Remember the discs with hundreds of PC games in the Windows 95/98 era?
March 8, 2016 5:46 PM Subscribe
Remember those discs that had hundreds of "shareware" games (some you had to pay for)? A lot of those games were so great. Do you remember some of your favorites that you could suggest?
I loved Tetwin, Zeek the Geek, Goldmonkey, Leap Frog (if that's what it was called) of those I can remember. I'm partial to puzzle games like that over, say, action games or something that would have been similar to a video game.
I loved Tetwin, Zeek the Geek, Goldmonkey, Leap Frog (if that's what it was called) of those I can remember. I'm partial to puzzle games like that over, say, action games or something that would have been similar to a video game.
It was a Mac game (but you can get it for PC now (although it's like $25)), but I will always have a deep abiding love for Spaceward Ho! It's basically Space Civ, with a weird sense of humor.
In fact, this question has led me to the discovery that they also have an iphone app version and I might just buy it
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:47 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
In fact, this question has led me to the discovery that they also have an iphone app version and I might just buy it
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:47 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think you might mean Frogger. Zeus: Master of Olympus and the expansion Poseidon. Civilization, Majesty and the expansion, Myst, StarCraft, WarCraft, and expansions, Lode Runner, Sacred, TitanQuest, Carmen San Diego, Widget Workshop I think.. that was hard. That's all I got for right now. That was a good time for PC games.
If you play nothing else, please for the love of Aiur, play StarCraft.
posted by lunastellasol at 7:25 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
If you play nothing else, please for the love of Aiur, play StarCraft.
posted by lunastellasol at 7:25 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
And I really gotta plug http://www.gog.com/game/indiana_jones_and_the_fate_of_atlantis
despite it being not shareware and probably more video game than you were looking for. But man, play it!
posted by Jacen at 7:38 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
despite it being not shareware and probably more video game than you were looking for. But man, play it!
posted by Jacen at 7:38 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Abandonia lets you search by genre and sort by reviews.
posted by flimflam at 8:36 PM on March 8, 2016
posted by flimflam at 8:36 PM on March 8, 2016
Came in here to say Castle of the Winds too. I replayed it last year and it's just as addictive as it was when I was 13. Delightful roguelike with huge bestiary and Norse trappings.
posted by thesmallmachine at 8:38 PM on March 8, 2016
posted by thesmallmachine at 8:38 PM on March 8, 2016
Puzzle games? My mom and I played the heck out of Sokoban. She loved that game.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 9:17 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 9:17 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
There was also one of my favourite puzzle games ever that had you place water pipes in a field before a timer ran out and water started running. It's been 20 years and I'm still looking for that game. I've only ever found many clones.
posted by Skyanth at 3:21 AM on March 9, 2016
posted by Skyanth at 3:21 AM on March 9, 2016
Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale
posted by lunastellasol at 4:49 AM on March 9, 2016
posted by lunastellasol at 4:49 AM on March 9, 2016
A lot of the games listed above don't really fit your criteria of "shareware games that were bundled on to a disk."
There are three games I remember playing a ton of that came off of those disks. First was Crystal Caves, from the heyday of the Apogee shareware model. They also had a similar game called Secret Agent that was basically a reskinned Crystal Caves. There was also Commander Keen and its various incarnations (pretty sure those disks included just the first level or world of Keen). And finally, a Lode Runner-style game called Jetpack which was actually freeware; there's a playable version around somewhere, I think I had a working copy on a USB drive as recently as a couple years ago.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:33 AM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
There are three games I remember playing a ton of that came off of those disks. First was Crystal Caves, from the heyday of the Apogee shareware model. They also had a similar game called Secret Agent that was basically a reskinned Crystal Caves. There was also Commander Keen and its various incarnations (pretty sure those disks included just the first level or world of Keen). And finally, a Lode Runner-style game called Jetpack which was actually freeware; there's a playable version around somewhere, I think I had a working copy on a USB drive as recently as a couple years ago.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:33 AM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Mystic Towers. This was unforgiving of my tiny self's errors.
Raptor: Call of the Shadows.
posted by ocular shenanigans at 5:40 AM on March 9, 2016
Raptor: Call of the Shadows.
posted by ocular shenanigans at 5:40 AM on March 9, 2016
Moraff's Spherejongg might not have come on a disc with 100 other games, but it's that same level of terrible and addictive.
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:56 AM on March 9, 2016
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:56 AM on March 9, 2016
Yes, Crystal Caves! I loved Crystal Caves.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:35 AM on March 9, 2016
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:35 AM on March 9, 2016
There was a ladybug themed one that was similar to the plumbing ones where you rotate squares with pipes in them to connect before the water floods. In this one, you had to connect the tiles correctly for the ladybug to escape.
Spherejongg
Seconding that whole series. I am sure some Moraff games came in shareware bundles.
I can't guarantee they came this way, but I played Ancient Mosaic and similar games during the same era.
posted by soelo at 8:43 AM on March 9, 2016
Spherejongg
Seconding that whole series. I am sure some Moraff games came in shareware bundles.
I can't guarantee they came this way, but I played Ancient Mosaic and similar games during the same era.
posted by soelo at 8:43 AM on March 9, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/category/puzzle/
These sites have a bunch of old games, which they claim are "abandonware", IE, in the public domain somehow or not available to easily buy anywhere.
posted by Jacen at 5:53 PM on March 8, 2016