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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Hugo 2: Whodunit?

DOS1991protecteddemo3.5/5 Gray Design Associates

Hugo 2: Whodunit? is an old school graphic adventure game designed by David P. Gray, developed by Gray Design Associates and released in 1991 for MS-DOS only. Hugo 2: Whodunit? is the second installment of the Hugo game series.

Ken's Labyrinth

DOS1993freeware3.5/5

Moraff's World

DOS19913.5/5 Moraffware

Tubular Worlds

DOS19943.5/5

Castle Elsinore

DOS19923.5/5 Temple Software

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

Borderworld

DOS19963.3/5 Midlothian Software

Galactix

DOS19923.3/5 Cygnus Studios

Monster Bash

DOS1993protected3.3/5 Apogee Software

Monuments of Mars

DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1991freeware3.3/5 Scenerio Software

Nitemare 3D

DOSWindows 3.x1994protected3.3/5 Gray Design Associates

Nitemare 3D is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by David P. Gray under the Gray Design Associates label. It was released in 1994 as a follow-up to the earlier adventure games in the "Hugo" series. The protagonist, Hugo, embarks on a mission to rescue his girlfriend, Penelope, who has been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Hame...