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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DOS1991protected3.6/5 Gray Design Associates
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DOS1991remake4/5 Apogee Software
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DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1991freeware3.3/5 Scenerio Software
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DOS19913.5/5 Moraffware
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DOS1991protected4.1/5
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DOS1991protected4.1/5 Everett Kaser Software
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DOS1991freeware4.2/5 Epic MegaGames
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DOS1992remake4/5 HomeBrew Software
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DOS1992remake3.8/5
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DOS19923.9/5
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DOS19923.3/5 Soleau Software
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DOS19923.5/5 Temple Software
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DOS1992protected3.8/5 Softdisk Publishing
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DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software
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DOS1992protected4.1/5 Apogee Software
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DOS19923.2/5
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DOS1992protected3.8/5 Gray Design Associates
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DOS19924.1/5 Epic MegaGames
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DOS19924.1/5 Epic MegaGames
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DOS19923.9/5 Epic MegaGames
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DOS1992remake3.8/5 Argo Games
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DOS19923.8/5 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-Nil Soccer Manager, players take on the role of a soccer team manager, making strategic decisions to guide their team to s...
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DOS1992freeware4/5 Tech-Noir
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DOS1992protected3.9/5 Apogee Software
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DOS19923.3/5 Epic MegaGames
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DOS1992freeware3.4/5 Game Crafters
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Windows XP/98/95Mac1992freeware4.1/5
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DOSMac1992protecteddemo4.1/5 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 as shareware by Apogee Software in 1992 for DOS. Wolfenstein 3D is based on the Wolf3D engine, programmed by John ...
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DOS1993freeware4/5 Apogee Software
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DOS1993freeware4.3/5 Apogee Software