Play Heroes of Might and Magic in Your Browser

The Heroes of Might and Magic series

New World Computing released the first Heroes of Might and Magic in 1995, a turn-based strategy game in which you move heroes across an adventure map, build up towns and fight battles on a separate tactical grid. The 3DO Company bought New World Computing in 1996 and published the next two games: Heroes of Might and Magic II that year and Heroes of Might and Magic III in 1999. Heroes III, with its expansions Armageddon’s Blade and The Shadow of Death, is the one many players still return to.

Ubisoft bought the series after 3DO went bankrupt in 2003 and has published the later games. Fans have kept Heroes III alive in particular, with VCMI, an open-source engine that re-implements the game, and Horn of the Abyss, a large fan-made expansion by HotA Crew.

The browser versions listed here

• Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars in its original PC version, run by js-dos on DOS.Zone.
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: DOS.Zone’s web port of the VCMI engine, with the Restoration of Erathia, Armageddon’s Blade and Shadow of Death campaigns. It isn’t emulation.
• Heroes of Might and Magic III: Horn of the Abyss: the same VCMI port with the fan expansion, adding the Cove and Factory towns, three new campaigns and larger map sizes.

All three open DOS.Zone in a new tab, with nothing to install, no account and no ads.

Which one to try

Start with Heroes III: it’s the best known game in the series, and the VCMI port adds higher resolutions. Once you know it, Horn of the Abyss gives you two new towns and new campaigns to work through. Heroes II is the pick if you want the earlier game as it was in the 1990s. All three are turn-based, so they suit a keyboard and mouse and long sessions. For more strategy, try Master of Magic or Warcraft II.