Many IBM PC compatible games released between 1981 and about 1990 were self-booting and did not use MS-DOS, IBM PC DOS, or compatible disk operating systems. The phrase "IBM PC compatible self-booting disk" is sometimes shortened to "PC booter". Self-booting disks were common for other computers as well.
These games were distributed on " or, later, ", floppy disks that booted directly, meaning once they were inserted in the drive and the computer was turned on, a minimal, custom operating system on the diskette took over. This was used as a form of copy protection until it became obsolete as games grew larger. Due to bit rot, original working versions of these floppy disks are rare. Some have been ported to other operating systems.
width=35% | Title | width=10% | Released | width=20% | Genre | width=35% | Publisher/developer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3-K Trivia | 1984 | Strategy | IBM | ||||
Ace of Aces | 1986 | Combat flight simulator | Accolade / Artech | ||||
Agent USA | 1984 | Adventure / strategy | Scholastic / Tom Snyder Productions | ||||
Alley Cat | 1984 | Platform | IBM / Synapse Software | ||||
Amnesia | 1986 | Adventure | Electronic Arts | ||||
Apple Panic | 1982 | Platform | Broderbund | ||||
1984 | Strategy | Electronic Arts / Free Fall Associates | |||||
Attack On Altair | 1983 | Action | Windmill Software | ||||
Bannercatch | 1984 | Action | Scholastic | ||||
Battlezone | 1983 | Action | Atarisoft | ||||
B.C.'s Quest for Tires | 1984 | Action | Sierra On-line / Sydney Development | ||||
Below the Root | 1984 | Adventure | Windham Classics / Dale Disharoon | ||||
Beneath Apple Manor | 1983 | RPG | Quality Software | ||||
Beyond Castle Wolfenstein | 1984 | Stealth | Muse Software | ||||
Big Top | 1983 | Platform | Funtastic / Michael Abrash | ||||
The Black Cauldron | 1986 | Adventure | Sierra On-line | ||||
Borrowed Time | 1985 | Adventure | Activision / Interplay | ||||
Boulder Dash | 1984 | Puzzle | First Star Software | ||||
Boulder Dash II | 1985 | Puzzle | First Star Software | ||||
Bruce Lee | 1984 | Platform | Datasoft | ||||
1984 | Action | Sega | |||||
Buggy Ranger | 1988 | Arcade | Dinamic Software / Iron Byte | ||||
BurgerTime | 1983 | Platform | Mattel Electronics | ||||
Buzzard Bait | 1983 | Fixed Shooter | SIRIUS | ||||
Centipede | 1983 | Action | Atarisoft | ||||
Championship Lode Runner | 1984 | Platform | Broderbund Software | ||||
Chess88 | 1984 | Board game | Unknown | ||||
Climber 5 | 1987 | Platform | COMPUTE! Publications | ||||
Commando | 1987 | Run and gun | Quicksilver / Data East | ||||
Conflict in Vietnam | 1986 | Simulation | MicroProse | ||||
Congo Bongo | 1984 | Isometric platformer | Sega | ||||
Conquest | 1983 | Platform | Windmill Software | ||||
Cosmic Crusader | 1982 | Fixed shooter | Funtastic / Michael Abrash | ||||
Crossfire | 1982 | Action | Sierra On-Line | ||||
Crusade in Europe | 1985 | Simulation | MicroProse | ||||
Crypto Cube | 1983 | Puzzle | DesignWare | ||||
Cutthroats | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Cyborg | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Sentient / Softsmith | ||||
Czorian Siege | 1983 | Action | Computer Applications Unlimited / Howard W. Sams | ||||
Deadline | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Decision in the Desert | 1985 | Simulation | MicroProse | ||||
Defender | 1983 | Scrolling shooter | Atarisoft | ||||
Defender of the Crown | 1987 | Strategy game | |||||
Demon Attack | 1982 | Fixed shooter | Imagic | ||||
Demon's Forge | 1987 | Adventure | Saber Software | ||||
Destroyer | 1986 | Simulation | Epyx | ||||
Dig Dug | 1982 | Maze | Atarisoft | ||||
Digger | 1983 | Action | Windmill Software | ||||
Donald Duck's Playground | 1986 | Educational | Sierra On-Line | ||||
Donkey Kong | 1982 | Platform | Atarisoft | ||||
Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One | 1983 | Sports | Electronic Arts | ||||
Dunjonquest: Morloc's Tower | 1983 | Dungeon crawl | Epyx / Automated Simulations | ||||
Earthly Delights | 1983 | Adventure | Datamost | ||||
Eden Blues | 1987 | Adventure | ERE Informatique | ||||
Enchanter | 1986 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Evolution | 1982 | Action | Sydney Development Corp. | ||||
Executive Suite | 1982 | Life simulation | Armonk Corporation | ||||
The Exterminator | 1982 | Action | Nufekop / Bubble Bus | ||||
F-15 Strike Eagle | 1984 | Combat flight simulator | MicroProse | ||||
FaceMaker | 1982 | Educational | |||||
Five-a-Side Indoor Soccer | 1986 | Sports | Mastertronic Group | ||||
Fleet Sweep | 1983 | Action | Mirror Images | ||||
Floppy Frenzy | 1982 | Action | Windmill Software | ||||
Forbidden Castle | 1985 | Adventure | |||||
Forbidden Quest | 1983 | Adventure | Pryority Software | ||||
The Fourth Protocol | 1985 | Adventure | Electronic Pencil Company / Hutchinson Computer Publishing | ||||
Freddy Fish | 1983 | Action | Mirror Images | ||||
Freddy Hardest | 1988 | Platform | Dinamic Software | ||||
Freddy Hardest in South Manhattan | 1989 | Platform | Dinamic Software/ Iron Byte | ||||
FriendlyWare P.C. Action | 1983 | Action | FriendlySoft | ||||
FriendlyWare PC Introductory Set | 1983 | Action | FriendlySoft | ||||
Frogger | 1983 | Action | Sierra On-Line | ||||
1984 | Action | Sega | |||||
Full Count Baseball | 1984 | Sports | Lance Haffner Games | ||||
Galactic Gladiators | 1983 | Tactical combat | Strategic Simulations | ||||
Galaxian | 1983 | Fixed shooter | Atarisoft | ||||
Game Over | 1987 | Run and gun | Dinamic Software / Imagine Software | ||||
Game Over II | 1987 | Shoot em' up | Dinamic Software | ||||
Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams | 1988 | Interactive fiction | Tom Snyder Productions / Infocom | ||||
Ghostbusters | 1986 | Miscellaneous | Activision | ||||
Gremlins | 1984 | Fixed shooter | Atarisoft | ||||
Guerrilla War | 1987 | Run and gun | Quicksilver / Data East | ||||
1986 | Puzzle / strategy | Activision | |||||
Hard Hat Mack | 1984 | Platform game | Electronic Arts | ||||
Harrier Combat Simulator | 1987 | Simulation | Mindscape | ||||
HellCat Ace | 1984 | First person shooter | MicroProse | ||||
High Stakes | 1986 | Card game | Angelsoft / Mindscape | ||||
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
The Hobbit | 1983 | Interactive fiction | |||||
The Holy Grail | 1984 | Adventure | Hayden Software | ||||
1985 | Interactive fiction | Imagic / Bantam Software | |||||
Ikari Warriors | 1987 | Run and gun | Quicksilver / Data East | ||||
1988 | Run and gun | Quicksilver / Data East | |||||
1989 | Racing | Electronic Arts | |||||
Infidel | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
International Hockey | 1987 | Sports | Artworx / Superior Quality Software | ||||
J-Bird | 1983 | Puzzle | Orion Software | ||||
1986 | Interactive fiction | Angelsoft / Mindscape | |||||
Jet | 1985 | Simulation | Sublogic | ||||
John Elway's Quarterback | 1988 | Sports | Leland / Melbourne House | ||||
Joust | 1983 | Platform | Atarisoft | ||||
Jumpman | 1984 | Platform / puzzle | Epyx, IBM | ||||
Jungle Hunt | 1983 | Action | Atarisoft | ||||
Karnov | 1989 | Platform | Quicksilver / Data East | ||||
Kindercomp | 1983 | Educational | Spinnaker | ||||
1984 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line | |||||
1985 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line | |||||
Kobyashi Naru | 1987 | Adventure | Mastertronic | ||||
Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen | 1988 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions / Infocom | ||||
Livingstone supongo | 1987 | Action | Opera Soft | ||||
Livingstone supongo II | 1989 | Action | Opera Soft | ||||
Lock-On | 1987 | First person shooter | Tatsumi Electronics, Data East | ||||
Lode Runner | 1983 | Platform / puzzle | Broderbund / Ariolasoft | ||||
M.U.L.E. | 1983 | Strategy | Electronic Arts, K-Byte | ||||
Marble Madness | 1986 | Platform / racing | Broderbund, Ariolasoft | ||||
Master Miner | 1983 | Action | Funtastic | ||||
Math Maze | 1983 | Racing | DesignWare | ||||
Metropolis | 1987 | Simulation | Arcadia Systems, Melbourne House | ||||
MicroLeague Baseball | 1984 | Sports | MicroLeague | ||||
Microsoft Adventure | 1981 | Interactive fiction | Microsoft, IBM | ||||
Microsoft Decathlon | 1982 | Sports | Microsoft, IBM | ||||
Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 | 1982 | Simulation | Sublogic / Microsoft | ||||
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0 | 1984 | Simulation | Sublogic / Microsoft | ||||
Mindshadow | 1984 | Adventure | Interplay / Activision | ||||
Mine Shaft | 1983 | Puzzle | Sierra On-Line, IBM | ||||
Miner 2049er | 1983 | Platform | Big Five Software / Micro Fun | ||||
Montezuma's Revenge | 1984 | Platform | BCI Software | ||||
Moon Bugs | 1983 | Action | Windmill Software | ||||
Moon Patrol | 1983 | Scrolling shooter | Atarisoft | ||||
Morloc's Tower | 1983 | Adventure | Automated Simulations | ||||
Mouser | 1983 | Platform / puzzle | Gebelli Software, IBM | ||||
Ms. Pac-Man | 1983 | Maze | Atarisoft | ||||
Mundial de Fútbol | 1990 | Sports | Opera Sports, Opera Soft | ||||
Murder on the Zinderneuf | 1984 | Adventure | Free Fall Associates, Electronic Arts | ||||
Narco Police | 1989 | Action / shooter | Iron Byte, Dinamic Software | ||||
Night Mission Pinball | 1982 | Pinball | Sublogic | ||||
Night Stalker | 1983 | Maze | Mattel Electronics | ||||
Oil's Well | 1984 | Maze | Sierra On-Line | ||||
Pac-Man | 1983 | Maze | Atarisoft | ||||
Paratrooper | 1982 | Shooter | Greg Kuperberg, Orion Software | ||||
PC Arcade | 1983 | Action | Friendlysoft | ||||
PC Pool | 1983 | Sports | Hesware, IBM | ||||
PC Pool Challenges | 1984 | Sports | Hesware, IBM | ||||
PC-Man | 1982 | Maze | Orion Software | ||||
Pinball Construction Set | 1985 | Pinball | Electronic Arts | ||||
1984 | Platform | Activision | |||||
Pitstop II | 1984 | Racing | Synergistic Software, Epyx | ||||
Planetfall | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Portal | 1986 | RPG | Nexa Corporation, Activision | ||||
Prowler | 1987 | Simulation | Icon Design Ltd., Mastertronic | ||||
Psi-5 Trading Company | 1986 | Strategy | Accolade | ||||
Rasterscan | 1987 | Puzzle | Binary Design, Mastertronic | ||||
Rescue at Rigel | 1983 | RPG | Epyx | ||||
Rescate en el Golfo | 1991 | Shooter | Opera Soft | ||||
River Raid | 1984 | Scrolling shooter | Activision | ||||
1983 | Fixed shooter | Atarisoft | |||||
Rockford | 1988 | Arcade | Arcadia Systems | ||||
Rollo and the Brush Bros. | 1983 | Puzzle | Windmill Software | ||||
Satan | 1990 | Platform | Dinamic Software | ||||
ScubaVenture | 1983 | Action | Gebelli Software, IBM | ||||
Seastalker | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Serpentine | 1982 | Action | Broderbund | ||||
Sol Negro | 1988 | Arcade | Opera Soft | ||||
The Seven Cities of Gold | 1987 | Adventure | Ozark Softscape, Electronic Arts | ||||
Shamus | 1984 | Action | William Mataga, Synapse Software | ||||
1985 | Adventure | Imagic, Bantam Software | |||||
Sid Meier's Pirates! | 1987 | Action / adventure | MicroProse | ||||
Sidewinder | 1988 | Shoot em' up | Synergistic Software, Arcadia Systems | ||||
Sierra Championship Boxing | 1985 | Sports | Evryware, Sierra On-Line | ||||
Silent Service | 1986 | Submarine simulator | MicroProse | ||||
The Slugger | 1988 | Sports | Ocean Software, Mastertronic | ||||
Snack Attack II | 1982 | Maze | Funtastic | ||||
Solo Flight | 1983 | Simulation | MicroProse | ||||
Solomon's Key | 1988 | Puzzle | U.S. Gold | ||||
Sorcerer | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Space Strike | 1982 | Action | Michael Abrash, Datamost | ||||
Spellicopter | 1983 | Edutainment | DesignWare | ||||
Spiderbot | 1988 | Platform | Addictive Games, Epyx | ||||
Spitfire Ace | 1984 | Flying shooter | MicroProse | ||||
Spy Hunter | 1984 | Vehicular combat | Sega | ||||
Starcross | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Stargate | 1983 | Scrolling shooter | Atarisoft | ||||
Storm | 1987 | Puzzle | Mastertronic | ||||
Strategy Games | 1983 | Strategy | IBM | ||||
Styx | 1983 | Puzzle | Windmill Software | ||||
Sub Mission | 1987 | Shooter | Tom Snyder Productions, Mindscape | ||||
Summer Games II | 1986 | Sports | Epyx | ||||
Super Boulder Dash | 1986 | Action | First Star Software, Electronic Arts | ||||
Super Football Sunday | 1985 | Sports | Quest / Avalon Hill | ||||
Super Zaxxon | 1984 | Shoot em' up | Sega | ||||
Suspect | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Suspended | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Tag Team Wrestling | 1985 | Sports | Quicksilver / Data East | ||||
Tapper | 1983 | Action | Bally Midway | ||||
Tass Times in Tonetown | 1986 | Adventure | Brainwave Creations / Interplay, Activision | ||||
The Last Mission | 1987 | Action | Opera Soft | ||||
Timothy Leary's Mind Mirror | 1986 | Interactive fiction | Futique, Electronic Arts | ||||
Touchdown Football | 1984 | Sports | Imagic, IBM | ||||
The Tracer Sanction | 1984 | Adventure | Interplay / Activision | ||||
Trilogy | 1987 | Adventure | Mastertronic | ||||
Trivia 101 | 1984 | Educational | Digital Learning Systems, IBM | ||||
Troll's Tale | 1984 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line | ||||
1984 | Game show | Digital Learning Systems, IBM | |||||
Ulysses and the Golden Fleece | 1982 | Hi-res adventure | Sierra On-Line | ||||
Up'n Down | 1984 | Platform | Sega Enterprise, Ltd. | ||||
1985 | Adventure | Random House | |||||
Voodoo Island | 1985 | Interactive fiction | Angelsoft / Mindscape | ||||
1982 | RPG | Intelligent Statements Inc., Computer Applications Unlimited | |||||
Will Harvey's Music Construction Set | 1984 | Educational | Electronic Arts | ||||
Winter Games | 1986 | Sports | Epyx | ||||
The Witness | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | ||||
Wizard and the Princess | 1982 | Adventure | On-Line Systems | ||||
1984 | RPG | Sir-Tech | |||||
1985 | RPG | Sir-Tech | |||||
1986 | RPG | Sir-Tech | |||||
1987 | RPG | Sir-Tech | |||||
1988 | RPG | Sir-Tech | |||||
Wizball | 1987 | Shoot 'em up | Sensible Software, Ocean Software | ||||
Word Spinner | 1984 | Educational | The Learning Company | ||||
World Games | 1986 | Sports | K-Byte / Epyx | ||||
World Karate Championship | 1986 | Fighting | Epyx / System 3 | ||||
The World's Greatest Baseball Game | 1985 | Sports | Quest Inc., Epyx | ||||
Zaxxon | 1984 | Action | Sega | ||||
1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | |||||
1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | |||||
1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom | |||||
1988 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions / Infocom | |||||
1989 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions / Infocom | |||||
Zyll | 1984 | Interactive fiction | IBM |