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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Batalia
DOS1986 The Right Brothers
Batalia (1986) is what happens when war games and spreadsheet programs fall in love. This early DOS strategy title throws you into tactical battles with graphics that would struggle to impress a calculator. But don’t be fool...
CHAMP Kong
DOS1996remake ChamProgramming corp.
Sherlock: The Game of Logic
DOS1991protected Everett Kaser Software
8088 Othello
DOS1985
There’s something oddly poetic about 8088 Othello, a 1985 take on the classic board game that feels like it was programmed by someone who had a personal vendetta against flashy graphics. The visuals are almost nonexistent, t...
Raptor: Call of the Shadows
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1994protecteddemo Cygnus Studios
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software. The game was first released in 1994 for MS-DOS and later ported to other platforms. In Rap...
God of Thunder
DOSWindows XP/98/951993freeware Adept Software
God of Thunder is a classic computer game developed by Adept Software and released in 1993. It's a puzzle platformer with a fantasy theme. In the game, you control Thor, the Norse god of thunder, on a quest to save Midgard (Earth)...
Duke Nukem
DOS1991 Apogee Software
Duke Nukem was released in 1991 by Apogee Software for MS-DOS, marking the beginning of the Duke Nukem franchise. The game is a side-scrolling action platformer with a sci-fi theme. In this original installment, players control Du...
Assault Trooper
DOS1997 Webfoot Technologies
In Assault Trooper, you're the lone soldier with enough ammo to make Rambo blush, dropped behind enemy lines to shoot first and ask “was that a civilian?” later. This 1997 top-down shooter screams “keyboard-mashi...
Xatax
DOS1994 Pixel Painters Corporation
Tetris (Academysoft)
DOS1996 AcademySoft
Bio Menace Episode 1: Dr. Mangle's Lab
DOS1993freeware Apogee Software
Mutants! Explosions! Green slime! Bio Menace kicks off with Dr. Mangle’s Lab, a side-scrolling blast of carnage where you, Snake Logan (yes, really), shoot your way through a monster-infested city with a machine gun and a ba...
Terminal Velocity
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS1995protected Terminal Reality
Amazing Maze
DOS1983
Don’t be fooled by the name—Amazing Maze is more of a slightly-better-than-average maze. But hey, in 1983, navigating a screen full of walls and hoping you guessed right was enough to set hearts racing. It’s just...
Wolfenstein 3D
DOSMac OS1992protecteddemo id software
Wolfenstein 3D is the first-person shooter that popularized the whole genre in the early 90s and is considered one of the greatest games ever made. Wolfenstein 3D was designed by John Romero and Tom Hall (id Software) and released...
Dungeons of Kroz
DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
In Search of Dr. Riptide
DOS1994 MindStorm Software
Duke Nukem 3D
DOS1996protecteddemo 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, includi...
Escape from delirium
DOS1995 Virtual X-Perience
Death Rally
DOS1996freeware Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
Blackstar: Agent of Justice
DOS1995
In Blackstar: Agent of Justice (1995), you play a noir-style detective in a trench coat so dramatic it probably has its own union. Set in a dark, crime-ridden city where everyone talks like they’ve swallowed gravel, it&rsquo...
UnReal World v. 3.20
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS1992freeware
Flying Tigers
DOS1994 Ticsoft
Flying Tigers is an abandoned vertical-scrolling sci-fi themed shoot 'em up game developed and released by Ticsoft in 1994 for MS-DOS only. Flying Tigers is the first chapter of the two parts Flying Tigers video game series.
One-Nil Soccer Manager
DOS1992 New Era Software
One-Nil Soccer Manager is a text-based soccer management simulation game that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed for various home computer systems, including DOS, Commodore 64 and Amiga. In One-Ni...
Traffic department 2192
DOS1994freeware P Squared
Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes
DOS1990protected id software
Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!
DOS1990protected id software
Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle
DOS1991protected id software
Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine
DOS1991protected 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 Mach...
Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate my Baby Sitter!
DOS1991 id software
Aleshar World of Ice
DOS1997
Aleshar: World of Ice is what happens when someone says, “Let’s make an RPG, but crank the realism to 11.” Set in a cold, brutal land where your sword arm is only as strong as your calorie intake, this 1997 DOS c...