Windows 2.0 Games

I have only included those games where I have a version that actually runs under Windows 2.0, so I could post a genuine 2.0 screenshot.

1988

Backgammon

This game was written by a Microsoft programmer (it has a Bogus Software copyright notice), but who? Uncommon for a Windows game of its time, the graphics are fixed-size bitmaps. Of course it looks better on EGA, where the dice are square and the stones round.

The blue background comes not from the game itself, but from the Windows color setting. It has the color of the application background, a property introduced Windows 2.0. In Windows 1.0, instead the window background applies, which is, of course, by default white.

Recidive Break & Puzzle

A small Breakout and a tile puzzle, probably from France. The tile puzzle gives you a choice between numbers and four ladies (Madonna, for some reason, is not available from the menu, only when you start the game), and two game modes: you can either slide the tiles, or pick them up and place them freely. The program can also take a screenshot and use that as a graphic.

These games were designed with EGA/Hercules in mind, the puzzle has square tiles on these adapters. They need 2.0 and will crash 1.0 immediately. They will run in 3.0 and 3.1.

Risk

This game has no about screen, but it is obviously an early version of Andrew Krois' Risk, which got published three years later as an official license under the Azeroth label. While the graphics were improved, the interface stayed pretty much the same.

1989

Tetris for Windows

Tetris for Windows by Dave Edson later became part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows. Like Klotz, it runs on everything from 2.0 to XP, but not on 1.0.

ChessNet

A chess board for two players by Design Track and Jack Lerner. Can be played over modem.

Solitaire!

Though it looks slightly different, Kevin McFarland's Solitaire! is good old Klondike, as it would become a part of Windows from 3.0 on.

Starbase

Starbase was probably the first implementation of Missile Command for Windows, several others would follow.

Backgammon

By John H. Burrows.

XWord

1990

Klotz

Wolfgang Strobl developed his Klotz over seven years. He originally wrote it in spring 1989 for his own education in Windows programming. The first public distribution was over comp.windows.ms in February 1990.

Klotz 2.11a, which you see on that screenshot, runs on every Windows version from 2.0 to XP, but not on 1.0. See how that color gradient looks under different versions and desktop settings.

Lucas's Problem

This is a puzzle invented by French mathematician Edouard Lucas. It has been implemented a few times, for example by Brian Boese as Switch 'Em on the Commodore 64. This Windows program is by James M. Curran. He updated it for Windows 3.0 as Lucas's Problem 2.0.

MisterMind

Another game by James M. Curran, probably the first Mastermind for Windows, many others would follow. The playing field itself is actually a seperate window, on 95 and later it will have a dead [x] button. Like Lucas's Problem, there is an updated version of MisterMind for Windows 3.0.

Checkers

Gregory Thatcher's Checkers is one of the few games that actually run on every Windows version from 1.0 to XP.

Backgammon

George Sutty's Backgammon is another one.

Moku

I haven't tested WarpSpeed Computers' Moku on 1.0, but it runs on anything from 2.x to XP. The default colors don't look very good in Windows 3.0 or later, but you can configure them freely—Windows 1/2 style, with sliders!

Pente

Darrell Plank's Pente, too, runs on anything from 2.x to XP. While the size of the board is dependent on the window size, the fields are always square.