Hovertank 3-D came before Catacomb 3-D and before Wolfenstein 3D — making it id Software’s first raycasting game and one of the earliest first-person action games on DOS. Released as freeware in 2014, it offers a raw look at the moment the FPS genre was invented.
About Hovertank 3-D
Developed by id Software and published by Softdisk in April 1991, Hovertank 3-D was John Carmack’s first raycasting engine experiment. You pilot a hover tank through city environments, rescuing civilians while destroying mutants and mechanical enemies. The source code was released by John Carmack in 2014, and the game is now freely available.
Where Catacomb 3-D uses textured walls (barely), Hovertank uses solid color walls — the rawest form of the technology. It runs faster than any subsequent id game as a result.
Gameplay
Hovertank is a rescue mission game: each level requires you to locate and rescue a set number of civilians before the time limit expires, while destroying enemies with your tank’s cannon. The 3D city environments are minimal but atmospheric, and the pace is brisk — levels are short, deaths are fast, and the restart is immediate.
Why It’s Worth Playing
Hovertank 3-D is a curiosity as much as a game — the very first time Carmack proved his raycasting engine concept worked. It is not as playable as Catacomb 3-D or Wolfenstein 3D, but for FPS historians, seeing the technology at its most primitive is genuinely fascinating. It takes about 30 minutes to complete.
How to Download Hovertank 3-D
New to DOSBox? Our complete DOSBox setup guide walks you through everything you need. Looking for more classics? Browse our top free DOS games list.
How to Run with DOSBox
- Extract to
C:\HOVER - In DOSBox:
mount c c:\hover→c: - Run:
HOVERTANK.EXE
Watch Gameplay
You might also like:
