Abandonware DOS title

Shovelware: compilations of video games

In the ’80s and ’90s, shovelware was practically a business model - especially once PCs, shareware, and CD-ROMs took off. Back then, the term usually referred to compilations of low-effort or outdated games, all crammed onto a single disk and sold as if you were getting an unbelievable deal.
Publishers would scoop up public-domain titles, rejected prototypes, or games that had already been circulating as shareware, then shovel them onto a floppy or CD and slap on a flashy cover promising "100 AMAZING GAMES!". Realistically, you might get two decent ones, a few odd curiosities, and a whole lot of clones, half-finished experiments, and “shoot-the-things” arcade throwaways.
Sometimes these compilations were actually worth buying because they included re-releases of other, higher-quality games.

Most popular compilation / shovelware games

jewels-of-darkness-06

Jewels of Darkness

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
magnetic-scrolls-collection-02

Magnetic Scrolls Collection

DOS1991 Magnetic Scrolls
Magnetic Scrolls was one of the finest developer companies dedicated to Interactive Fiction. The Magnetic Scrolls Collection is a trilogy of Magnenic Scrolls adventures remade usin...
silicon-dreams-02

Silicon Dreams

DOS1986 Level 9 Computing
Silicon Dreams by Level 9 Computing is a trilogy of interactive fiction (text adventure) games released in the mid-1980s. The trilogy includes three separate games: Snowball, Retur...
templeapshai-4

Temple of Apshai Trilogy

DOS1985 Epyx
The Temple of Apshai Trilogy is a series of classic role-playing games developed by Automated Simulations (later known as Epyx) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These games were ...
time-and-magik-03

Time and Magik: The Trilogy

DOS1988 Level 9 Computing
williams-arcade-01

Williams Arcade Classics

DOS1995 Digital Eclipse Software
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