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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Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware3.6/5 Apogee Software
Kingdom of Kroz 2
DOS19903.2/5 Apogee Software
EGA-Roids
DOS1986freewareremake3.7/5 Designer Software
Night Raid
DOS1992remake3.8/5 Argo Games
8088 Othello
DOS19853.5/5
Ack-Ack Attack!
DOS1995remake4.2/5 PLBM Games
Meteor Mission
DOS19953.5/5
Redhook's Revenge
DOS19933.3/5 ImagiSoft
Moraff's Dungeon of the Unforgiven
DOS19933.9/5 Moraffware
Alice in Wonderland
DOS19893.3/5
3D Cyber Blaster
DOS1992remake4.2/5 HomeBrew Software
Stargunner
DOS19964/5 GT Interactive Software
Dungeons of Kairn
DOS19893.6/5
Monuments of Mars
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1991freeware3.3/5 Scenerio Software
Chain Reaction
DOS19964.1/5 Webfoot Technologies
Castle Elsinore
DOS19923.5/5 Temple Software
Batalia
DOS19862.8/5 The Right Brothers
Borderworld
DOS19963.3/5 Midlothian Software
Bomb Run
DOS19912.7/5 PC Solutions
Armchair Quarterback
DOS19854.1/5
Space Miner
DOS19833.5/5
Joyous Rebel
DOS1996freeware4.1/5
Super Battleship
DOS19883.3/5
Reaping The Dungeon
DOS19934/5 Frontline Software
Round 42
DOS19862.7/5
Epic Baseball
DOS19953.8/5 MicroLeague Multimedia
Flightmare
DOS1984freeware3.6/5
Bolo Ball
DOS19923.3/5 Soleau Software
Mission: Mainframe
DOS19873.9/5
Beyond the Titanic
DOS19863.8/5 Apogee Software