Slashdot Mirror
Best Shareware Games Of 2003 Explored
Thanks to AVault for their feature discussing the best shareware PC titles for 2003, as the writer points out: "As software stores stock fewer new computer games, shareware titles and Internet releases offer an alternative for those who want to play on their PCs. Most of my favorite recreational offerings from the past year never made it into retail outlets." Picks include Chain Reaction ("Remember the old Dynamix game The Incredible Machine? Even though the company is defunct, its creators have developed a new 3D version"), Ultraball ("combines the fun of a Breakout game with all the action and excitement of a pinball game"), and Dr.Blob's Organism ("...a fast-paced shooter in which you blast gelatinous one-celled organisms as they try to escape from a Petri dish.")
title is IcyTower, basically you jump up a tower trying to get as high as you can, or the best combo (where each jump in the combo skips atleast one floor), quite addicting and challenging.
Crimsonland is by far the best game on that last. You really should give that game a whirl. Truly addicting smash TV style from days past. Guns + Buckets o' blood + powers = good times :)
(sorry, don't mean to be trolling)
Still, a dollar tends to go farther on most shareware/small house titles than on the commercial ones, and the authors are usually much cooler with the gaming community (no small feat; I've seen the message forums.) Maybe the best title I've picked up that didn't hit store shelves was Galactic Civilizations, and that guy even made a number of free add-ons for it that one could download. Pontifex is pretty cool, too.
Almost anything from PopCap Games. Titles like Diamond Mine, Bookworm, Alchemy, and of course, any japanese politicians favorite, Bejeweled, are enough to keep you occupied for months.
Even CD-RWs are cheaper than those floppy disks were back when shareware was really big. Beyond that, you don't need to burn a CD until you plan to give it to someone else, and if the game sucks just uninstall it and delete the installer.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
It's just a collection of flash games. Orisinal has a GREAT selection of games. They're kind of quirky, acid-induced maybe, but they're still kinda cool and challenging in most cases.
The easier it is to copy something, the more likely it is to be shared. For most people the amount of time and effort involved in burning 1 CD is way less than the amount of time and effort involved into writing a program to 10 separate floppy disks. In fact, you'd have to have an amazingly old CD burner to find writing and swapping out 10 floppies to be faster and easier than writing a single CD. So, yes, people still call it shareware, and with good reason: they share it.
One game you should definitely check out is Escape Velocity: Nova; I haven't actually tried it yet, but if it's anything like the original, then it's better than 99% of games out there, shareware or not. If only there were an MMO version... :)
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
fills me with the urge to stab it's creator in the eye.
I think you'll want to seek professional help, if something as simple as a game you can exit and never see again causes you to want to maim someone.
You clearly have serious anger issues.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Dr.Blob's Organism ("...a fast-paced shooter in which you blast gelatinous one-celled organisms as they try to escape from a Petri dish.")
I must be ill-conditioned somehow, because I read "Dr. Blob's Orgasm", which made perfectly sense with "in which you blast gelatinous one-celled organisms"
Excellence: Moderate (mostly affected by comments on your karma)