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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Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware3.5/5 Moonlite Software
Crystal Caves
DOS1991protected3.9/5 Apogee Software
Joust VGA
DOS1990remake4.4/5
Hocus Pocus
DOS1994protected4.2/5 Apogee Software
Bomb Run
DOS19912.7/5 PC Solutions
Jumpman Lives!
DOS1991remake4/5 Apogee Software
Jill of the Jungle 3: Jill Saves the Prince
DOS19923.8/5 Epic MegaGames
LineWars 2
DOS19944/5 Safari Software
EGA-Roids
DOS1986freewareremake3.7/5 Designer Software
Rise of the Triad: Dark War
DOS1994protected3.9/5 Apogee Software
Hexxagon
DOS19934.1/5 Argo Games
Aldo Again
DOS1989remake3.8/5
Blades of Exile
Windows 3.xMac OSWindows XP/98/951997freeware4.1/5 Spiderweb Software
Hugo 3: Jungle of Doom
DOS1992protected3.8/5 Gray Design Associates
Scorched Earth
DOS1991protected4/5
Bolo Ball
DOS19923.3/5 Soleau Software
Mission: Mainframe
DOS19873.9/5
Xatax
DOS19944/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
Galactix
DOS19923.3/5 Cygnus Studios
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.
Beyond the Titanic
DOS19863.8/5 Apogee Software
Dark Designs 2: Closing the Gate
DOS19904/5 Softdisk Publishing
Xixit
DOS19954/5 Optik Software
LineWars
DOS19904/5 Safari Software
Ack-Ack Attack!
DOS1995remake4.2/5 PLBM Games
Hugo 2: Whodunit?
DOS1991protecteddemo3.5/5 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.
Aldo's Assault
DOS19913/5
Xargon
DOS1993freeware4/5 Epic MegaGames
Dungeons of Kairn
DOS19893.6/5
CHAMP Ms. Pac-man
DOS1994remake3.9/5 ChamProgramming corp.