The best shareware games
Shareware is a type of software distribution model that allows users to try a program before purchasing it. It's a marketing strategy and distribution method that was particularly popular in the early days of personal computing, primarily during the 1980s and 1990s.
Shareware games were released for free with limited functionality (for example: no saving, missing levels, time limit), often via a BBS (Bulletin Board System), a floppy disc or a CD included in a printed magazine or by direct download (when internet was in its infancy). If the user liked the shareware product, they could pay to obtain an upgrade and unlock the full game. When digital distribution started to become popular, shareware games slowly faded into oblivion.
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Temple of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.8/5 Apogee Software
Epic Pinball
DOSMac1993protected3.7/5 Digital Extremes
Traffic department 2192
DOS1994freeware3.7/5 P Squared
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS19963.7/5 AcademySoft
Shooting Gallery
DOS19903.7/5 Arcanum Computing
Ant Attack!
DOS1994freeware3.7/5 Dataware
EGA-Roids
DOS1986freewareremake3.7/5 Designer Software
In Search of Dr. Riptide
DOS19943.7/5 MindStorm Software
Inner Worlds
DOSLinux19963.7/5 Sleepless Software
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.7/5 Apogee Software
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake3.7/5 ChamProgramming corp.
Cap Man
Windows XP/98/9519993.7/5
Catacomb Abyss
DOS1992protected3.7/5 Softdisk Publishing
Kingdom of Kroz
DOS1988freeware3.7/5 Apogee Software
Battlestar
Windows 3.x1996freeware3.7/5
Moraff's Revenge
DOS19883.7/5 Moraffware
AlphaMan
DOS19953.6/5
Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware3.6/5 Apogee Software
Dungeons of Kroz
DOS1989freeware3.6/5 Apogee Software
Flightmare
DOS1984freeware3.6/5
Dungeons of Kairn
DOS19893.6/5
Legend of the Red Dragon
DOS19893.5/5 Robinson Technologies
Sango Fighter
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1993freeware3.5/5 Panda Entertainment Technology Co.
Assault Trooper
DOS19973.5/5 Webfoot Technologies
Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software
Hugo 2: Whodunit?
DOS1991protecteddemo3.5/5 Gray Design Associates
Hugo 2: Whodunit? is an old school graphic adventure game designed by David P. Gray, developed by Gray Design Associates and released in 1991 for MS-DOS only. Hugo 2: Whodunit? is the second installment of the Hugo game series.
Ken's Labyrinth
DOS1993freeware3.5/5
Moraff's World
DOS19913.5/5 Moraffware
Tubular Worlds
DOS19943.5/5
Castle Elsinore
DOS19923.5/5 Temple Software