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[Thief^]

I have an 8 MHz 8086-CPU PC (Amstrad 5086), with original keyboard, but not original monitor or mouse unfortunately (though thankfully (and surprisingly) it is compatible with modern VGA monitors and PS2 mice). It has 640kB ram and 256kB VGA, 20MB (I think) hdd, and Windows 3.0 (it can't support 3.1). I have a working serial link to my laptop which I have successfully transferred files over, and an ethernet card on order (10-base-t transceiver has already arrived, and I already have the packet driver software and TCP/IP stack needed. I also have an 8087 floating-point coprocessor on order. The cpu is not socketed IIRC, so an upgrade to the much more powerful NEC v30 is not possible, at least without soldering (which I'm not willing to do, although I do have one).

I have found a working C/C++ compiler for it (OpenWatcom v2).

What should I make it do? Keep in mind it can manage an absolute maximum of 0.66 MIPS according to online data, so anything computationally expensive is out of the question. The TCP stack tops out at 150 kB/sec according to benchmarks online, and I'm not willing to run it 24/7, so it won't be being a webserver, sorry.

What games from the era should I try on it? Most of the classics are out, as they tend to need at least a 286 or 386 cpu. For example, Doom, Command and Conquer, Warcraft... all far too new.

Here's a complete list of games it should be able to run: Mobygames 8086 games list

It will have a telnet client, so maybe it can remotely play Dwarf Fortress

[DreamThorn]

I'm not entirely sure how accurate that list is, since it contains The Secret of Monkey Island.

But, if I accept the list, I remember some games that I played and/or enjoyed:

The Secret of Monkey Island
Sid Meier's Civilization
Eye of the Beholder
SimCity
SimEarth
Space Quest
Star Control
Kingdom of Kroz
Castles
Captain Comic (They list the first one under A as "The Adventures of Captain Comic", but the second one is at C)
Commander Keen
Monuments of Mars

And that's just a small sampling.

For some reason they don't have Master of Orion on that list.
 

[Thief^]

Some of the games may well be miscategorised, for example only the later Commander Keen games are on that list, as the earlier ones are down as needing a 286 or higher. This suggests the later ones may just be miscategorised.

The Secret of Monkey Island is listed as needing an 8086 minimum, or a 286 for the CD release. That one's possibly legit.

[Thief^]

I have so far got the following games to try:
Elite
Eye of the Beholder
Hero Quest
SimCity
Civilization
Arkanoid
Golden Axe (great game)
Ninja Gaiden II
Alley Cat (one of the first games I ever played)
Xenon 2 Megablast (loved this one when I was younger)
Police Quest
Prince of Persia
Sopwith
Battle Chess

I'm looking for the following still:
Kings Quest / Space Quest
The Secret of Monkey Island

I remember Test Drive from when I was a kid, but as I thought it was bad at the time I'm not sure I want to try it now!

[Reelya]

Try the early Ultimas too. Ultima IV used to run on C64's and Apple II's so should be a safe bet for an 8086.

I did originally run Eye of the Beholder on an Amstrad PC1640, which was also based on an 8Mhz 8086, so that's a definite go. The SSI Gold box games should also run pretty well. PoolRad series, Knight of Krynn, and the two Buck Rogers games might be worth a look.

Also, someone ported Wolf3D to run on 8086 instruction set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7gW5X24ao
By my god, does it load slow.

[Thief^]

Oh wow, that could be worth a go

EDIT: I've found Ultima IV, although apparently V and VI should also run.

[bucket]

Personal favorites:

ACE
Alter Ego
Apollo 18
Arctic Fox
Bard's Tale
F-15 Strike Eagle
Oregon Trail
M.U.L.E.
Rogue
SubLogic Flight Simulator
Silent Service
Telengard
Vette!
Wizardry

I also have a bunch of Commodore 64 favorites, but I don't know if there are any DOS versions offhand. Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer was the best ever.

[Reelya]

Hmm the original Wasteland would be worth a shot too. I loved King's Bounty on DOS, too. don't know if an 8086 could run it though.

Sort of related, I've been trying to find old dos games which work well with Android / DosBox Turbo (one of the few I've found that works well with touchscreen). So far, Eye of the Beholder works really great with that, though i had to set leftclick to double-tap and rightclick to single-tap to make combat bearable. I'm going to see if I can take a party through all three EOB games on my tablet.

[Thief^]

Woo my network card and 8087 coprocessor have arrived!

Now to figure out which (if any) of the 8 IRQs in this PC are free...