Nostalgic Games
Most people from my generation in Egypt (late 90s and early 2000s) grew up with a computer but very limited ways to get games.
The most common way back then was going to the "السايبر" or a computer repair shop. personally i used to go there when the PC was broken or needed a new Windows setup. And every time I’d tell the guy: “Can you fill the computer with games?”
Back then, it felt like there was a literally only ONE shared games folder across all of Egypt.
People just kept copying games to each other using flash drives.
or sometimes with "السيديهاية" a blank CDs we used to buy from libraries. CDs prices depended on the storage size, and they were basically our way of transferring movies, songs, programs, and games between computers.
Then later I discovered what felt like a treasure at the time, something that sounds almost absurd today.
Big malls actually had sections selling cracked game discs!!
I think they were cracked at least, not 100% sure
And compared to the official game prices, they were affordable.
I’d walk into the shop or small game section and buy a disc with games like: Prince of Persia, Harry Potter, Need for Speed, Tomb Raider, Shrek, and tons of other games.
And of course, I always had to check the game requirements because my computer had like 256 MB RAM, while most games needed 512 MB or more
Until finally one day I upgraded my PC RAM and felt like the life is unlocked
Sometimes the serial key was written on the back of the disc case because the installer would ask for it during setup. The serial numbers were insanely long and no way to copy it.
I had to keep looking at the back of the case and carefully and type it manually or ask your brother to read it out loud while you typed it. And that alone was a whole process before even waiting for the game to install.(Some games needed serial numbers, some didn’t)
The whole disc culture was everywhere too. Even newspaper sellers had random CDs inside plastic sleeves. Most of them were “AutoRun” discs full of random stuff.
Then there were also the CDs that came with magazines like "ماجد" , or the educational discs included with school books like "الأضواء".
But anyway back to the important part
Right now I really want to play those games again because I genuinely loved them.
Games back then were simple, but still challenging. Their only purpose was fun. I didn’t care about understanding the story or even finishing the game.
I’d literally open the games folder, launch a game, open another one, and keep going
In one gaming session I could play 20 different games back to back.
So now I’m trying to rebuild that old “games folder” again.
Every time I remember a game, I search for it on websites and download it. I’m basically trying to recreate that exact childhood folder from back then.
Could you help me to rebuild that nostalgic games folder over again?
Anyone knows websites to download these games please let me know
Or even if you just remember random game names from that era, drop them here so I can search for them and download them again