Summary

Video games are distinct from other media in how their copyright is handled.

Here are the best video game genres that have changed throughout history!

However, the few games that are truly public domain make for a fascinating and eclectic selection.

17-8 Best Atari 2600 Games-EMAKI

Their genre runs the gamut from fast-paced shooters to MMOs.

Here are eight games that are in the public domain.

Abuse is a run-and-gun shooter where you use the keyboard to move and the mouse to aim.

Hyper Light Drifter and Dave The Diver.

To illustrate how forward-thinking that is, back then most people played first-person shooters withthe keyboard alone.

A 2016 source port of the game with OpenGL rendering and controller supportcan be found on the GOG forums.

From Pitfall to River Raid, these are the best Atari 2600 games!

14-Best Roguelikes You Can Play Offline

Ballerburg is an artillery game - thinkAngry Birds, but even more retro and minimalist.

For its limited hardware, it’s fairly impressive how the physics are simulated.

Colossal Cave Adventure was first playable in 1976, back when personal computers were a ridiculous proposition.

Split image of box art from Colossal Cave Adventure, Abuse and Rogue.

With one or two words, you could navigate a fictional cave system.

Colossal Cave Adventure deserves appreciation for its lasting influence on video games as a whole.

5Diamond Trust Of London

Almost as compelling as Diamond Trust’s gameplay is the individual behind it.

Wolfenstein 3D and Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Diamond Trust of London was developed for the Nintendo DS as a turn-based strategy game.

You’llneed a friendto enjoy Diamond Trust of London, as it functions much like a digital board game.

The game features a basic side-scrolling story, with certain choices affecting the difficulty of the game.

The protagonist runs down a hallway in 1996’s Abuse.

Your avatar visibly ages as they move, and eventually dies.

Learn all about the best pixel art video games!

The cause-and-effect gameplay is simplistic, but determining what the causes and effectswereis completely up to you.

Two castles separated by a hill in 1987’s Ballerburg.

You might even learn a bit about yourself by playing Passage.

One such game, 1962’s Spacewar, is particularly notable.

For such a primitive title, Spacewar is impressive.

A black screen depicting text-based narration of a scenario in Colossal Cave Adventure.

The gameplay features two spaceships trying to shoot each other while maneuvering in the gravity well of a star.

There’s a visible background, and the concept of space can easily be grasped despite the simple presentation.

Spacewar also features the earliest example of graphical effects, albeit unintentionally.

Gameplay of Diamond Trust of London, depicting a map and prompts to sell diamonds.

While the campaign is all right, the real appeal of C-Dogs is its deathmatch multiplayer mode.

1Rogue

You might not know Rogue, but you definitely know the genre it pioneered.

Each run is procedurally generated and different from the last one.

The protagonist and his wife walk down a passage in Passage.

The game originally came withASCII graphics, so there were no assets to copyright.

However, it was compelling enough to spawn imitations even before its source code was released.

Rogue’s use of permadeath is a treasure that would later be unearthed by indie developers.

Gameplay of Spacewar, depicting two ships against a backdrop of stars.

With the price of failure being so steep, every decision you make has meaning.

Play your favorite genre without the pesky requirement of an always-online connection.

Gameplay of C-Dogs showing two characters with machine guns from a top-down perspective.

Gameplay of Rogue from 1980.

Triple-A Games