Door games are the multiplayer games people played on bulletin board systems, a few turns a day, against everyone else who called the same board. You can still play them three ways: on a telnet BBS running the originals, in a DOS emulator, or on a browser-based board with modern versions built in.
What is a door game?
A BBS could hand a caller off to an outside program and take them back when it finished. Sysops called this opening a door, and the programs became known as doors. Most doors were games.
A few things made them different from other games of the time:
- Shared world. Every caller on the board played in the same game.
- Daily turns. You got a fixed number of moves each day, then had to wait until tomorrow.
- Taking turns in time. A dial-up board often had one phone line, so players rarely overlapped. You acted, logged off, and found out the next day what everyone else had done to you.
- Leaderboards. Your handle sat on a public ranking that the whole board could see.
Why daily turns worked
Limits created the hook. Ten forest fights a day in an RPG meant every fight mattered, and it meant you came back tomorrow. Because everyone had the same limits, a player with one spare hour could not bury a player with ten minutes.
It also made games social. You logged in to find that a rival had attacked you overnight, so you left a taunt on the board and planned your revenge. Modern mobile games rediscovered energy timers and daily rewards decades later. Door games had them first.
The classics
Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD). Seth Robinson's fantasy RPG from 1989. You fight monsters in the forest, level up by beating your master, flirt at the inn, and try to slay the Red Dragon. It also let you attack other players while they slept, which caused endless board drama.
TradeWars 2002. A space trading and combat game. You haul cargo between ports, map sectors, build up a ship, and eventually form corporations and wage war on other players. Many sysops called it the reason their phone line stayed busy.
Solar Realms Elite and Barren Realms Elite. Empire strategy games from Amit Patel and Mehul Patel. You manage a realm's economy and military and attack other players. Barren Realms Elite added leagues where entire boards fought each other.
Global War. A world-conquest game in the style of the board game Risk, played one turn at a time over days.
Usurper and Operation: Overkill II. A dungeon RPG and a post-apocalyptic adventure, both with loyal followings.
The small doors. Trivia, hangman, casinos, and lotteries. Quick to play, and often the reason people logged in daily.
How to play door games today
On a telnet BBS
Hundreds of hobbyist boards still run the original games. Install a terminal program such as SyncTERM, find a board in the Telnet BBS Guide, create an account, and look for the doors menu.
This is the most authentic route. You get the real games with real opponents. You also need a terminal program and some patience with 1990s menus.
In a DOS emulator
Some abandonware sites run old doors in a browser-based DOS emulator. It works for a look at the original screens. The catch is that you are usually playing alone, and a door game without other players is missing its point.
On a browser-based BBS
This is the easy route. EchoBBS boards run in a normal web page and come with door games built in, so each board's callers play against each other. Nothing to install, and it works on a phone.
The lineup includes:
- A LORD-style fantasy RPG with a forest, an inn, a bank, and a dragon.
- A TradeWars-style space trader.
- Global War, a Risk-style conquest game.
- An empire game in the Barren Realms tradition, on a weekly cycle.
- Trivia, hangman, a casino, and a lottery the sysop draws.
- Dungeon of Yendor, a daily roguelike. Each board gets a different dungeon every day, and scores feed a shared leaderboard across all boards.
Browse every door game on EchoBBS.
Every door shows how many turns you have left today and keeps its leaderboard on screen. When you run out, you come back tomorrow, the way it was meant to work.
To play, pick a board from the board directory, or drop into echobbs.com/b/bnt, join, and press D for doors.
Run door games for your own group
Door games are better with people you know. A leaderboard full of strangers is a list. A leaderboard with your friends on it is a grudge.
If you have a clan, a club, or a group chat that has gone quiet, a board with a few doors gives it a pulse. You can start a BBS in a few minutes, switch on the games you want, and send the link around. For gaming groups in particular, see BBS vs Discord.
Frequently asked questions
What does door game mean?
A door was an external program launched from a BBS. The board opened a door to the program and the caller stepped through. Most doors were games, so the name stuck.
Can I play Legend of the Red Dragon in a browser?
You can play the original on telnet boards or through DOS emulation sites. For a browser-native take, EchoBBS boards include a LORD-style RPG that you play against the board's other callers.
Are door games multiplayer?
Yes, though usually not at the same moment. Players take their turns separately and share one world and one leaderboard.
Why do door games limit turns?
Originally, to share a single phone line among many callers. The limit also keeps the game fair and gives everyone a reason to return each day.
What were the most popular door games?
Legend of the Red Dragon, TradeWars 2002, Barren Realms Elite, Solar Realms Elite, Global War, and Usurper were among the best known.