Shareware: a business model
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.
Sort by:
Blades of Exile
Windows 3.xMac OSWindows XP/98/951997freeware Spiderweb Software
Blades of Exile is a classic role-playing video game developed by Spiderweb Software. It's the third installment in the "Exile" series. The game was released in 1997 for Mac OS, and later for Windows in 1998.In Blades of Exile, players control a party of adventurers who explore the underground world of Exile/Avernum, a vast network of caves and dun...
Blake Stone 1: Aliens of Gold
DOS1993protected JAM Productions
Blake Stone 2: Planet Strike
DOS1994protected JAM Productions
Blood
DOS1997protected Monolith Productions
Bolo Ball
DOS1992 Soleau Software
Bolo Ball is a DOS game from the mid-1990s. It features a physics-based gameplay where the objective is to knock opponent balls out of an arena. When you start the game, you find yourself in a 2D arena set against a starry, space-like background. You control a colorful ball, which, despite being a 2D sprite, appears somewhat three-dimensional due t...
Bomb Run
DOS1991 PC Solutions
Boppin
DOS1994freeware Accursed Toys
Borderworld
DOS1996 Midlothian Software
Bubble Pop
DOS1997 Software of Sweden
Bubble Pop by Software of Sweden is a platform game that follows the classic bubble-popping mechanics similar to other popular games in the genre (Bubble Bobble...). Bubble Pop was published in 1997 by Webfoot Technologies for DOS only.
Cap Man
Windows XP/98/951999
Captain Comic, The Adventures of
DOS1988freeware
Capture the Flag
DOS1993
Castle Elsinore
DOS1992 Temple Software
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...
Catacomb Abyss
DOS1992protected Softdisk Publishing
Caverns of Chaos
DOS1992
Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
Chain Reaction
DOS1996 Webfoot Technologies
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake ChamProgramming corp.
CHAMP Kong
DOS1996remake ChamProgramming corp.
CHAMP Ms. Pac-man
DOS1994remake ChamProgramming corp.
Clyde's Adventure
DOS1992freeware Moonlite Software
Clyde's Revenge
DOS1995freeware Moonlite Software
Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars
DOS1990 id software
Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars is a platform video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1990 as shareware for MS-DOS. The game follows the adventures of an eight-year-old genius named Billy Blaze, who uses his homemade spaceship to travel to various alien planets to save the Earth from alien invaders known as V...
Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes
DOS1990protected id software
Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!
DOS1990protected id software
Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle
DOS1991protected id software
Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine
DOS1991protected 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.
Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate my Baby Sitter!
DOS1991 id software
Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures
DOS1992protected Apogee Software