Top 10 classic pc games

In Paganitzu you take on the role of Alabama "Al" Smith, an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer working his way through an ancient temple for The story would put the worst of B-grade movies to shame and the graphics during the "cut-scenes" were hilariously bad. Regardless, Paganitzu remains one of the most challenging puzzle games to date. The game's extreme difficulty and requirement of high mental concentration and strategy make it perhaps one of the most time consuming, frustrating endeavors in all of gaming history.

This in turn made every puzzle in Paganitzu very rewarding to beat, and made you want to progress to the end for the sake of getting your ill-fated protagonist far away from that god-forsaken temple. Paganitzu was never intended for the casual gamer, which was perhaps why it fell into such obscurity during a time when most everyone was a casual gamer. Lemmings puts you in command of a seemingly endless marching line of little green-haired men in blue suits that look absolutely nothing like real Lemmings.

The game's objective is to safely guide most of the Lemmings from one side of the map to the other. The problem presented in this is that the Lemmings never stop walking, even when faced with bottomless pits, treacherous waters, flame throwing traps, and other deadly obstacles.

The only way to save the Lemmings from their own stupidity is to continuously solve puzzles as quickly as possible. Oddly enough, this strange formula made for one of the best strategy or puzzle games ever to hit the PC, and certainly one of the most uniquely challenging as well. The basic premise is…that you have to wander around an extremely creepy mansion solving elaborate puzzles for no apparent reason.

And yes, 7th Guest is very similar to Myst, but it was released a year earlier and is in my opinion far superior. The game also has one of the most intriguing villains of early PC gaming: The mad toy-maker, Stauf. It is by no means an easy game, and at many points it can be extremely frustrating. But it can also be a very rewarding experience, and even more so addicting. The game spawned a sequel released several years later called 11th Hour, which took place 70 years after the first game and offered a radically different atmosphere and story.

A fan-made sequel called The 13th Doll is also in the works, though there is currently no release date. To any experienced PC gamer, Doom requires no introduction, and is inarguable as an essential part of this list. Great premise, or greatest premise? Although not technically the first FPS game, Doom far surpassed its predecessors both in terms of technology and design. Doom also helped greatly increase the popularity of PC gaming as a whole, drawing attention from millions of non-gamers all over the world.

Despite a complete lack of graphics and sound, Zork remains one of the most remarkable experiences one can have with a PC game. The Zork series ran from to , spawning many sequels that lived up to or even surpassed the original.

Unfortunately, that is just the way the medium works; many games once considered revolutionary are now hard to grasp by modern standards. Another unfortunate fact about the hobby is how costly it is.

Games range anywhere between thirty and sixty dollars, and that doesn't say anything about the cost of the machines on which they run.

The lowest price one can get a modern console for is the Xbox One S, which can still be over two hundred bucks. For premium experiences, one needs four hundred dollars. And then there is the PC gaming space, where things get even more expensive and complicated. Not only does one have to shell out some serious dough for up-to-date hardware, but they have to know which products are the best bang for their buck. Fortunately, solutions exist for those short on cash. With a modest computer, numerous classic games are available at the click of a mouse.

The following list will present ten classic games that are just waiting patiently for gamers to download, all from legitimate sources. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available on just about every console imaginable. The classics that started the whole series have yet to jump to consoles, but Bethesda has been kind enough to make them easily accessible for all computer owners. Both games are brutally difficult, and not always for the fairest of reasons.

Game breaking bugs are still present, and modern conveniences like waypoints were not yet commonplace. If one can acclimate to the old way of playing and exploring, then the worlds provide hundreds of hours of gameplay.

If the archaic systems prove too much to handle, they are still worth trying out as a curiosity. You can find Arena available for download here and Daggerfall here. The original Shadow Warrior was an ambitious project built on the same engine that ran Duke Nukem 3D.

It did not quite reach the same level of popularity as Duke, but Lo Wang's adventure achieved a cult following. A reboot came out in , but those looking for the classic first-person shooting gameplay can access the first release for free through gog. The choice of playing the hero is left up to the player, but there are consequences that unfold at the end based on how many enslaved workers Abe transports to freedom.

Ron Gilbert took the lead on one of LucasArts most well-known and well-loved titles, with the second game in the Monkey Island series. Joined by Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, the three conjured up a story about the return of the pirate LeChuck, resurrected as a zombie after his defeat in the first game.

A Special Edition launched in , with new voice overs and a hint system, which would have been handy for the infernal monkey wrench puzzle that was notorious for stumping players back in In its heydey, Resident Evil 2 received critical acclaim for its cinematic camera angles, oppressive atmosphere, and level design.

It introduced Leon S. If you were still potty training at the tail end of the 90s, you can give the Resident Evil 2 Remake a whirl when it launches next year. A cartoon point-and click adventure with a story centreing on time travel, the players can switch between three different characters, separated by a faulty time machine.

Final Fantasy 8 was a PlayStation console exclusive when it launched almost 20 years ago, but it got a PC release in A sci-fi horror, Doom follows a nameless space marine as he fights back the hordes of hellspawn that have broken through to the base on Mars.

Despite not being particularly rich on the narrative front, the game boasted 3D graphics, and networked multiplayer. These days you can play Doom on pretty much anything, from a printer to an ATM machine.

The game got a reboot in that is suitably shooty and gives players a veritable arsenal to play with.