Welcome to Games That Weren't 64

Games That Weren't 64 is a dedicated archive of cancelled and unreleased Commodore 64 games, prototypes and lost C64 titles. Since 1999, we have been preserving rare development history, unseen builds and developer insights from the Commodore 64 scene.

Explore a growing collection of unreleased C64 games, cancelled projects and recovered prototypes, alongside developer stories, assets and preservation work. Our non-profit archive aims to document and save Commodore 64 games that were never released, before they disappear completely.

Browse the Commodore 64 archive and discover thousands of lost and unreleased C64 titles.

Latest News and Posts

Grolier / Mindflight missing titles

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Thanks to MalcSeventyFour firstly we are very happy to share 15 previously (or what seems to be) unpreserved Commodore 64 educational titles from Grolier / Mindflight – which includes the long lost Miss Mouse and Rhyme Land titles that we have been searching for recently.

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The titles recovered can be found below within a large list of 32 titles that MalcSeventyFour extracted from a folder which came with the disks. Unless specified, Commodore 64 and Apple 2 versions may be missing: Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Preservation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Games That Weren’t C64 – July 2026 updates

Posted: by Frank Gasking

As predicted, a bit quieter this month, but we still have an advanced preview recovery, a pre-release of Eye of Horus, 1 new entry in the Commodore 64 archive and 17 various updates to existing entries to check out (see “History” tab for changes). We’ll have more again for you next month!  Thanks to @2SlyGuy for link fix!

Trigger Happy advanced preview added

Earlier this month we added a more advanced preview of Trigger Happy, the Delta clone which was recovered by Genesis Project.

Trigger Happy

Eye of Horus pre-release disk added

We also added a pre-release disk version of Eye of Horus, which may have very minor differences compared to the final retail release.

Eye of Horus Pre-release

1 new entry added

Inertia

17 updates added

Ala Software, Arcade Wizzard, Australian Games, Epsilon, Mewilo, Nightflight, Pride & Prejudice, Quantarallax, Reel Fishing, Rhesus, Space Vegetables Corp, Spindizzy V1, Steam Powered Computer Company titles, The Sanctuary, Void, Who Dares Wins, Zambeezi

Posted in GTW64 news, News | 3 Comments

World Geography C64 disks preserved

Posted: by Frank Gasking

world geography

Allan Pinkerton has been busy once more, preserving World Geography 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 editions which you can check out with full scans here:

https://archive.org/search?tab=all&query=commodore+bobco&sort=-publicdate

These are the English editions, and there are other language versions out there that need preserving. Allan has also flagged that 1986 and 1989 are missing, so please get in touch if you can help with those!

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Preservation | Leave a comment

Eye of Horus pre-release disk (Commodore 64)

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Something a bit different for the Games That Weren’t archives today, with preservation of what seems to be a strange pre-release version of Logotron’s Eye of Horus on the Commodore 64.

eye large

The disk was discovered at Level Up Games in Canterbury last year from a collection that was saved from Ashford, Kent. I thought the disk label was particularly curious, as it states a version number on the label and even suggests a built-in cheat mode. Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Preservation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Trigger Happy (Commodore 64): Advanced Preview Discovered

Posted: by Frank Gasking

A more advanced preview of the unreleased Commodore 64 shoot-em-up Trigger Happy has surfaced! Featuring improved graphics and much more developed attack waves than the previously known build, it’s a fascinating glimpse at what might have been.

triggerlarge

https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/trigger-happy/

Huge thanks to Hedning/Genesis Project for the heads up.

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

Lost C64 games and protos – June 2026 (GTW64)

Posted: by Frank Gasking

A huge digest update to the Commodore 64 archive this month with some major recoveries for you that you may have missed.

Arcade Wizzard (U.S. Gold) found at last!

Missing for almost 40 years, and one we’ve been hunting for 22 – the obscure Pinball game from U.S. Gold has been recovered, and its much more advanced than you might think!

Arcade Wizzard

Full Void game recovered and added to the archives

As part of the above recovery, Tony Smales has shared his unreleased budget shooter, which is a sort of sideways scrolling Xevious clone. Very close to release, but sadly not to be. But here it is for you to now enjoy after 39 years being locked away:

Void

Aussie Games (Australian release) prototype added

The game never got a proper full European release, and an extra twist is to now present you with remains of the unreleased Australian edition. This may feature missing scenes, different content (especially the bottle shooting level) and bugs not yet fixed. A great curiosity to explore:

Aussie Games (Australian release prototype)

Two early obscure titles (including one earlier prototype) preserved

Just before the above were recovered, Games That Weren’t preserved some released software that hadn’t yet been preserved. An American Football game, and a prototype of a flight simulator with some minor differences:

IFR (Flight Simulator) and Co Pro Football

3 more new entries added

Then we have our usual set of additions and new entries:

Bad Max, Danger – High Surf, Zorro

14 updates added

Followed by updates to the following 14 titles with scans added and new info. Please check the history tab for details of what has changed.

City Warriors, Dungeons and Magic, Hagar The Horrible, International Karate V1, Mindbending Aliens From Hyperspace, Nimitz, Ninjanimal, Parasol Stars, The Sanctuary, Thunder Light, Trazers, Tycoon Tex, Universal Military Simulator, Virus

Might be a bit quieter next month, but we’ll see. We’ll see you again next month for the next digest!

Posted in GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

Expert Software (C64) preserved

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Our friend Allan Pinkerton, who has preserved many released C64 titles over the years and helped us (see ALA Software titles), has preserved a batch of Expert Software titles for the Commodore 64 which include:

  • Personal Skills
  • Money Power
  • Disk Tools
  • Perfect Typing
  • Personal Publisher
  • Expert Filer

We weren’t searching for the titles, but have done this post to flag up Allan’s work which you can check out here at his Archive.org area:

https://archive.org/details/@1madmax?query=expert+software

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Preservation | Leave a comment

Leisure LINCware

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1986 LINC Networks

Platforms: DOS, Commodore 64

Leisure LINC went online as a Tymnet/Telenet-hosted service in September 1986, offering game matchmaking, news, member chat and mail. It was especially known for its chess focus, including an official partnership with the U.S. Chess Federation, but it also supported other classic games such as checkers and backgammon.

What helped set it apart from similar services was the dedicated client software, LINCware, which was intended to give users a more graphical experience. It apparently had a lot in common with QuantumLink, even if the audience and direction were a little different.

There is interest in finding the original client software and learning more about how the Leisure LINC experience worked in practice. Contributor David Hinson is hoping to track down anything that can help with that search, with the long term goal of reverse engineering a server to bring Leisure LINC back to life for its 40th anniversary. If that effort is successful, the plan is to submit the work to the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment so it can be preserved for the future. Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), PC, Preservation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Three Big Commodore 64 recoveries

Posted: by Frank Gasking

A lovely surprise for the weekend for you all! Today we are very pleased to add not one, but three significant Commodore 64 recoveries to the archives thanks to former Beam Software developer Tony Smales.

First up is Arcade Wizzard, a long-lost U.S. Gold pinball game that GTW has been trying to solve for over 22 years. Thanks to Tony, we can finally confirm its Beam Software origins and present a playable prototype.

arcadewizzard large

Joining it is an Australian prototype of Aussie Games, containing a number of interesting differences from the released editions, plus Tony’s own unreleased game Void – a complete commercial title that sadly fell victim to publishing changes before release.

These updates have been published to coincide with Tony’s appearance on This Week In Retro, where he discusses the discoveries, his time at Beam Software and much more:

A huge thank you to Tony Smales for preserving the disks (via Dr Ed Young) all these years and kindly allowing everything to be shared and to This Week In Retro and Neil Thomas from The Retro Collective for putting Tony in touch with us.

Read more about each game and download here:

Arcade Wizzard
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/arcade-wizzard/

Australian Games
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/australian-games/

Void
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/void/

Posted in GTW64 news, News, Reviews | Leave a comment

Commodore 64 games preserved

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Thanks to the generosity of Mat Allen and Håvar Bruvold Hojem, Games That Weren’t has preserved two pieces of unpreserved software in the form of Co Pro Football by Tepe Enterprises in 1984, and also an earlier prototype of IFR (Flight Simulator) by Ron Wanttaja in 1983.

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The IFR prototype is particularly interesting, as it has some variations in the title screen and main game panel, and there could be other differences too compared to the final release version of the game. As well as the games themselves, we’re adding scans and the RAW Kryoflux files for posterity. Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Preservation, Prototype | Tagged | 1 Comment