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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Solar Winds 2: Galaxy

DOS19933.9/5 Stone Interactive Media

Rise of the Triad: Dark War

DOS1994protected3.9/5 Apogee Software

Legend of the Silver Talisman

DOS1996freeware3.9/5 Inter-Active Arts

Robotron 2084

DOS19833.9/5 Williams Entertainment

One-Nil Soccer Manager

DOS19923.9/5 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...

Moraff's Dungeon of the Unforgiven

DOS19933.9/5 Moraffware

Crystal Caves

DOS1991protected3.9/5 Apogee Software

Yendorian Tales: The Tyrants of Thaine

DOS19973.9/5 SW Games

Exile III: Ruined World

Windows XP/98/95Mac OSWindows 3.x1997freeware3.9/5 Spiderweb Software

Mission: Mainframe

DOS19873.9/5

Last Half of Darkness

DOS19893.9/5 SoftLab Laboratories

Dark Designs 1: Grelminar's Staff

DOS19903.9/5 Softdisk Publishing

Hugo's House of Horrors

DOS19903.9/5 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...