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.
Sort by:
Crystal Caves
DOS1991protected Apogee Software
Dark Ages Volume I - Prince of Destiny
DOS1991freeware Scenerio Software
Druglord
DOS1991
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...
Hovertank One
DOS1991 id software
Hugo 2: Whodunit?
DOS1991protecteddemo 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.
Jumpman Lives!
DOS1991remake Apogee Software
Monuments of Mars
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1991freeware Scenerio Software
Moraff's World
DOS1991 Moraffware
Paganitzu
DOS1991protected Apogee Software
Paganitzu is a classic puzzle-adventure game released in 1991 by Apogee Software. Set in an ancient pyramid, the game follows the exploits of its protagonist, Alabama Smith, who must navigate through a series of increasingly compl...
Scorched Earth
DOS1991protected
Sherlock: The Game of Logic
DOS1991protected Everett Kaser Software
ZZT
DOS1991freeware Epic MegaGames
ZZT (1991, DOS) looks like it was drawn by an enthusiastic ASCII artist with too much time and not enough colors. And yet, it’s brilliant. Part action game, part puzzle adventure, part game creation tool, ZZT is the reason s...
3D Cyber Blaster
DOS1992remake HomeBrew Software
If Doom and Laser Tag had a baby raised by dial-up modems, it would be 3D Cyber Blaster. Released in 1992, this shooter has you blasting neon enemies in a world that looks like a Tron-themed laser maze. The sound effects are glori...
Aquanoid
DOS1992remake
Aquanoid (1992) takes the classic Breakout formula and throws it underwater, because bricks are apparently much more intimidating when they're wet. You control a paddle, you bounce a ball, you try to pretend you're not just playin...
Bass Tour
DOS1992
Think of Bass Tour (1992) as the road trip version of virtual fishing. More simulation than arcade, it lets you travel, pick locations, study conditions, and obsess over bait types like you're preparing for a National Geographic s...
Bolo Ball
DOS1992 Soleau Software
Bolo Ball is a DOS game from the mid-1990s. It features a physics-based gameplay where the objective is to knock opponent balls out of an arena. When you start the game, you find yourself in a 2D arena set against a starry, space-...
Castle Elsinore
DOS1992 Temple Software
If Hamlet had a sequel directed by a DOS programmer, Castle Elsinore would be it. This interactive fiction game drops you right into Shakespearean drama with murder, betrayal, and the occasional parser error. You’ll solve pu...
Catacomb Abyss
DOS1992protected Softdisk Publishing
Before Doom, there was Catacomb Abyss, where you throw fireballs down corridors at zombies who all apparently graduated from the same school of slow shuffling. It's a first-person shooter without the “shooter” part&mda...
Caverns of Chaos
DOS1992
Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware Moonlite Software
Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures
DOS1992protected Apogee Software
Galactix
DOS1992 Cygnus Studios
Hugo 3: Jungle of Doom
DOS1992protecteddemo Gray Design Associates
Hugo III: Jungle of Doom is a point-and-click adventure game released in 1992. It is the third game in the Hugo adventure series, developed by David P. Gray for MS-DOS. Hugo and his girlfriend, Penelope, crash-land in a jungl...
Jill of the Jungle
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Jill of the Jungle 2: Jill Goes Underground
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Jill of the Jungle 3: Jill Saves the Prince
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Megapede
DOS1992
Moraff's Morejongg
Windows XP/98/951992 Moraffware