The most popular 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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In the Dead of Night
DOS19953.8/5 Trecision
Joust VGA
DOS1990remake4.4/5
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1996freeware4.1/5
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake3.7/5 ChamProgramming corp.
Lost Adventures of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.3/5 Apogee Software
Monopoly
DOS19853.9/5
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.7/5 Apogee Software
In Search of Dr. Riptide
DOS19943.7/5 MindStorm Software
Capture the Flag
DOS19932.5/5
King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table
DOS19943.3/5 MVP Software
Xixit
DOS19954/5 Optik Software
Exile III: Ruined World
Windows XP/98/95MacWindows 3.x1997freeware3.9/5 Spiderweb Software
EGA Trek
DOS1988remake3.3/5
Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software
Galactix
DOS19923.3/5 Cygnus Studios
Realms of Chaos
DOSMacLinux1995protected4/5 Apogee Software
Defender of Boston: The Rock Island Mystery
DOS19923.2/5
Return to Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.1/5 Apogee Software
Major Stryker
DOSWindows XP/98/951993freeware4/5 Apogee Software
Cap Man
Windows XP/98/9519993.7/5
Bass Tour
DOS19924/5
Skyroads: Xmas Special
DOS1994freeware3.4/5 Bluemoon Interactive
Slicks 'n' Slide
DOS19934.1/5
Electranoid
DOS19954.1/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
Clyde's Revenge
DOS1995freeware3/5 Moonlite Software
Tubular Worlds
DOS19943.5/5
Boppin
DOS1994freeware4/5 Accursed Toys
Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare
DOS1994protected3.9/5 Epic MegaGames
Moraff's Dungeon of the Unforgiven
DOS19933.9/5 Moraffware
Kingdom of Kroz 2
DOS19903.2/5 Apogee Software