| Adventure Fun-Pak Apogee Software, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A collection of very simple, often frustrating games. Rogue Runner is an ASCII adventure with similarities to Kroz, except that most of the maze is invisible and the souls of previous adventurers home in on you. The Thing is a very simple text adventure based on the old Wumpus game. These are some of Scott Miller's earliest games. There are 4 games in the Adventure Fun-Pak: Rogue Runner Complete version history:Adventure Fun-Pak v1.0 Freeware Episodes (298k)Apogee generously released Adventure Fun-Pak and Puzzle Fun-Pak as freeware under the Adventure & Puzzle Fun Packs Freeware License in May 2004. They are both in the same zip file.
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| Caves of Thor Apogee Software, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Often referred to as the "Thor Trilogy", Caves of Thor is an ASCII graphics adventure game that is a bit more like ZZT than Kroz. You play Thor, trapped in the Caves of Thor, and you must find three magical objects in order to escape. There are 3 episodes in this game, with only the first episode playable in the shareware version. Episode 1 - Caves of Thor Caves of Thor v1.1 Registered Version (155k) Apogee generously released this game as freeware under the Caves of Thor Freeware License in December 2005.
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| Googol Math Games Paul T. Dawson, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When I was in elementary school we had a monochrome computer with this game on it. Kids used to gather around to play and watch. Sometimes the children would help each other with the answers, sometimes students would insist upon answering the questions themselves. As educational games go, this is one of the best ever. In Googol Climber you play a character who bounces along in a room with several levels and a number on each side, while balls roll through the room. You must get to the level that has the correct answer to the math question without hitting your head on the ceiling or hitting the balls, and avoid getting the wrong answer. Googolpede is the classic "snake" game except that you try to hit either "T" for true or "F" for false to answer the math problem on the screen. Googolvaders is like Space Invaders with aliens made out of math problems. Shoot them with the correct answer before they reach the ground. All games can be played with any mix of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and have different speeds to create levels of skill. Success is rewarded with congratulations from robots and cars and other "bells and whistles". The games are still fun after all these years. Googol Math Games v3.6 Shareware (163k) I have been unable to locate the author online, but there is still a mailing address for registration. The games indicate that you can register for $10, or "super register" and get all 8 of Paul T. Dawson's educational games for $35.
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| Kosmonaut BlueMoon Software, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former commercial) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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More of a driving game than a racing game, since there are no other cars. This challenging game requires you to make it to the end of interstellar highways without being destroyed by obstacles, or running out of gas or oxygen. Kosmonaut Freeware (74k) BlueMoon Software has generously released this game as freeware.
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| Mah Jongg -V-G-A- Ron Balewski, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | Screenshot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One of my all-time favorite DOS games. I had never played the ancient game of Mah Jongg before when I discovered this game, but it was so easy to use that I was able to figure it out without reading the instructions, and now it's the only DOS version I play. It looks great, it tells you when you're out of moves, and it's easy and intuitive to use. After each "official" release, a number of revisions were released with the same version number. Differences are listed in fixes.doc. Version 3.1 / Serial No. 5524 fixes a bug that existed in v3.0 and 3.1 that caused a divide by zero error on CPUs faster than 50 MHz, and also includes Mah Jongg for Windows v1.0.
Author Ron Balewski has generously released this game as freeware. Mah Jongg '97, a Win32 version, is still sold for $20 on CD-ROM or registered download.
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| Mah Jongg LapTop Ron Balewski, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | Screenshot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A monochrome version of Mah Jongg -V-G-A-, this game does an admirable job of bringing Mah Jongg to monochrome and LCD screens. The tiles for the winds, flowers, seasons and all three dragons are easily identifiable, and the game has most of the features of the VGA version. The game doesn't automatically tell you when you're out of moves, which is a complaint I have about many Mah Jongg games. There is also no timer, but the game is well worth playing if you can only display one color. Mah Jongg LapTop v1.1 Freeware (64k) Author Ron Balewski has generously released this game as freeware. Mah Jongg '97, a Win32 version, is still sold for $20 on CD-ROM or registered download.
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| Moraff's Pinball MoraffWare, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The first-ever VGA game, which is pretty much this game's only claim to fame. The graphics are unimpressive for a pinball game, but remember that it was 1989. There are five paddles that can each be operated independently, two of which are part of a mini table on the left side of the table. There are bumpers and drop targets. Multi-ball can be played with three to five balls. Your goal is to catch and lock five balls inside chutes that are located around the table. Version 2.0 refers to the game as a "free 'try out' copy", which only gives you one ball unless a $10 registration code is entered to allow five balls. Version 3.0 is a full version which is registered simply by reading an ad for the sale of computers by MoraffWare. Versions 5.0 and 7.0 ask for registration, though no cost is listed, saying that the game is supported by "those who use and pay for" it.
I have found no ordering information for this game, and it is not listed on Moraff's website.
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| Puzzle Fun-Pak Apogee Software, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | No screenshot yet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Puzzle Fun-Pak is a collection of simple games. Block Five is the ancient game of Gomoku, in which players take turns placing an X or an O on a 19×19 grid and attempt to get five in a row in any direction. It's basically an enormous game of tic-tac-toe. Asteroid Rescue places you in a ship that must maneuver its way through a dense asteroid field to rescue astronauts. Phrase Master is a mix between Wheel of Fortune and Hangman. You essentially spin a wheel to determine how much your guess will be worth, but there is no way to go bankrupt or miss a turn, other than guessing incorrectly. Players continue to guess any letter (there is no cost, but also no score for selecting a vowel) until they get one wrong. Like Hangman, both players have a limited number of guesses. The game continues until both players have guessed incorrectly six times, then the player with the higher score wins. A bonus guess is awarded to the player who completes each phrase. There are 500 phrases in 10 categories. Maze Machine is the only game that requires a graphics card, which it uses to generate a maze that is displayed on screen, and can be printed out. There are 4 games in the Puzzle Fun-Pak: Block Five Complete version history:Puzzle Fun-Pak v1.0 Freeware Episodes (298k)Apogee generously released Adventure Fun-Pak and Puzzle Fun-Pak as freeware under the Adventure & Puzzle Fun Packs Freeware License in May 2004. They are both in the same zip file.
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| Solitile Everett Kaser Software, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | Screenshot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An EGA game based on the ancient Mah Jongg tile game, which can be played in a variety of different layouts. The default layout isn't the one most people will be familiar with, and the default tileset uses English letters and numbers instead of Chinese symbols. The new tiles allow for layouts with anywhere from 4 to 168 tiles, and eliminates sets that have four different symbols, such as flowers, seasons, and compass directions. There are 65 536 puzzles in this game.
Everett Kaser Software still sells the registered version of this game for $15 by download or CD-ROM.
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