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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Quake
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protecteddemo id software
Quake is a first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by id Software and released in 1996. It is the successor to id Software's immensely popular "Doom" series and is known for its groundbreaking 3D graphics, fast-paced gameplay, and multiplayer capabilities. The game was created by a team led by John Carmack and John Romero, two of the co-fou...
Spacewar
DOS1985
Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the PDP-1 minicomputer; this is a DOS port, released in 1985.Spacewar! features two spaceships, controlled by players, that ...
Digger
DOS1983 Windmill Software
Digger is an abandoned action game developed and released by Windmill Software back in 1983 for PC only. Gameplay is a mix of two classics: Dig Dug and Mr. Do!: dig down, get gems, avoid death, reach the next level and so on.
Doom
DOS1993protecteddemo id software
Doom was released by id Software in 1993. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential and groundbreaking video games of all time, particularly within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.Set in the future on the moons of Mars, the game follows the player-controlled character, known as the "Doom Marine", as they battle through a research fa...
Death Rally
DOS1996freeware Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
Jill of the Jungle
DOS1992 Epic MegaGames
Tyrian 2000
DOS1999freeware Eclipse Software
Tyrian 2000 is an old DOS science fiction classic shoot'em up, developed by Eclipse Software and designed by Alexander Brandon, Jason Emery, Daniel Cook. Tyrian 2000 is one of the most popular shoot'em ups ever published for DOS and it's still remembered by retro gaming fans to this day.
Softporn Adventure
DOS1981freewareNSFW Sierra On-Line
Blake Stone 1: Aliens of Gold
DOS1993protected JAM Productions
Before Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, the world only knew of one man who could mow down Nazis in a maze of corridors — then Blake showed up with a laser gun and a mission to rid the universe of alien gold hoarders. Released in 1993 for DOS, this game is like Wolfenstein 3D’s sci-fi cousin who read too many pulp comics. The enemies range f...
Heretic
DOS1994protecteddemo Raven Software
Tank Wars
DOS1990
Skyglobe 3.5
DOS1992
SkyGlobe is an astronomy software that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a DOS-based planetarium program that allowed users to explore the night sky in real-time or by adjusting dates and times. Some of its key features included: a rendering of stars, constellations, and planets, the ability to simulate past and future astr...
Duke Nukem 3D
DOS1996protecteddemo 3d Realms
Duke Nukem 3D is a classic first-person shooter that was developed by 3D Realms (formerly known as Apogee Software) and published by GT Interactive. It was released in 1996 for MS-DOS and later for various other platforms, including Windows, Mac OS, and gaming consoles.
Scorched Earth
DOS1991protected
Bio Menace Episode 1: Dr. Mangle's Lab
DOS1993freeware Apogee Software
Mutants! Explosions! Green slime! Bio Menace kicks off with Dr. Mangle’s Lab, a side-scrolling blast of carnage where you, Snake Logan (yes, really), shoot your way through a monster-infested city with a machine gun and a bad attitude. Think Duke Nukem’s cousin after a rough day. Cheap thrills, big pixels, and even bigger mullets.
Solar Winds 2: Galaxy
DOS1993 Stone Interactive Media
Solar Winds: The Escape
DOS1993 Stone Interactive Media
Abuse
DOSLinuxMac OS1995freeware Crack dot Com
The year is 1995, and Abuse brings us one of the slickest, darkest run-and-gun shooters ever to crawl out of a DOS/Linux/Mac basement. You play a guy in prison for a crime he didn’t commit (sure, pal), armed to the teeth and mowing down mutants like it’s casual Friday. It’s gritty, fast, and has mouse aiming — in 1995! That ...
Seek and Destroy
DOS1996 Safari Software
Seek and Destroy was a shoot'em up published by the well known Epic Megagames in 1996 that tried to change the usual shoot'em up gameplay for the better. Instead of wave after wave of enemies to shoot down, you are given short missions to accomplish with your helicopter or your tank (yes, you can choose). At first, missions could seem a bit repetit...
Skyroads
DOS1993freeware Bluemoon Interactive
The Aethra Chronicles
DOS1994
The Aethra Chronicles is not a well know fantasy RPG, but it deserves some praise. It was developed by only one person (Micheal Lawrence) and, as the title implies, was intended to be the first volume of a saga. Unfortunately, volume two and three were never made. For a shareware game, Aethra was pretty solid and is still loved by the ones who play...
DND
DOS1984
Jazz Jackrabbit
DOS1994protected Epic MegaGames
Castle of the Winds
Windows 3.x1993freeware SaadaSoft
Castle of the Winds is a fantasy roguelike role-playing game developed by SaadaSoft in the early 1990s. It was designed for Windows 3.x and is notable for being one of the earliest graphical RPGs for that platform. The game features a top-down perspective and incorporates elements of dungeon crawling, exploration, and character development.The game...
Duke Nukem
DOS1991 Apogee Software
Duke Nukem was released in 1991 by Apogee Software for MS-DOS, marking the beginning of the Duke Nukem franchise. The game is a side-scrolling action platformer with a sci-fi theme. In this original installment, players control Duke Nukem, a muscular action hero tasked with saving the world from the evil Dr. Proton. Dr. Proton has taken control of ...
Wolfenstein 3D
DOSMac OS1992protecteddemo 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 ...
Inner Worlds
DOSLinux1996 Sleepless Software
Dark Ages Volume I - Prince of Destiny
DOS1991freeware Scenerio Software