Shareware: a business model
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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Legend of the Silver Talisman
DOS1996freeware Inter-Active Arts
LineWars
DOS1990 Safari Software
LineWars 2
DOS1994 Safari Software
Lost Adventures of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
Major Stryker
DOSWindows XP/98/951993freeware Apogee Software
Mario Bros VGA
DOS1990remake
Mario Bros VGA is a fan made remake of the original Mario Bros by Nintendo, the game that popularized the character of Mario, the Italian plumber that first appeared in Donkey Kong. Mario Bros VGA is a fixed-screen platform arcade...
Megapede
DOS1992
Meteor Mission
DOS1995
Mission: Mainframe
DOS1987
Monopoly
DOS1985
Monster Bash
DOS1993protected Apogee Software
Monuments of Mars
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1991freeware Scenerio Software
Moraff's Dungeon of the Unforgiven
DOS1993 Moraffware
Moraff's Morejongg
Windows XP/98/951992 Moraffware
Moraff's Revenge
DOS1988 Moraffware
Moraff's World
DOS1991 Moraffware
Night Raid
DOS1992remake Argo Games
Nitemare 3D
DOSWindows 3.x1994protected Gray Design Associates
Nitemare 3D is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by David P. Gray under the Gray Design Associates label. It was released in 1994 as a follow-up to the earlier adventure games in the "Hugo" series. The...
One Must Fall 2097
DOS1994freeware Diversions Entertainment
One Must Fall: 2097 is a fighting game released in 1994 by Epic MegaGames. Set in a futuristic world, the game features giant humanoid robots known as HARs (Human-Assisted Robots) controlled by human pilots. The storyline revolves...
One-Nil Soccer Manager
DOS1992 New Era Software
One-Nil Soccer Manager is a text-based soccer management simulation game that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed for various home computer systems, including DOS, Commodore 64 and Amiga. In One-Ni...
Othello
DOS1986
OverKill
DOS1992freeware Tech-Noir
Paganitzu
DOS1991protected Apogee Software
Paganitzu is a classic puzzle-adventure game released in 1991 by Apogee Software. Set in an ancient pyramid, the game follows the exploits of its protagonist, Alabama Smith, who must navigate through a series of increasingly compl...
Pharaoh's Tomb
DOS1990 Micro F/X Software
Quake
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protecteddemo id software
Quake is a first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by id Software and released in 1996. It is the successor to id Software's immensely popular "Doom" series and is known for its groundbreaking 3D graphics, fast-paced gamep...
Radix: Beyond the Void
DOS1995
Raptor: Call of the Shadows
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1994protecteddemo Cygnus Studios
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software. The game was first released in 1994 for MS-DOS and later ported to other platforms. In Rap...
Realms of Chaos
DOSMac OSLinux1995protected Apogee Software
Reaping The Dungeon
DOS1993 Frontline Software
Redhook's Revenge
DOS1993 ImagiSoft