Play Starlord Online

Game Overview

Starlord is one of those old-school MS-DOS space games that somehow makes managing fuel and food feel as tense as a dogfight. You start with a single starbase and a handful of credits, staring at a galaxy map that might as well say "good luck" in blinking pixels. The first time I sent a scout to a neutral planet, I held my breath—turns out some just trade peacefully, while others open fire before you even finish saying "diplomacy."

What I love is how it mixes spreadsheets with lasers. You're constantly balancing mining output against fleet upkeep, bribing allies when you're weak, then blasting their stations once you're strong enough. The 3D combat feels janky by today's standards, but there's something satisfying about watching your destroyers slowly whittle down an enemy base while your resources tick away in the background.

It's not as polished as some of the big-name space sims, but that roughness gives it character. You'll remember the time you barely scraped together enough minerals for a last-ditch attack, not some perfectly balanced tutorial mission. If you miss the days when games didn't hold your hand, this one's worth dusting off.

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