Play Dragon Wars Online

Game Overview

Dragon Wars is one of those MS-DOS RPGs that somehow got lost in the shuffle back in '89—which is a shame, because it's way ahead of its time. You start as some poor sap tossed into a dragon-filled wasteland with nothing but your wits (and maybe a rusty dagger if you're lucky). What hooked me immediately was how the game doesn't hold your hand—you can talk, fight, or sneak your way through problems, and the world actually reacts to your nonsense.

The combat's got this satisfying tactical weight to it, and the party members you pick up along the way are all weirdos with their own agendas. One minute you're negotiating with a sarcastic wizard, the next you're getting roasted by pixelated dragons in a dungeon that looks like it was drawn by someone who really loved heavy metal album covers. The puzzles actually make you think, too—none of that "use red key on red door" stuff.

It's janky in that charming late-'80s way, but the freedom it gives you still puts some modern RPGs to shame. Just save often—those dragons don't mess around.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".