Skip to content
Top 10 · 1997

The 10 best DOS games of 1997

The 10 best DOS games of 1997, as the players of dos.games rate them. Grand Theft Auto leads the list, ahead of Constructor and Blood.

Every game on the list plays in your browser, with nothing to install. The order comes from players' ratings and real play time, so it moves as people play.

Updated How the lists are ranked

  • 61DOS games of 1997 in the archive
  • 10 of 10Play in your browser
  • 3.8Score of #1, out of 5
  1. 2. Constructor

    1997 · System 3 Software Ltd. · Simulation

    3.72 ratings

    Constructor gives the player the chance to run a construction company in a place where real estate is up for those who want to develop it first and where everything is allowed to get rid of the competition.

  2. 3. Blood

    1997 · Monolith Productions · Action

    3.72 ratings

    Caleb was once a feared gunslinger, until he met a woman who was involved with a mysterious cult known as Cabal.

  3. 4. Theme Hospital

    1997 · Bullfrog Productions, Ltd. · Strategy / tactics

    3.71 rating

    Theme Hospital is a level-based hospital management simulation where players have to start on an empty building, and then assemble rooms with all kinds of material, from desks and file cabinets for the general diagnosis to the expensive ultra-scanners and x-rays to diagnose such bizarre diseases such as Bloaty Head, Slack Songue or Alien DNA, and treat them with with even more bizarre machines like an Head Inflator or a DNA fixer.

  4. 5. Fallout

    1997 · Interplay Productions · Role-playing (RPG)

    3.61 rating

    Leave Vault 13 with a leather jacket, 10mm pistol, and 150 days to replace a failed Water Chip before your home dies of thirst in Interplay's 1997 RPG Fallout.

  5. 6. Earth 2140

    1997 · TopWare Programmy Sp. z o.o. · Strategy / tactics

    3.61 rating

    It's the year 2140, earth is almost completely destroyed after numerous wars and environmental catastrophes, and the people primarily live underground.

Ranks 11–20

More great DOS games of 1997

  1. Spellcross — playable in the browserJRC Interactive · Strategy / tactics · 1997Most played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity2 players · 31m · capped at +0.50+0.14
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Spellcross
  2. Mortal Kombat Trilogy — playable in the browserGT Interactive Software Corp. · Action · 1997Most played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity2 players · 7m · capped at +0.50+0.13
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Mortal Kombat Trilogy
  3. Flying Corps: Gold — playable in the browserEmpire Interactive · Simulation · 1997Most played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity2 players · 7m · capped at +0.50+0.12
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Flying Corps: Gold
  4. Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command - 1939-1999 — playable in the browserStrategic Simulations, Inc. · Strategy / tactics · 1997Most played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 37m · capped at +0.50+0.11
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command - 1939-1999
  5. Redneck Rampage — playable in the browserInterplay Productions, Inc. · Action · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 15m · capped at +0.50+0.09
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Redneck Rampage
  6. Comanche 3 — playable in the browserNovaLogic, Inc. · Simulation · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 12m · capped at +0.50+0.09
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Comanche 3
  7. Shadow Warrior — playable in the browserGT Interactive Software Corp. · Action · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 9m · capped at +0.50+0.08
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Shadow Warrior
  8. MDK — playable in the browserPlaymates Interactive Entertainment, Inc. · Action · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 4m · capped at +0.50+0.08
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open MDK
  9. Ignition — playable in the browserVirgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc. · Racing / Driving · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 3m · capped at +0.50+0.08
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Ignition
  10. Quake II — playable in the browserBethesda Softworks LLC · Action · 1997Often played
    3.3
    How this score is built
    SignalAdds
    Player ratings0% · no ratings yet0.00
    Archive default3.20 × 100% · never scored by the catalogue · stands in for 8 ratings3.20
    Blended rating3.20
    Play activity1 player · 3m · capped at +0.50+0.08
    Score3.3

    Recomputed from the database as ratings and sessions land. Every title in the archive goes through this same arithmetic — there is no manual adjustment step.

    Open Quake II
Questions

Frequently asked

What is the best DOS game of 1997?

Grand Theft Auto (1997, DMA Design Limited) is the best DOS game of 1997 by our players' ratings, ahead of Constructor and Blood. The ranking follows players' ratings and real play time, so it changes as people play.

Can I play these DOS games of 1997 online?

Yes. 10 of the games on this list play free in your browser on dos.games, with no download and no emulator to set up. Press Play on any of them; your progress can be saved.

How many DOS games of 1997 are there on dos.games?

61. This list ranks the best 10 in full and the next ones below them; the catalogue has every one, with filters for year, studio and more.

How is this list ranked?

With the same score as our Best DOS Games ranking: players' ratings, pulled toward the archive's own rating while a game has few of them, plus a small bonus for the games people actually keep playing. No editor and no sponsor decides a place.