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Can you play the classic Prince of Persia in your browser? Partial — not the DOS original; the free SDLPoP port is the realistic path

Guide updated July 2026 · Runs via Wine 1.7.55 (Win32) + WebAssembly · Requires your own copy

Yes, you can relive the wall-running, sword-fighting, one-hour countdown of the original Prince of Persia in a browser — but let's be straight about how, because the obvious route doesn't work. The 1989/1990 classic is a DOS game, and ExeBrowser runs Win32 programs (Wine 1.7.55 on a WebAssembly x86 emulator). A raw DOS PRINCE.EXE has no Windows to talk to here, so it won't simply boot. The original is also a commercial Ubisoft-owned title, so it isn't ours to hand you. The realistic, honest, fully-legal path is SDLPoP — a faithful open-source (GPLv3) reimplementation of the DOS game that ships as a Win32 EXE and includes free game data. Below we explain exactly what to expect, and why even that comes with caveats.

Runs in your browser tab with WebAssembly + Wine — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Esc to release the mouse.

Read this before you hunt for a download. The original Prince of Persia (1989 Apple II, 1990 MS-DOS) is a commercial game published by Brøderbund; the franchise is owned today by Ubisoft. Jordan Mechner released the original Apple II source code for study, but that grant explicitly does not give anyone the right to copy or distribute the game itself. So we do not host the game here. If you want the genuine article, buy the legitimate re-release — it is sold on GOG and Steam (search "Prince of Persia"). The free, legal way to play the classic gameplay is the open-source SDLPoP reimplementation described below. Please don't grab "abandonware" rips — the game is still being sold.

How it works & what to expect

Why the original DOS game won't just run here

This trips a lot of people up, so here it is plainly. The classic Prince of Persia is an MS-DOS program from 1990. ExeBrowser's engine is Wine — it implements the Windows API, not DOS. When you hand Wine a 16-bit DOS executable like PRINCE.EXE, there is no DOS environment underneath it, so it typically refuses to start or exits immediately. That's not a bug in your file; it's simply the wrong kind of program for this tool.

The right tool for the unmodified DOS original is a DOS emulator such as DOSBox. ExeBrowser is for Windows .exe files. So if your goal is the byte-for-byte 1990 release, you want a DOSBox-based setup (and a legally purchased copy from GOG, where it's pre-packaged with DOSBox), not this page.

The realistic path: SDLPoP, the open-source reimplementation

SDLPoP is a beloved, actively-maintained, open-source (GPLv3) port built from a disassembly of the DOS game, with Jordan Mechner's blessing for the community effort. It plays exactly like the classic — same levels, same physics, same 60-minute clock — but as a modern, cross-platform program. Crucially for legality, the standard SDLPoP release bundles free game data, so it runs standalone without any commercial files. It ships a Windows build (prince.exe), which means it's a Win32 program ExeBrowser can attempt to run.

We don't host it for you (it's not our binary to redistribute pre-configured, and it updates often), but it's a one-click download from the project. Grab the Windows release, unzip the whole folder (the EXE needs its data/ directory and SDL DLLs beside it), then use “Load your own copy → a folder” in the player above and pick that unzipped folder.

What to expect — and the honest caveat

Here's where we won't overpromise. SDLPoP is built on SDL and leans on hardware-accelerated rendering. Boxedwine's graphics support is limited and software-driven, so SDL-based games are hit-or-miss: some boot to a playable (if slow) window, others throw a renderer error or show a black screen. Combine that with the x86-on-WebAssembly speed penalty (~10–40% of native) and you may get choppy frames. The good news is that Prince of Persia is a tiny, low-resolution game, so when it does render it often stays playable.

If SDLPoP refuses to start, it's worth trying the r18 Wine variant (an older Boxedwine engine that sometimes succeeds where the default crashes) before giving up. There's no guarantee — this is firmly a “try it and see” title, which is why we mark it partial rather than promising it works.

What you actually runSDLPoP (open-source Win32 build), not the commercial DOS original
Best Wine variantdefault; if it crashes, try r18
Game dataSDLPoP ships free data — no commercial files needed
Expected resultHit-or-miss: SDL rendering may or may not initialize under Boxedwine
The DOS originalWon't run here (it's DOS, not Win32); use DOSBox + a legit copy

Step by step (SDLPoP)

  1. Download the latest Windows release from the SDLPoP releases page.
  2. Unzip the whole archive on your computer — keep prince.exe, the data/ folder, and the SDL DLLs together in one folder.
  3. Click ▶ Play above, then choose Load your own copy → a folder and select that unzipped SDLPoP folder.
  4. The player will pick prince.exe as the entry point; click Run in Wine.
  5. If it boots: arrow keys move, Shift grabs ledges / draws sword, ↑ jumps. If it errors or shows black, retry with the r18 variant.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play the original Prince of Persia online for free with no download?

Not the genuine 1990 DOS original — that's a commercial Ubisoft-owned game, and it's a DOS program that doesn't run under ExeBrowser's Windows engine anyway. What you can play for free and legally is SDLPoP, an open-source reimplementation that includes free game data. You download SDLPoP (one click) and load its folder here; whether it renders depends on Boxedwine's limited SDL support.

Why won't the DOS PRINCE.EXE start in the browser here?

Because it's a DOS executable, not a Windows one. ExeBrowser runs Wine, which implements the Windows API — there's no DOS layer underneath, so a raw DOS game like the original Prince of Persia has nothing to run against. For the unmodified DOS original you'd use a DOSBox-based setup instead.

Is it legal to play Prince of Persia on ExeBrowser?

Playing the free, open-source SDLPoP port is completely legal — it's GPLv3 and ships its own free data. The original commercial game is owned by Ubisoft and isn't free to copy; we don't host it, and we'd steer you to buy it on GOG or Steam rather than grab an abandonware rip.

Didn't Jordan Mechner release the source code? Doesn't that make it free?

Mechner released the original Apple II source code for people to study and learn from — and that's wonderful — but he was explicit that it does not grant any rights to make or distribute Prince of Persia itself; that's Ubisoft's franchise. The community port SDLPoP is the freely-distributable way to actually play, because it's an independent GPLv3 codebase with its own free data.

Will SDLPoP definitely work in ExeBrowser?

No guarantees, which is why this page is marked partial. SDLPoP uses SDL and hardware rendering, and Boxedwine's graphics support is limited and software-only, so it may launch fine, run slowly, or fail to initialize the display. It's worth trying the default variant first, then the r18 variant if that crashes. The game itself is tiny, so when it renders it's often playable.

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