> Back in the day, computers were expensive and games weren't readily available.
You could get a PC for a thousand bucks back then, and shareware was a thing in 1990-91. Crystal Caves, Commander Keen, Duke Nukem were huge hits and there were tons of less popular games...not to mention copying commercial games from friends.
Crystal Caves! I've been trying to remember the name of that game for ages! I never bought the full version but played the shareware endlessly...
> You could get a PC for a thousand bucks back then
In the United States... In a lot of countries, computers cost a lot more than that in the local currency which, together with lower salaries, made computers inaccessible to most people.
I remember seeing people playing GORILLA.BAS in computer stores...