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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Blake Stone 1: Aliens of Gold

DOS1993protected4.1/5 JAM Productions

Blake Stone 2: Planet Strike

DOS1994protected4.1/5 JAM Productions

Blood

DOS1997protected4.2/5 Monolith Productions

Bolo Ball

DOS19923.3/5 Soleau Software

Bomb Run

DOS19912.7/5 PC Solutions

Boppin

DOS1994freeware4/5 Accursed Toys

Borderworld

DOS19963.3/5 Midlothian Software

Cap Man

Windows XP/98/9519993.7/5

Captain Comic, The Adventures of

DOS1988freeware3.8/5

Capture the Flag

DOS19932.5/5

Castle Elsinore

DOS19923.5/5 Temple Software

Castle of the Winds

Windows 3.x1993freeware4.2/5 SaadaSoft

Castle of the Winds is a fantasy roguelike role-playing game developed by SaadaSoft in the early 1990s. It was designed for Windows 3.x and is notable for being one of the earliest graphical RPGs for that platform. The game features a top-down perspective and incorporates elements of dungeon crawling, exploration, and character development.The game...

Catacomb Abyss

DOS1992protected3.7/5 Softdisk Publishing

Caverns of Kroz

DOS1989freeware3.6/5 Apogee Software

Chain Reaction

DOS19964.1/5 Webfoot Technologies

CHAMP Centipede

DOS1993remake3.7/5 ChamProgramming corp.

CHAMP Kong

DOS1996remake4/5 ChamProgramming corp.

CHAMP Ms. Pac-man

DOS1994remake3.9/5 ChamProgramming corp.

Clyde's Adventure

DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software

Clyde's Revenge

DOS1995freeware3/5 Moonlite Software

Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars

DOS19904.2/5 id software

Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars is a platform video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1990 as shareware for MS-DOS. The game follows the adventures of an eight-year-old genius named Billy Blaze, who uses his homemade spaceship to travel to various alien planets to save the Earth from alien invaders known as V...

Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes

DOS1990protected4/5 id software

Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!

DOS1990protected4.2/5 id software

Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle

DOS1991protected4/5 id software

Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine

DOS1991protected4/5 id software

Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine is a science fiction action oriented platform game designed by Tom Hall, developed by id Software and released by Apogee Software in 1991 for DOS only. Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine is part of the Commander Keen game series, specifically it's the second episode of Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy.