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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Skyroads
DOS1993freeware4.2/5 Bluemoon Interactive
Skyroads: Xmas Special
DOS1994freeware3.4/5 Bluemoon Interactive
Slicks 'n' Slide
DOS19934.1/5
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1996freeware4.1/5
Softporn Adventure
DOS1981freewareNSFW4/5 Sierra On-Line
Solar Winds 2: Galaxy
DOS19933.9/5 Stone Interactive Media
Solar Winds: The Escape
DOS19934.1/5 Stone Interactive Media
Space Miner
DOS19833.5/5
Spacewar
DOS19854.1/5
Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the PDP-1 minicomputer; this is a DOS port, released in 1985.Spacewar! features two spaceships, controlled by players, that ...
Stargunner
DOS19964/5 GT Interactive Software
Super Battleship
DOS19883.3/5
Super ZZT
DOS19923.3/5 Epic MegaGames
Tank Wars
DOS19904.1/5
Temple of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.8/5 Apogee Software
Terminal Velocity
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac1995protected3.9/5 Terminal Reality
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS19963.8/5 AcademySoft
The Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian
DOS1992freeware3.2/5 Game Crafters
The Aethra Chronicles
DOS19943.9/5
The Aethra Chronicles is not a well know fantasy RPG, but it deserves some praise. It was developed by only one person (Micheal Lawrence) and, as the title implies, was intended to be the first volume of a saga. Unfortunately, volume two and three were never made. For a shareware game, Aethra was pretty solid and is still loved by the ones who play...
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.7/5 Apogee Software
Traffic department 2192
DOS1994freeware3.7/5 P Squared
Tubular Worlds
DOS19943.5/5
Tyrian 2000
DOS1999freeware4.1/5 Eclipse Software
Tyrian 2000 is an old DOS science fiction classic shoot'em up, developed by Eclipse Software and designed by Alexander Brandon, Jason Emery, Daniel Cook. Tyrian 2000 is one of the most popular shoot'em ups ever published for DOS and it's still remembered by retro gaming fans to this day.
UnReal World v. 3.20
Windows XP/98/95Mac1992freeware4.1/5
Wolfenstein 3D
DOSMac1992protecteddemo4.1/5 id software
Wolfenstein 3D is the first-person shooter that popularized the whole genre in the early 90s and is considered one of the greatest games ever made. Wolfenstein 3D was designed by John Romero and Tom Hall (id Software) and released as shareware by Apogee Software in 1992 for DOS. Wolfenstein 3D is based on the Wolf3D engine, programmed by John ...
Xargon
DOS1993freeware4/5 Epic MegaGames
Xatax
DOS19944/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
Xenophage: Alien BloodSport
DOS1996freeware3.9/5 Argo Games
Xixit
DOS19954/5 Optik Software
Yendorian Tales: Book I - Chapter 2
DOS19963.8/5 SW Games
Yendorian Tales: The Tyrants of Thaine
DOS19973.9/5 SW Games