Fixed screen 2D, games with no scrolling
In a fixed-screen 2D game, the gameplay is confined to a single screen with no vertical or horizontal scrolling. The screen remains static, and the overall gameplay occurs within the boundaries of this fixed screen.
Fixed-screen games were common in the early days of video gaming, especially in arcade games. This design was largely due to technical limitations of early hardware, which made scrolling more difficult to implement. As a result, many early arcade classics, such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, relied on fixed-screen mechanics.
Fixed-screen games were common in the early days of video gaming, especially in arcade games. This design was largely due to technical limitations of early hardware, which made scrolling more difficult to implement. As a result, many early arcade classics, such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, relied on fixed-screen mechanics.
Most popular fixed screen 2D games
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15x15 Picture Puzzle
DOS1996freeware
This game is either a delightful brain teaser or a slow descent into madness, depending on how patient you are. 15x15 Picture Puzzle gives you a scrambled mess of tiny square tiles and challenges you to rearrange them into a beautiful image that you’ll spend hours trying to recognize. It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle with gloves on and a...
240 Racing
DOS1998
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to drive very fast in what looks like a PowerPoint presentation with a need for speed, 240 Racing from 1998 delivers the thrill. With blocky graphics and a frame rate that politely walks rather than runs, it’s a racing game that screams “DOS never dies.” The cars handle like shopp...
3d World Boxing
DOS1992 Simulmondo
Released in 1992, 3D World Boxing tried its best to bring the sweet science into the third dimension. The result is less Rocky and more “two mannequins in pajamas slap each other in a cube.” But bless its heart, it really tries. You can jab, hook, and block like a pro, assuming you’re okay with animations that look like interpreti...
4 Queens Computer Casino
DOS1992 Applications Plus
This 1992 casino sim for DOS drops you into the neon-soaked carpet jungle of the Four Queens Hotel in Vegas. There’s no plot, no hero’s journey - just you, a digital bankroll, and the cold, soulless eyes of the slot machine. Blackjack, roulette, and video poker await as you attempt to cheat fate without cheating the game. The graphics a...
4Play
Windows XP/98/95Windows 3.x1995NSFW
4Play was a risqué trivia and multi-player board-style game released in the mid-1990s. Designed as a party game, it combined trivia questions, mini-games, and challenges that often leaned toward suggestive or adult themes. It was intended to be played in social settings, often among friends or couples, with the goal of breaking the...
Aaargh
DOS1988 Binary Design
Aaargh (1988) is exactly what you’ll scream as your giant monster stomps through cities with all the grace of a drunk kaiju. On DOS, this arcade-ish game lets you smash stuff, roast villagers, and battle other monsters in duels that feel like two rubber suits colliding. It’s dumb, loud, and charmingly awful — the kind of game you&...
Acid Tetris
DOS1998freewareremake
If you ever looked at regular Tetris and thought, “What this really needs is eye-melting colors and a possible migraine,” then Acid Tetris (1998, DOS) is your jam. It’s the classic block-dropper, now with a palette that screams “I licked a glow stick at a rave.” Gameplay is mostly the same, but the visuals turn every l...
Ack-Ack Attack!
DOS1995remake PLBM Games
In Ack-Ack Attack! (1995, DOS), you operate an anti-aircraft gun and do your best to shoot down waves of enemy planes with what appears to be a potato cannon. The game is loud, frantic, and wonderfully simple — a throwback to the days when “arcade-style” meant “your wrist will hurt after 15 minutes.” It’s not com...
Air Traffic Controller
DOS1985 Cascoly Software
Welcome to the most stressful job in the world - rendered in glorious 1985 DOS graphics! Air Traffic Controller lets you experience the thrill of herding aircraft without the luxury of coffee breaks or radar resolution. It’s tense, it's crude, and it's a miracle anyone survived your first session. You’ll learn that "near miss" is just a...
Air Trax
DOS1983
Ah yes, Air Trax from 1983 - a game where “flight” is more of a philosophical concept. It’s clunky, it's slow, and it looks like it was coded in someone’s garage (because it probably was). But there’s charm in this pixelated mess. You guide your plane through narrow gaps while wondering why gravity has such a personal ...
Airlines
DOS1994 InterActive Vision
Think running an airline is easy? Airlines (1994) says “think again.” This old-school management sim hands you a failing fleet and a world map, then laughs quietly as you go bankrupt in under 10 turns. Buy planes, open routes, and try to explain to investors why you scheduled 12 flights to Greenland. It’s dry, brutal, and oddly sa...
Aldo Again
DOS1989remake
Aldo Again (1989) is the platformer that dares to say, “Hey, what if Donkey Kong but with 100% more confusion?” You play as Aldo, a mustachioed man of mystery (and questionable balance) who’s trying to climb platforms, dodge hazards, and maybe figure out why he’s doing any of this. The graphics are primitive, the physics are...
Aldo's Adventure
DOS1987remake
Aldo’s Adventure is what you get when someone squints at Donkey Kong and decides to remake it after four cups of coffee and a long nap. You play Aldo, a brave little guy whose hobbies include climbing platforms, dodging hazards, and falling in love with repetitive music. The levels are simple, the enemies look like they're made of leftover pi...
Aldo's Assault
DOS1991
Think of Aldo's Assault as what happens when Mario forgets his plumber license and joins a bootleg army. This 1991 DOS gem throws you into a side-scrolling frenzy of ladders, barrels, and the kind of platforming logic that predates physics. Aldo, a man of questionable fashion sense and unclear motives, must survive wave after wave of hazards that s...
Alley Cat
DOS1984 Synapse Software
You are a cat. Not a cool panther or a mystical tiger. Just a good old alley cat trying to make it through a day full of brooms, angry dogs, and questionable fish. Alley Cat is a fever dream of a platformer, where you leap between windows, break into people’s homes, and participate in strange mini-games like mouse catching and goldfish steali...
Amazing Maze
DOS1983
Don’t be fooled by the name—Amazing Maze is more of a slightly-better-than-average maze. But hey, in 1983, navigating a screen full of walls and hoping you guessed right was enough to set hearts racing. It’s just you, a CPU opponent, and a timer judging your every move. The graphics are simpler than a kindergarten drawing, but the...
Ant Attack!
DOS1994freeware Dataware
Released in 1994 (long after it originally debuted on other platforms), Ant Attack! is what you get when you mix isometric graphics, giant ants, and questionable urban planning. You play a brave soul navigating a crumbling city to rescue someone — while being constantly menaced by mutant ants the size of Volkswagens. It’s surprisingly t...
Antix
DOS1985remake
Antix (1985) is Snake, but with a death wish. Created by the same mad genius behind Tetris, this game takes the familiar snake-trail mechanic and cranks it to eleven. You’ve got to avoid walls, your own tail, and existential dread as the speed ramps up with every delicious dot you eat. One wrong turn and it’s game over — no power-...
Aquanoid
DOS1992remake
Aquanoid (1992) takes the classic Breakout formula and throws it underwater, because bricks are apparently much more intimidating when they're wet. You control a paddle, you bounce a ball, you try to pretend you're not just playing a glorified version of Pong with a marine biology twist. Bonus points for the soundtrack, which sounds like a Casio ke...
Arcade Trivia Quiz
DOS1993
Think you're smart? Arcade Trivia Quiz (1993) is here to humble you with rapid-fire questions about pop culture, history, and whatever else the developers could fit on a floppy disk. It’s like playing Jeopardy! with a host who only accepts answers in blocky text and doesn’t tolerate typos. Educational, frustrating, and a fantastic way t...
Arcade Volleyball
DOS1987
In Arcade Volleyball (1987), two pixelated figures smack a ball over a net with all the grace of caffeinated stick figures. It's simple, it's bizarre, and it somehow manages to be insanely fun—especially when your opponent spikes the ball right into your square little face. Physics? Optional. Strategy? Laughable. Fun? Absolutely.
Archery
DOS1985freeware
Archery (1985) is what happens when someone says, “Hey, what if we made a bow-and-arrow game with the graphical fidelity of a cave painting?” You shoot arrows. That’s it. You aim, fire, and pray the pixel lands where you want. The controls feel like they were designed for someone with three fingers and a vendetta against ergonomic...
Archon: the Light and the Dark
DOS1984 Free Fall Associates
Before Battle Chess, there was Archon. Imagine a board game where pawns and knights settle disputes not with rules, but with full-on gladiatorial combat. Archon gives you light versus dark, spellcasters versus golems, and battles that feel like Pong with grudges. It's chess, but spicy. Despite the primitive graphics, it’s shockingly addictive...
Arkanoid
DOS1988 Taito
Arkanoid is a classic arcade video game that was first released in 1986 by Taito. It is a breakout-style game, which means that the primary objective is to break a wall of bricks or blocks by bouncing a ball off a paddle at the bottom of the screen. The game takes its name and inspiration from Atari's Breakout, which was released in the 1970s. ...
Arkanoid 2: The Revenge of Doh
DOS1989 Taito
Doh is back, and he’s mad - presumably because no one understood what he was in the first place. Arkanoid 2 takes the original formula and dials everything up: more levels, more power-ups, more neon madness. It’s still paddle-meets-brick, but now with branching paths, weirder enemies, and a storyline that sounds like it was written on a...
Armada 2525
DOS1991
Armada 2525 is what happens when a spreadsheet decides it wants to conquer the galaxy. This is classic 4X strategy with all the bells, whistles, and menus your early '90s heart could desire. You’ll build colonies, research tech, and expand across star systems while trying to remember which of your 300 planets is building what. The AI is about...
Astro Dodge
DOS1982 Digital Marketing Corporation
Astro Dodge (1982) is basically Frogger — in space. You control a tiny spacecraft tasked with dodging endless waves of meteors, space debris, and possibly your own questionable life choices. There’s no shooting, no exploration, just pure, panicked evasion. The graphics are charmingly primitive, like a screensaver decided to become senti...
Astro Fire
DOS1994freewareremake ORT Software
Astro Fire (1994) is the illegitimate love child of Asteroids and a particularly angry fireworks show. You pilot a tiny ship with a death wish through an endless barrage of asteroids, enemies, and power-ups that may or may not be worth the risk. The pace is fast, the soundtrack is intense, and the explosions are satisfying enough to make Michael Ba...
Astrotit
DOS1987NSFW Rudeware
Yes, Astrotit (1987) is really the name, and no, it’s not what you think — though it does feel like it was named by a bored teenager. This side-scrolling shooter puts you in command of a spaceship shaped suspiciously like a flying insect, blasting your way through bizarre alien landscapes that look like they were designed during a fever...
Atomic Bomberman
Windows XP/98/951997 Interplay Productions
Atomic Bomberman (1997) takes the classic formula of blowing up your friends in adorable mayhem and gives it a 90s makeover — complete with voice quips, flashy graphics, and enough chaos to make a LAN party legendary. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s utterly ruthless. The computer opponents cheat like they’re auditioning...