Play Realms Online

Game Overview

Realms is one of those MS-DOS RPGs that somehow got lost in time—which is a shame, because it’s got this weirdly addictive, grimy charm. You start off in some dingy tavern, picking between classes that all feel slightly unbalanced (go with the rogue if you want to actually hit things early on). The pixel art is rough but full of personality, especially the way monsters lurch at you in those claustrophobic dungeon corridors.

What really hooked me was how unapologetically brutal it is. No hand-holding, no quest markers—just you, a rusty sword, and a lot of guessing which potion might kill you. The magic system’s a mess in the best way, full of cryptic scrolls that either nuke enemies or backfire spectacularly. And yeah, the graphics haven’t aged gracefully, but there’s something about the chunky sprites and eerie chiptune music that just works. If you’ve got nostalgia for Ultima’s janky brilliance, this’ll feel like coming home.

Fair warning: save often. The goblins are mean, the traps are cheap, and half the loot is probably cursed. But that’s part of the fun.

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