vga256<p>back in the early 90s, i only knew of four ways to get new computer games:<br>- buying my own (i could afford a new one every 3-6 months at best)<br>- trading with friends (only 3 kids in my school had computers at home)<br>- buying shareware diskettes at the grocery store for a few bucks<br>- downloading shareware from local BBSes</p><p>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</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. 🙏 </p><p>this crystal caves fansite is proof that the old world wide web is still alive and well:<br><a href="https://spikenexus.rewound.net/pccw/pages/index.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">spikenexus.rewound.net/pccw/pa</span><span class="invisible">ges/index.html</span></a></p><p><a href="https://dialup.cafe/tags/apogee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>apogee</span></a> <a href="https://dialup.cafe/tags/shareware" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>shareware</span></a> <a href="https://dialup.cafe/tags/retroGaming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>retroGaming</span></a> <a href="https://dialup.cafe/tags/dosgaming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>dosgaming</span></a></p>