Some might ask, why play games on a graphing calculator with rudimentary graphics and no sound, when there are superior portable gaming options these days? That’s like asking a mountain climber why he climbs Mt Everest when there are easier mountains to climb. The climber will answer: because it is there. Thus we program and play TI-83 games because we can. Some do it for the sheer rush of subverting a learning tool for gaming purposes, while others revel in the gloriousunion between serious math and utter frivolity.

The TI-83 (including the TI-83+ and TI-83+ SE) is one of the most criminally overlooked gaming platforms in all of so-called games journalism, and its gaming powers aren’t just limited to the RPGs we’re covering today. For more TI resources, including basic tutorials and game downloads, head toticalc.org.

And for the record, this article’s affiliation with GamesRadar’s so-called “Week of Geek” is tenuous at best, since the broad appeal of TI-83 gaming is undeniable.

5) DRUG WARS



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While not truly among the top five TI-83 RPGs of all time (other serious RPGs like The Verdante Forest or Shadow of Narkemen are technically superior), Drug Wars must be included here simply because it’s the quintessential TI-83 experience that everyone who’s anyone with a TI graphing calculator has played. As the drug dealer protagonist, your goal is simply to buy and sell enough drugs to pay off your loan from the loan shark with some cool change to spare.

Drug Wars has spawned many variations and clones, including Dope Wars, Drug Lord, Hobo Wars, Whore Wars, Nerd Wars and so forth. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for DS even features aversionof Drug Wars in the form of a persistent, interactive drug-based economy where the player must smuggle limited inventory while balancing a risk-to-reward ratio.