21

Released in 1982, 21 is a simple PC game inspired by its real-life namesake. This card-based game requires strategy and falls into the simulation category.
As simple as its name sounds, the graphic is also plain, simple, and monochromatic. It follows the pattern of highly pixelated 1982 games but that doesn’t mean it has little to offer. Set like Blackjack, the players start each round with a single bet, which is displayed on the screen. Players compete against a computer dealer, both aiming to play the highest hand without exceeding 21. Like a real card game, both the computer and the player must wait their turn and strategize how they are going to deal the highest hand without exceeding the limit. Players have the option to stand, hit, split, surrender, or double. It even allows players to get an insurance bet if the computer plays an upturned ace. All of this is depicted on the black screen that serves as the table and black and white card images with numbers, clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Although simplistic, it requires thinking and planning to win and it can be a great form of practice for real-life Blackjack.
21 was developed in the United States by PCC Inc. in 1982, and for the technology of its time, it has some detailed statistics at the end of the game if players lose. This abandon ware might seem like retro freestyle and solitaire from its looks, but it definitely brought to the computer game players what was considered one of the best card games of the 70s and 80s.

What is abandonware ?