Shareware: a business model sorted by release date
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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Epic Baseball
DOS19953.8/5 MicroLeague Multimedia
Escape from delirium
DOS19953.9/5 Virtual X-Perience
Exile: Escape from the Pit
Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1995freeware4/5 Spiderweb Software
Exile: Escape from the Pit is a turn-based role-playing game (RPG) developed by Spiderweb Software. It is part of the Exile series, originally released in the mid-1990s. This game was later remade and re-released as Avernum: Escape from the Pit. The game is set in a massive underground world called Exile, where the Empire banishes criminals, p...
In the Dead of Night
DOS19953.8/5 Trecision
Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom
DOS19953.8/5 Pop Software
Meteor Mission
DOS19953.5/5
Radix: Beyond the Void
DOS19954.1/5
Realms of Chaos
DOSMac OSLinux1995protected4/5 Apogee Software
Terminal Velocity
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS1995protected4/5 Terminal Reality
Xixit
DOS19954/5 Optik Software
Alien Rampage
DOS19964.1/5
Aspetra
DOS19963/5
Azalta: Cult of the Raven
DOS19963.8/5
Battlestar
Windows 3.x1996freeware3.8/5
Borderworld
DOS19963.3/5 Midlothian Software
Chain Reaction
DOS19964.1/5 Webfoot Technologies
CHAMP Kong
DOS1996remake4/5 ChamProgramming corp.
Death Rally
DOS1996freeware4.1/5 Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
Duke Nukem 3D
DOS1996protecteddemo4.2/5 3d Realms
Duke Nukem 3D is a classic first-person shooter that was developed by 3D Realms (formerly known as Apogee Software) and published by GT Interactive. It was released in 1996 for MS-DOS and later for various other platforms, including Windows, Mac OS, and gaming consoles.
Exile II: Crystal Souls
Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1996freeware3.9/5 Spiderweb Software
Inner Worlds
DOSLinux19963.7/5 Sleepless Software
Joyous Rebel
DOS1996freeware4.1/5
Legend of the Silver Talisman
DOS1996freeware3.9/5 Inter-Active Arts
Quake
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protecteddemo4.2/5 id software
Quake is a first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by id Software and released in 1996. It is the successor to id Software's immensely popular "Doom" series and is known for its groundbreaking 3D graphics, fast-paced gameplay, and multiplayer capabilities. The game was created by a team led by John Carmack and John Romero, two of the co-fou...
Secret Agent: The Escape
DOS19963.8/5 PhreAk Software
Seek and Destroy
DOS19964.2/5 Safari Software
Seek and Destroy was a shoot'em up published by the well known Epic Megagames in 1996 that tried to change the usual shoot'em up gameplay for the better. Instead of wave after wave of enemies to shoot down, you are given short missions to accomplish with your helicopter or your tank (yes, you can choose). At first, missions could seem a bit repetit...
Snood
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1996freeware4.1/5
Stargunner
DOS19964/5 GT Interactive Software
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS19963.7/5 AcademySoft
Xenophage: Alien BloodSport
DOS1996freeware3.8/5 Argo Games