back in the early 90s, i only knew of four ways to get new computer games:

  • buying my own (i could afford a new one every 3-6 months at best)
  • trading with friends (only 3 kids in my school had computers at home)
  • buying shareware diskettes at the grocery store for a few bucks
  • downloading shareware from local BBSes

of all of the above, only the last two were reliable sources of new games every week. i was one of the only kids in the school that had a modem, so i spent every evening sourcing out hot new shareware on my local boards. i’d wear out my credits and time limits downloading every single disk i could find at 2400 baud, usually taking about an hour

of the dozens of games I downloaded, two of them proved to be mega-hits: Tank Wars and Crystal Caves. for over a year, my two best friends and i huddled around the computer playing hotseat tank wars, and took turns trying to finish CC levels.

consider that, at the time, we owned AAA titles like Wing Commander II and Space Quest IV, and a sega genesis with a dozen games between us. and yet, crystal caves was the first thing we’d load up on sleepovers. it found the exact right balance of addictive, fun and friendly.

a few years ago i started collecting old shareware distributor diskettes - the kind you’d find for $2 at a grocery store. and i absolutely treasure them. 🙏

#apogee #shareware #retroGaming #dosgaming