Shareware MS-DOS Games

Shareware put the first episode of a game on a disk anyone was free to copy, and sold the rest by mail order. Apogee built a business on the idea with Commander Keen in 1990, and id Software's Doom spread the same way three years later. For many players the shareware episode was the whole game — and it is still the part that can be shared freely today.

Games tagged "Shareware" (by release years)

Related:

All Tags All Games

Scorched Earth
Scorched Earth – MS-DOS cover art
Scorched Earth, released in 1991 by Wendell Hicken, is a turn-based artillery game that became a staple of early '90s PC gaming. Dubbed “The Mother of All Games,” it pits players against each other in strategic tank battles across destructible, 2D…
Genre: Strategy
Release: 1991
Developer: Wendell Hicken
Publisher: -

Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy
Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy – MS-DOS cover art
Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy!, released in 1991 by Apogee Software, is a vibrant and humorous platformer that follows the adventures of Billy Blaze, an eight-year-old genius who dons the persona of Commander Keen to save the galaxy. This…
Genre: Platformer
Release: 1991
Developer: id Software
Publisher: 3D Realms