“It’s unclear how Sopwith escaped to the general public.” – Unsung

Sopwith, a 1984 IBM PC biplane game originally made as a trade-show networking demo, is one of the oldest games still in active development. Its modern maintainer Simon Howard created SDL Sopwith, derived directly from the original DOS source code. The project's philosophy document is highlighted for its principled approach: preserve the original gameplay experience, avoid feature creep, and stay true to the game's identity — 4-color CGA graphics, PC speaker sound, and low resolution. The author draws a broader software lesson: it's better to be a great focused app than a mediocre sprawling one.