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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8088 Othello
DOS19853.5/5
Meteor Mission
DOS19953.5/5
Space Miner
DOS19833.5/5
Blackstar: Agent of Justice
DOS19953.4/5
Skyroads: Xmas Special
DOS1994freeware3.4/5 Bluemoon Interactive
Arctic Adventure
DOS19913.4/5 Apogee Software
Bolo Ball
DOS19923.3/5 Soleau Software
Borderworld
DOS19963.3/5 Midlothian Software
Galactix
DOS19923.3/5 Cygnus Studios
King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table
DOS19943.3/5 MVP Software
Monster Bash
DOS1993protected3.3/5 Apogee Software
Monuments of Mars
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1991freeware3.3/5 Scenerio Software
Super Battleship
DOS19883.3/5
Death by Backgammon
DOS19903.3/5
Lost Adventures of Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.3/5 Apogee Software
Super ZZT
DOS19923.3/5 Epic MegaGames
Flying Tigers 2
DOS19943.3/5
Alice in Wonderland
DOS19893.3/5
EGA Trek
DOS1988remake3.3/5
Redhook's Revenge
DOS19933.3/5 ImagiSoft
Defender of Boston: The Rock Island Mystery
DOS19923.2/5
Kingdom of Kroz 2
DOS19903.2/5 Apogee Software
The Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian
DOS1992freeware3.2/5 Game Crafters
Amazing Maze
DOS19833.2/5
Return to Kroz
DOS1990freeware3.1/5 Apogee Software
Gateworld
DOS19933.1/5 HomeBrew Software
Aldo's Assault
DOS19913/5
Clyde's Revenge
DOS1995freeware3/5 Moonlite Software
Megapede
DOS19923/5
Batalia
DOS19862.8/5 The Right Brothers