Play The Exterminator Online

I first encountered The Exterminator on a floppy disk, part of a collection of MS-DOS classic games. It was developed by Cosmi Corporation and released in the late 1980s, a time when top-down action games were common but few captured the frantic energy this one did. You play as an exterminator, naturally, sent into a sprawling, infested building complex to clear out mutant insects and other pests. The setup is simple, but the execution is anything but relaxed.

You control your character from an overhead perspective, moving room to room through a maze-like structure. Your primary tool is a flamethrower with limited fuel, forcing you to manage ammo carefully while fending off relentless waves of enemies. The game is screen by screen; clearing a room of all enemies allows you to progress, but new bugs often spawn behind you, creating constant pressure. The pacing is fast and the difficulty is high, demanding quick reflexes and strategic retreats. It feels like a desperate, satisfying scramble for survival where every burst of flame counts.

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