6 Websites That Allow Downloading Old PC Games for Free

Modern gamers have a plethora of free games at their disposal. Many of the most popular online games  use a free-to-play model to attract users. There are free games on Steam, in your browser, and on your smartphone.

However, you don’t always want the latest AAA title or battle royale for free. Luckily, there are plenty of websites dedicated to preserving old games. Here are the best sites where you can download old PC games for free.

1. Abandonment

Abandonia was founded in 1999. After a few years of inactivity, Abandonia has grown into one of the top sites for downloading your favorite old games. At the time of writing, Abandonia has nearly 1,400 downloadable games and over 800,000 members.

Abandonia provides each game with a thorough review, screenshots, and reviews from editors and users. You can browse and download old PC games by name, year, rating, and category. Since the site focuses on DOS games, you won't find any "newer" games here, but the extensive DOS archive should cover most of your old gaming needs.

2. Abandonware Dos

Abandonware Dos is another site that focuses on old DOS games. It also has a catalog of Windows titles, sorted in descending order from around 2002, meaning you can download SimGolf and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds from the all-time great Sid Meier.

Abandonware Dos is also a very active site. Each game comes with a site rating, specs, release date, screenshots, as well as recently played(ish) videos and snippets of information related to the game.

You'll also find helpful articles and lists to help you find the best old games to download.

The advantage of Abandonware Dos is its open approach to the status of the website hosting its software. The site owner clearly states that they comply with takedown notices. Furthermore, the site has direct links to GOG.com. These are found on the live game page and the featured titles on the site's home page.

When you start building your old game library, it can be difficult to keep track of every game you have. If this sounds like you, check out these game launcher videos that let you add the games you want to play.

3. RGB Classic Games

RGB Classic Games has a wide variety of classic DOS games, previously unreleased titles, and even some “modern” DOS titles. The entire site is “dedicated to preserving classic games for defunct PC operating systems” like DOS, CP/M-86, OS/2, Win16, and Win9x, and making them playable on modern systems. Indeed, if you want to download old DOS games, RGB Classic Games is a great choice.

You can search for games by genre and operating system, as well as company name, legal status, release year, and video mode. Furthermore, as a testament to RGB Classic Games’ mission, you can play a significant number of titles on the emulator hosted on the site, including Keen Dreams, Hexen, and one of the all-time favorites, Transport Tycoon.

4. My Abandonware

My Abandonware is a great place to download old PC games, along with some more recent additions to the software catalog.

You'll find listings for over 15,000 titles, including "some very rare titles found on the deep web" as well as "some submitted by visitors." The small team that runs My Abandonware actively maintains the site, making updates and improvements, and adding new titles, old DOS games, and more.

One of the best features of My Abandonware is the range of search options. You can work through the huge catalog of games using the name, year of release, game platform, genre, game theme, publisher, and even a specific developer. The developer option is great because if you find a game you like, you can also explore other titles from the same development team. You’ll also find some old DOS games available for download here.

5. Games Nostalgia

Games Nostalgia showcases hundreds of great games released between 1985 and 1995. The Games Nostalgia website is easy to use, allowing you to browse games by genre, age, popularity, and more.

Games Nostalgia goes one step further by packaging each game in its own emulator, available for both Windows (and in many cases, macOS). In doing so, Games Nostalgia eliminates any extra steps to play your favorite old games. Just download, unzip, and start playing! Each game is packaged in a neat container that makes playing these old and classic games that much easier.

6. Old Games Download

Old Games Download has over 2,000 games and new games are always being added thanks to user updates. There was a time in 2022 when Old Games Download was forced to shut down for a while. The site was hacked and users were redirected to another site. However, this has been fixed and all issues have long since been resolved.

Old Games Download also covers several platforms like Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari, DOS, Windows 3.x, etc.

Another valuable resource: The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving one of the core tenets of the Internet: Universal access to all knowledge. Old video games certainly deserve to be preserved, and The Internet Archive shares that sentiment.

In 2014, The Internet Archive brought 900 classic arcade games to the browser, preserving some of the best old games. A year later, in 2015, The Internet Archive announced it would be preserving more than 2,300 classic DOS games.

Unfortunately, you can’t actually download classic titles. However, The Internet Archive has a built-in version of DOSBox, which means you can play each game in your browser. Found a title you love? Bookmark it! Alternatively, add the page to your desktop, where it’ll be available with just one click.

What are the best old PC games?

There are so many great old PC games. The problem is finding the time to play them all. Retro games are old gems that still exist and are still valuable. Part of the resurgence of old PC games is the ease with which you can play and download them. With sites like Games Nostalgia that download emulators, downloading and playing your old favorites is easier than ever.