The best 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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Hugo's House of Horrors
DOS1990 Gray Design Associates
Hugo's House of Horrors is an adventure game developed by David P. Gray and released in the early 1990s. The game is a text-based adventure with simple graphics, and it gained popularity for its witty and often tongue-in-cheek approach to the horror genre.The story of the game revolves around the main character, Hugo, who receives a letter from his...
Captain Comic, The Adventures of
DOS1988freeware
Mission: Mainframe
DOS1987
Yendorian Tales: Book I - Chapter 2
DOS1996 SW Games
Yendorian Tales: The Tyrants of Thaine
DOS1997 SW Games
Escape from delirium
DOS1995 Virtual X-Perience
Secret Agent
DOS1992protected Apogee Software
Astro Fire
DOS1994freewareremake ORT Software
Last Half of Darkness
DOS1989 SoftLab Laboratories
Aleshar World of Ice
DOS1997
Azalta: Cult of the Raven
DOS1996
Night Raid
DOS1992remake Argo Games
Secret Agent: The Escape
DOS1996 PhreAk Software
Mario Bros VGA
DOS1990remake
Mario Bros VGA is a fan made remake of the original Mario Bros by Nintendo, the game that popularized the character of Mario, the Italian plumber that first appeared in Donkey Kong. Mario Bros VGA is a fixed-screen platform arcade game that truly shines when played in co-op with a friend.
Aldo Again
DOS1989remake
Beyond the Titanic
DOS1986 Apogee Software
Xenophage: Alien BloodSport
DOS1996freeware Argo Games
Aquanoid
DOS1992remake
Aldo's Adventure
DOS1987remake
Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom
DOS1995 Pop Software
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
Jazz Jackrabbit
DOS1994protected Epic MegaGames
Jill of the Jungle 3: Jill Saves the Prince
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Armchair Quarterback
DOS1985
Epic Baseball
DOS1995 MicroLeague Multimedia
Nitemare 3D
DOSWindows 3.x1994protected Gray Design Associates
Nitemare 3D is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by David P. Gray under the Gray Design Associates label. It was released in 1994 as a follow-up to the earlier adventure games in the "Hugo" series. The protagonist, Hugo, embarks on a mission to rescue his girlfriend, Penelope, who has been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Hame...
Temple of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
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 jungle while flying over South America. Soon after, Penelope is bitten by a poisonous spider, and Hugo must find an antidote ...
Battlestar
Windows 3.x1996freeware
In the Dead of Night
DOS1995 Trecision