Play Frontier: Elite II online — the original 1993 DOS game Works — the full original game runs via DOSBox in your browser
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via DOSBox + WebAssembly
Frontier: Elite II — David Braben's 1993 sequel to Elite. The galaxy is the Milky Way at real scale, ships fly by Newtonian physics, and you can land on planets and dock at cities on their surface. Start with a ship and some credits and trade, fight or run missions for the Federation and Empire. Click Play and press 2 at the sound prompt.
1–5: menu choices · Y / N: answer · ENTER: confirm · SPACE: continue
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Steer | Hold the right mouse button and move the mouse | Right-drag |
| Function panels | F1–F10 | Click the icons along the bottom |
| Sound prompt | 2 | — |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
Frontier: Elite II 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/frontier-elite-2/NOTICE.md. Rights holders: it comes down within 48 hours on request.
About Frontier: Elite II
Frontier modelled orbits and gravity properly, so a trip across a star system means accelerating, flipping round and braking, usually under time acceleration. The economy, military ranks and missions are far deeper than the original's. It was one of the most ambitious games of its time, and Braben's studio later made Elite Dangerous on the same idea.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of Frontier: Elite II, unmodified, running in DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly. The whole game is about 7 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 Frontier: Elite II online for free?
Yes. Click Play and the original 1993 DOS version starts in your browser, running in a WebAssembly build of DOSBox. Nothing to install and no account.
Why is Frontier: Elite II hosted here?
Frontier: Elite II 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 (David Braben (Frontier Developments)) 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 Frontier: Elite II uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
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Want a game like this on your own site?
Frontier: Elite II 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.