Sometimes, game developers decide to launch their games as freeware, or simply decline to provide support for it any further. In the latter case, the game comes under “Abandonware”.

Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons. Abandonware may be computer software or physical devices which are usually computerised in some fashion, such as personal computer games, productivity applications, utility software, or mobile phones.

Wikipedia, hosts a list of freeware games, some of which are also Abandonware.

The list is alphabetically sorted by default, but can be sorted by the release date, genre, platform or publisher.

The oldest game in the list, Adventureland, was first released in the year 1978 and was released under freeware license in the year 1993.

Most of the games on the list are classic, retro-styled games that run on platforms like DOS, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Arcade etc – some of the oldest computing platforms available.

How useful is this list to you? Do you still play, or like to collect, old games? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.