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First post, by blackhaz

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Fellow Vogons,

The older I get, the less time I have to delve deep into RPGs and complex story lines, and the more I enjoy quick games - those one can start, enjoy for half an hour, and then go back to reality without having to rely much on recollection when you load it back a week later. Among modern ones, Rocket League is my favorite. I am looking for 386-to-Pentium era titles that would fit the bill too. Here is my starter list I enjoy the most:

Mortal Kombat I, II, III
Sim City 2000
Tie Fighter
Populous 2
Dark Legions
Civilization I and II (I know it's a stretch, but there's not much story line to Civ, so not much to remember when you load it back...)

Please, shaare more quick play games you like. Thanks!

386 DX-40 / 4 MB / 210 MB / Trident 8900D / Aztech Sound Galaxy Multimedia Pro 16 / CD-ROM / 3.5" / 5.25" / Windows 3.1
Pentium-133 / 64 MB / 1.6 GB / ATI Radeon 7000 PCI / Sound Blaster AWE 32 / CD-RW / 3.5" / Windows 98 SE

Reply 2 of 20, by Jorpho

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I wouldn't consider SC2K or Tie Fighter to be particularly quick.

Anyway, Squarez and Pizza Worm are the first things that come to mind for some reason.

Maybe Funball?
https://archive.org/details/Funball_1020

And there's Laser Light, by Pixel Painters, which readily brings to mind The Incredible Machine (and its sequels).

For that matter, how about Lemmings (and its sequels)?

ETA: Cash Invaders was an old favorite. Tempting to suggest Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom, but that can go on for a while.

Reply 4 of 20, by Joseph_Joestar

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Here are some of my favorites which take less than 10 hours to complete:

  • Aladdin
  • Duke Nukem 3D
  • Quake
  • Tyrian

P.S.

If you need to look up how long it takes to finish a certain game, here's a good website: https://howlongtobeat.com/

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Reply 5 of 20, by BardBun

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Commander Keen (all games)
Prince of Persia 1 & 2
UFO Enemy Unknown, Terror From The Deep, Apocalypse
Cyberdogs
Dune 2
Slicks 'n' Slide
Clonk 3 Radical
Genewars
Pizza Connection (Pizza Tycoon)
Ugh! (1992)
Skunny Kart
Secret Agent
Z (1996)
Gender Wars
Abuse (1996)
Dangerous Dave In The Haunted Mansion (1991)
Bio Menace (free on GoG: https://www.gog.com/game/bio_menace )
Syndicate & Syndicate Wars
Tyrian 2000
Tubular Worlds
Flashback : The Quest for Identity
Little Big Adventure 1 & 2 (slightly story heavy, but simple and charming)
The Ultimate Tapan Kaikki
Piranha (1996)
Liero (1999)
In Search of Dr. Riptide
Cannon Fodder 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 1 & 2 (2 has the better mechanics, 1 is more for nostaliga)
Command & Conquer
Dungeon Keeper (though here you might wanna play KeeperFX)

Reply 6 of 20, by Joseph_Joestar

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BardBun wrote on 2020-12-08, 05:32:

Heroes of Might and Magic 1 & 2 (2 has the better mechanics, 1 is more for nostaliga)

Those are not "quick" games by any stretch of the imagination.

They are excellent in terms of gameplay, but it can literally take several hours to finish a single mission.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 7 of 20, by BardBun

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Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-12-08, 05:44:
BardBun wrote on 2020-12-08, 05:32:

Heroes of Might and Magic 1 & 2 (2 has the better mechanics, 1 is more for nostaliga)

Those are not "quick" games by any stretch of the imagination.

They are excellent in terms of gameplay, but it can literally take several hours to finish a single mission.

But you can start them, enjoy for half an hour and then come back to them days later.

Reply 8 of 20, by Joseph_Joestar

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BardBun wrote on 2020-12-08, 05:51:

But you can start them, enjoy for half an hour and then come back to them days later.

I disagree, at least with regards to some of the larger, more complex maps in HOMM2.

You need to carefully take note of enemy movements and plan your strategy accordingly. Playing a game that relies on this approach in 30 minute chunks would be very disruptive.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
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PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 9 of 20, by Cyberdyne

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Interpose
Corridor 3D
Chasm: The Rift
Powerslave
Warcraft 2

Some of the good ones not mentioned yet.

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.

Reply 10 of 20, by Jorpho

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I neglected to mention Castles 2 by Interplay, which was endlessly amusing back in the day. There might be better games of its kind out there, I suppose.

On that note, EGA Trek springs to mind, especially because you can customize the length of the game. Visual Star Trek may be a preferable alternative; I never really got in to that one

And of course there's good ol' Scorched Earth, which is still great fun even if you're playing alone. Worms or Liero might be preferable, though.

Most of Soleau Software's library is decent fun and good for quick games. Taxi Run would be my top pick, though there are many games like it.

BardBun wrote on 2020-12-08, 05:32:

Flashback : The Quest for Identity

Surely this is in no way "quick"?

Also Wacky Wheels is surely vastly preferable to Skunny Kart.

Reply 13 of 20, by chinny22

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In part it depends on your gaming style.
Personally I wouldn't consider any RTS quick as hate having to save a game mid battle, 3D shooters to a lesser extent as you forget what your up to mid level BUT you can save at any point so can see how some people would consider them options .

I do find majority of dos games I think suit the quick game style.
Just about any of the Apogee or Epic Megagames back catalogue are good with levels rarely lasting more then 10 minutes each be it platformers, arcade Raptor/Zone66 style or whatever

Arcade style racing games, few have been mentioned but here are a few more.
Iron Man Off Road (My personal favourite kill less then 30 min game)
Street Rod
Screamer
Micro Machines (2 is my favourite)
Need for Speed 1 or 2 (I don't like 2 myself)

Terminal Velocity as you like Tie Fighter although I'd group this in the Apogee list

Rampart is incredibly addictive

Hexxagon is freeware and kind of a board game.

Jorpho wrote on 2020-12-08, 07:04:

Also Wacky Wheels is surely vastly preferable to Skunny Kart.

Without question but skunny kart is still a fun alternative

Reply 14 of 20, by clueless1

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Many graphic adventures are quite short. I think it took me about 10 hours over the course of 6 days to finish Eric the Unready. Sierra and Lucasarts have a ton of graphic adventure options.

If you like RPGs but 40-60 hours is out of reach, try Ultima Underworld and System Shock. Each is about 20ish hours long.

Wings of Glory is slow-paced, easy to get in and out of (you can complete a mission at a time) and <20 hours long. Think of it as Wing Commander set in WWI. It's much more casual than Tie Fighter.

edit: thought of a couple of others:

Stargunner

Star Wars: Rebel Assault

Dark Forces (cannot save in the middle of missions but there are checkpoints).

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
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Reply 16 of 20, by thepirategamerboy12

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Some "quick" DOS PC games I can think of at the top of my head.

Screamer 2
DIF-2 Mirage Thunder
Chips Challenge
Rusty
Klass of '99
Pharaoh's Tomb / Arctic Adventure
Stunts
Spectre
Puyo Puyo 2
Terminal Velocity

Reply 17 of 20, by blackhaz

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Thanks a lot for the recommendations! Lots to check out.

386 DX-40 / 4 MB / 210 MB / Trident 8900D / Aztech Sound Galaxy Multimedia Pro 16 / CD-ROM / 3.5" / 5.25" / Windows 3.1
Pentium-133 / 64 MB / 1.6 GB / ATI Radeon 7000 PCI / Sound Blaster AWE 32 / CD-RW / 3.5" / Windows 98 SE

Reply 18 of 20, by mrvt

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Surprised that nobody mentioned Hocus Pocus or Duke Nukem II, they're fun quick platformers to play for a little bit as they're really short if you play them all at once, they're the ones I enjoy the most for "quick" play.

Reply 19 of 20, by robertmo

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you are not limited to dos games:

Monument Valley
Evo Explores
Inside
Limbo
Monochroma
Black The Fall
Little Nightmares
Typoman
The Bridge
Unravel
Planet Alpha
Candle
Fossil Echo
Braid
Max - The Curse of Brotherhood
Never Alone
The Way
Heart Of Darkness
Abe's Oddysee
Abe's Exoddus
Headlander
Weird Dreams
Another World 1 (best on 3DO)
Another World 2: Heart Of The Alien (SEGA CD only)
Deadlight
Blackthorne (SEGA 32X)