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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Epic Pinball
DOSMac OS1993protected Digital Extremes
Exile III: Ruined World
Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1997freeware Spiderweb Software
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1996freeware
Subhunt
DOS1997
Traffic department 2192
DOS1994freeware P Squared
Monopoly
DOS1985
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS1996 AcademySoft
Exile II: Crystal Souls
Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1996freeware Spiderweb Software
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake ChamProgramming corp.
Ant Attack!
DOS1994freeware Dataware
EGA-Roids
DOS1986freewareremake Designer Software
In Search of Dr. Riptide
DOS1994 MindStorm Software
Inner Worlds
DOSLinux1996 Sleepless Software
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
AlphaMan
DOS1995
Ancients 1: Deathwatch
DOS1991 Farr-Ware Software
Kingdom of Kroz
DOS1988freeware Apogee Software
Moraff's Morejongg
Windows XP/98/951992 Moraffware
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 complex rooms filled with traps, puzzles, and enemies. The game is divided into three episodes, each one unraveling more of t...
Xargon
DOS1993freeware Epic MegaGames
Catacomb Abyss
DOS1992protected Softdisk Publishing
Shooting Gallery
DOS1990 Arcanum Computing
Sango Fighter
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1993freeware Panda Entertainment Technology Co.
Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
Dungeons of Kroz
DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
Flightmare
DOS1984freeware
Galactix
DOS1992 Cygnus Studios
Assault Trooper
DOS1997 Webfoot Technologies
Borderworld
DOS1996 Midlothian Software
Capture the Flag
DOS1993