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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Tubular Worlds
DOS19943.5/5
LineWars
DOS19904/5 Safari Software
Major Stryker
DOSWindows XP/98/951993freeware4/5 Apogee Software
Azalta: Cult of the Raven
DOS19963.9/5
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS19963.7/5 AcademySoft
OverKill
DOS1992freeware3.9/5 Tech-Noir
Joust VGA
DOS1990remake4.4/5
8088 Othello
DOS19853.6/5
Ack-Ack Attack!
DOS1995remake4.2/5 PLBM Games
Ant Attack!
DOS1994freeware3.7/5 Dataware
Beyond the Titanic
DOS19863.8/5 Apogee Software
Hexxagon
DOS19934.1/5 Argo Games
CHAMP Kong
DOS1996remake4/5 ChamProgramming corp.
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.7/5 Apogee Software
Xenophage: Alien BloodSport
DOS1996freeware3.9/5 Argo Games
Aldo Again
DOS1989remake3.8/5
EGA-Roids
DOS1986freewareremake3.7/5 Designer Software
Boppin
DOS1994freeware4/5 Accursed Toys
Super ZZT
DOS19923.3/5 Epic MegaGames
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake3.7/5 ChamProgramming corp.
3D Cyber Blaster
DOS1992remake4.2/5 HomeBrew Software
Xatax
DOS19944/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
Electranoid
DOS19954.3/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
LineWars 2
DOS19944/5 Safari Software
Secret Agent: The Escape
DOS19963.8/5 PhreAk Software
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1996freeware4.1/5
Legend of the Red Dragon
DOS19893.5/5 Robinson Technologies
Slicks 'n' Slide
DOS19934.2/5
Monopoly
DOS19853.8/5
Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software