Play Pharaoh's Tomb online — the original 1990 DOS game Works — the full original game runs via DOSBox in your browser
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via DOSBox + WebAssembly
Pharaoh's Tomb — George Broussard's 1990 platform game for Apogee, written before he co-led 3D Realms. Nevada Smith, an archaeologist modelled on Indiana Jones, explores an Egyptian pyramid room by room, finding keys, collecting treasure and dodging traps. Click Play and the first episode starts; all four episodes are included.
D-pad: move · CTRL / ALT: jump and fire · ENTER/ESC: menus
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| Walk | Arrow keys |
| Jump | Space |
| Throw spear | F |
| Save / restore | S / R |
| Pause | P |
| Sound on / off | E |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
Apogee (3D Realms) released Pharaoh's Tomb as freeware in March 2009. Provenance: /apps/pharaohs-tomb/NOTICE.md.
About Pharaoh's Tomb
Each level of Pharaoh's Tomb is one screen, with no scrolling, and the exit opens once you have the keys or treasures it needs. Nevada has no health bar: one touch from an enemy or a trap kills him. Spears are his only weapon and are limited, so you pick your fights. A hundred coins give an extra life and five idols give a bonus. Watch the walls: some fire at you, and the only clue is a small dot. There are four episodes of twenty levels, the first released as shareware. Its sequel is Arctic Adventure.
Tips for getting started
Look for walls with a dot in them before you walk past: those are the ones that shoot. Press S to save before a hard room.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of Pharaoh's Tomb, 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 Pharaoh's Tomb online for free?
Yes. Click Play and the original 1990 DOS version starts in your browser, running in a WebAssembly build of DOSBox. Nothing to install and no account.
Why is Pharaoh's Tomb hosted here?
Apogee (3D Realms) released Pharaoh's Tomb as freeware in March 2009. The original files are hosted unmodified.
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 Pharaoh's Tomb uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
Related guides
- Arctic AdventurePlay Arctic Adventure in your browser: George Broussard's 1991 Apogee platformer. Nevada S
- Monuments of MarsPlay Monuments of Mars in your browser: Todd Replogle's Apogee puzzle-platformer. Jump, sh
- Prince of PersiaPlay the original Prince of Persia in your browser: Jordan Mechner's 1990 DOS game. Sixty
- Alley CatPlay Alley Cat in your browser: Bill Williams' 1984 IBM PC game. Freddy the cat leaps from
- 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?
Pharaoh's Tomb 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.