Copying the filesįor this first example, we'll use the original shareware version of Doom. DOS games and applications can be installed using a variety of methods, so this can be the trickiest part if you've never used DOS before (or if it has been a while).

Once you've opened Magic Dosbox and finished the initial setup, it's time to install a game. It organizes your games on a shelf, so you don't have to run them from the command line (like with regular DOSBox), and there are tons of options for speed, hardware, and controls. The only actively-developed DOS emulator for Android/Chrome OS at the moment is Magic Dosbox, which is not only still receiving major updates, but is also an excellent application in general. My personal favorite for years was DosBox Turbo by Fishstix, but it hasn't been updated since October 2015, and there are reports of the keyboard and other functions not working on newer versions of Android. There are a few DOSBox ports for Android, but most of them have been abandoned.

The first step is, obviously, to pick an emulator. Unless you want to play games that generally only require a mouse, you will probably need a device with a physical keyboard (Chromebook, 2-in-1 tablet) or an Android-compatible controller to have fun with DOS games. Even though the recommended emulator in this guide (Magic Dosbox) does have support for on-screen controls, they don't work well, and usually have to be customized for each game. DOS games were designed to be used with keyboards, mice, and/or joysticks.

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