Play Pioneer Plague, The Online

Pioneer Plague is one of those weird, early Amiga games that sticks with you—mostly because it’s equal parts fascinating and frustrating. You’re dropped onto a hostile alien planet with a handful of colonists, and everything wants to kill you: the wildlife, the terrain, even your own dwindling supplies. The graphics are rough by today’s standards, but there’s something oddly immersive about managing your little group’s survival while scanning pixelated alien flora for anything edible.

At first, I kept losing colonists to starvation because I didn’t realize some plants were poisonous. Then the weather would wipe out my crops. It’s brutal, but in that satisfying "one more try" way. The sound design—especially the groans of your starving settlers—still haunts me a little. If you’re into punishing retro strategy with a side of existential dread, this one’s worth digging up.