Daggerfall too? Though Daggerfall Unity is nicer now.

[jordan@sometimes.social]

@eniko I go back and play the original Master of Orion about every six months

[aloe@app.wafrn.net]

https://archive.org/details/msdos_cryxtels_shareware

[dank@jorts.horse]

@eniko
ooh! puzzle and puzzl-y adventure games!
besides all the classics:

the Gobliiins series is fun and has a great style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf5jofa5OwY

The Incredible Machine is a physics puzzler with hundreds of levels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNaXLAEbpfY#t=1m30s

ClockWerx is another offbeat puzzler with great music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF9s30OUEXo

The Greatest Paper Airplanes is not quite a game, but i had hours of fun with it as a kid. Look at those graphics!!
https://archive.org/details/PAPERAIR

[mahadevank@mastodon.social]

@ratsnakegames @eniko agreed, probably the only perk is the original soundtrack

[raddevon@techhub.social]

@eniko Got a weird one for you: an edutainment game I played long after it would have been of educational value to me.

https://www.igdb.com/games/follow-the-reader

In Follow the Reader, you change words in a sentence to have Mickey Mouse do stuff of your choosing and create a story. The game reads your sentence, and then you watch Mickey act it out on screen.

What you choose can put Mickey into a different scenario (i. e., calling a friend up for a beach trip moves Mickey to the beach) and present you with new options appropriate to the situation.

It's not fun in a mechanical sense, but the agency you have was impressive and gratifying even though the overall option surface area is small. Far more agency than a typical visual novel, although it does share some in common with that genre. It was also a power fantasy for me as a child with little agency since Mickey can basically do as he pleases.

It's incredibly chill. I haven't played it in a long time, but I think I could get a kick out of it even now in middle age.

[pooserville@dice.camp]

@eniko Darklands

[johnefrancis@cosocial.ca]

@eniko dos on the bare metal or it doesn't count

[brie@venera.social]

@eniko Scorched Earth. Stunts. Prince of Persia. Duke Nukem 3D. Warcraft. HoMM. SimCity. Cannon Fodder.