Play Trade Wars 2002 Online

Game Overview

Trade Wars 2002 is one of those games that feels like it was designed to ruin your sleep schedule. You boot it up thinking, "I'll just do a quick trade run," and suddenly it's 3 AM, you're deep in a bidding war over alien artifacts, and your cargo hold is stuffed with contraband. The whole thing runs on text, but somehow that makes it more immersive—your brain fills in the gaps with asteroid belts, shady spaceports, and rival traders who absolutely have it out for you.

At first, you'll probably just shuttle between planets buying cheap ore and selling it for a tiny profit. Then you realize you can upgrade your ship, hire mercenaries, or just go full pirate and ambush other players. The economy actually reacts to what you (and everyone else) does, so if you dump a ton of goods on one planet, prices crash. Mess with the wrong faction, and suddenly every port in the sector won't let you dock. It's chaotic in the best way.

Honestly, the lack of graphics works in its favor—you're not distracted by flashy effects, just pure spreadsheet warfare with a side of interstellar drama. I still remember the first time I pulled off a hostile takeover of someone else's starbase. Felt like a criminal mastermind, even if it was just green text on a black screen.

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