Play Elite online — the original 1987 DOS game Works — the full original game runs via DOSBox in your browser
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via DOSBox + WebAssembly
Elite — David Braben and Ian Bell's open-ended space game, in its 1987 PC version. You start with 100 credits, a Cobra Mk III and a galaxy of eight charts; trade between planets, fight pirates, take bounties, and work your rating up from Harmless to Elite. Click Play and press a key at the rotating ships.
1–5: menu choices · Y / N: answer · ENTER: confirm · SPACE: continue
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| Pitch / roll | Arrow keys (or S X < >) |
| Fire laser | A |
| Speed up / down | Space / ? |
| Hyperspace | H |
| Docking computer | C |
| Market and status | F1–F10 |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
Elite is no longer sold anywhere, and its publisher is gone or has left it unsold for decades. It is hosted here on the same footing as the Internet Archive's software collections. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. This page carries no advertising. Provenance: /apps/elite/NOTICE.md. Rights holders: it comes down within 48 hours on request.
About Elite
Elite fitted thousands of procedurally generated star systems into a 1984 home computer, and the PC version brought the same game to CGA. Docking with the rotating space station is the first test everyone remembers; save up for a docking computer if you keep crashing. Trading routes between agricultural and industrial worlds pay steadily, and illegal goods pay more but attract the police.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of Elite, unmodified, running in DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly. The whole game is about 1 MB, so it starts within seconds on a normal connection. Sound and music play once you click into the game.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Elite online for free?
Yes. Click Play and the original 1987 DOS version starts in your browser, running in a WebAssembly build of DOSBox. Nothing to install and no account.
Why is Elite hosted here?
Elite is not sold anywhere today; we checked the stores listed in its provenance note. It is preserved here the way the Internet Archive preserves old software. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. If the rights holder (Ian Bell and David Braben) asks, it comes down within 48 hours.
Does my progress save?
Saved games persist in this browser between visits, best-effort. Clearing site data removes them.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Touch buttons for the keys Elite uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
Related guides
- Tyrian 2000The legendary vertical shooter Tyrian 2000, released as freeware, playable in a browser ta
- SopwithPlay the original Sopwith in your browser: David Clark's 1984 side-scrolling biplane game.
- CivilizationPlay Sid Meier's original Civilization in your browser: the 1991 DOS game. Grow from a set
- Run your own DOS gameHave another DOS game on disk? Drop it into the DOS player.
Want a game like this on your own site?
Elite isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.