DOS games are the second largest part of our catalog, after Windows games, with about 7,500 titles. This guide shows how to play them on Windows 10 or 11, on a Mac or on Linux. Most games work fine without any tinkering, but some are hard to run properly.
You will find all of them on the DOS platform page. For any other machine, go back to the list of our guides.
The quickest way: play in your browser
Many small DOS games can be played right away, with nothing to install. Look for the Play in browser button on the game page.
The game starts in a DOS emulator inside your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge...). It works best with small games and there is a limit on the size of the archive: 100MiB. For big games, or if you want to keep playing for hours, install an emulator as explained below.
Playing in the browser has its limits, and you may want to move to an emulator on your computer without losing your progress. On a play page, you can export your saved games, or even the whole game folder, and that folder works right away in an emulator on your computer.
Why is this not working?
Most abandonware games on PC were made for MS-DOS during the 80s and the 90s. Today's computers no longer offer the same environment for these programs, so you need an emulator: a program that mimics the old computer.
Luckily, some people were unhappy with this and wrote such programs! A DOS emulator acts like a PC of the 90s, with MS-DOS, a sound card and a floppy drive, inside a window on your computer.
What program should I use?
Use DOSBox, the master DOS emulator. It comes in several versions, all free, on Windows, Mac (Apple Silicon included) and Linux. If you don't know which one to pick, take DOSBox Staging.
The original DOSBox has not been updated since 2019, and several teams have carried on the work since:
- DOSBox Staging: the modern DOSBox, and the one we recommend to start with on Windows, Mac and Linux. Very good default settings, a nice CRT look out of the box, and a getting started guide that walks you through several classic games.
- DOSBox-X: the most complete one, with menus for everything, save states, PC-98 emulation, and the best support for Windows 3.x / 95 / 98. A good pick if you also want to play Windows 9x games.
- DOSBox Pure: made for RetroArch, and also available as a stand-alone program. It opens the game zip file directly, no need to unzip anything, then asks you which program to start. Very handy for a quick play.
- DOSBox: the original. Still works, and most tutorials on the web were written for it, but the newer versions above are easier to use.
You may use another program for many point and click adventures, ScummVM. Check their compatibility page and search for the game you wish to play. It will often look and sound better than in DOSBox.
Frontends: a nice list of your games
A frontend shows your DOS games as a list, with their covers and settings similar to a Steam library, and starts DOSBox for you. Handy once you have more than a few games.
The DOSBox wiki has a complete list of frontends. These are the ones worth a try:
- DBGL: the classic one, on Windows, Mac and Linux. It needs Java, and can import your old D-Fend Reloaded profiles.
- LaunchBox (Windows): supports DOS games, but also tons of other platforms, including Windows and Steam games.
- Boxer (Mac): a nice way to play DOS games on a Mac. The original project has been unmaintained since 2016, MaddTheSane updated it a bit later, but it has gone inactive since 2022.
- IA Launcher: launches games directly from the Internet Archive, on Windows, Mac and Linux.
D-Fend Reloaded, which we used to recommend on Windows, has not been updated for about ten years. It still works, but DBGL or DOSBox Staging alone are better choices today.
Play a game with DOSBox, step by step
Most DOS games can be played in a minute: unzip the game, drop its folder on DOSBox, type the name of the game program.
The video below uses DOSBox Staging on Windows. The other versions work the same way.
Step 1: unzip the game
Download the game archive and unzip it.
Avoid spaces and special characters in the folder name: DOS only understands short names, like MARIO or SPITFIRE. If the zip holds another archive, such as a .rar, .arj or .lzh file, see archives other than zip.
Step 2: drop the folder on DOSBox
Drag the game folder and drop it on the DOSBox icon. DOSBox starts and mounts the folder as drive C:.
If you don't have a DOSBox icon on your desktop, drop the folder on the DOSBox program file itself, in the folder where DOSBox is installed.
On Windows, DOSBox Staging also opens a second window full of text: this is its log. You can ignore it. It closes when DOSBox closes.
Step 3: start the game
Type the name of the game program and press Enter. The right one is usually named after the game.
Use DIR to list the game files (DIR /P if the list is long), or DIR *.EXE to see only the programs. You can also type the first letters and press TAB to complete the name.
Drag and drop of Mario Teaches Typing in DOSBox Staging.
On a Mac, the easiest path with DOSBox Staging is a bit different: add .dosbox at the end of the game folder name, then double-click it. The getting started guide explains it with pictures, and also shows how to start the game automatically each time.
Additional steps and troubleshooting
Most games work at once. If yours doesn't, look for your problem below: fullscreen, speed, sound, drives, CD images, booter games, memory or fonts.
Fullscreen
On Windows, press Alt and Enter to switch DOSBox to fullscreen, and again to get back to the window. In DOSBox-X, hold F11 and press F instead.
To always start in fullscreen, set fullscreen = true in the configuration file of your DOSBox. Frontends and DOSBox-X also have a menu for it.
Games running too fast or too slow
Old games often run too fast in DOSBox, and some mid-90s games run too slow. Change the CPU speed with Ctrl-F11 and Ctrl-F12 until the game plays well.
Many old games were made to run as fast as the computer could go. Reduce the speed with Ctrl-F11. On the opposite, "recent" DOS games from the mid-90s may need more: raise the speed with Ctrl-F12. Mac users should try the Cmd key instead of Ctrl. DOSBox-X uses other keys: on Windows, hold F11 and press the minus key (-) to slow down, or the equals key (=) to speed up. These keys may not work with a keyboard that is not US English: use Decrement cycles and Increment cycles in the DOSBox-X CPU menu instead. Frontends may use different shortcuts too.
In the configuration file, the cycles setting (cpu_cycles in DOSBox Staging) controls the same thing, so you can save the right speed for each game.
Game setup and sound
Run the game's SETUP or INSTALL program once before playing, and pick Sound Blaster for sound and music. AdLib is the second choice.
You may remember running SETUP.EXE to configure sound, get better graphics or enable mouse support. The usual Sound Blaster settings are port 220, IRQ 7 and DMA 1. A few games sound much better with Roland MT-32 music, but this needs extra files, refer to the DOSBox Staging guide to enable it.
Floppy and CD drives
Some games want their files on a floppy or a CD drive. The IMGMOUNT command mounts a disk image as a drive in DOSBox.
DOSBox can mount a floppy image (.img, .ima) or a CD image (.iso, .cue). Frontends let you do it in the game profile. See CD images just below.
CD images
DOSBox mounts a CD image with the IMGMOUNT command, for example IMGMOUNT D game.cue -t iso. Always open the .cue file when there is one.
The CUE file usually tells DOSBox where the music tracks are, if any. Many games of the 90s had their music on the CD as audio tracks, which you could play in a CD player. If you use a frontend, you will find a way to mount an image in its menus. DOSBox-X has a Drive menu for it. Our page about CD images explains the other formats.
PC booter games
Some early games booted the computer from their own disk instead of starting from DOS. They have a guide of their own: see PC booter games, for the BOOT command, the speed they need and the copy-protected disks.
Memory problems
If a game says "Not enough memory" at startup, start it with LOADFIX: type LOADFIX GAME.EXE instead of GAME.EXE.
LOADFIX leaves some free memory at the start, which many old games expect. If this does not help, ask on the forums listed below.
Fonts don't look right
If text or symbols look wrong, the program expects the fonts of the original PC. VileR collected all of them.
Get them at The Oldschool PC Font Resource. We also keep a mirror of the font pack.
I need help, this is not working!
We do not provide support for running abandonware games. For DOS games, ask on Vogons or the DOSBox subreddit.
Tell them which game, which version of DOSBox and what you see on the screen: you will get an answer much faster. Have fun!
First written by hand, and brought up to date in October 2026 against each program's own documentation and, where it exists, its source code. Game counts and file sizes come from our own catalogue. The update was drafted with the help of an AI assistant and checked by hand before publishing. If something here is out of date, tell us.