Welcome to Games That Weren't!

We are a Cancelled & Unreleased Video games archive with prototypes, developer history and assets for many computers and consoles of all ages. A non-profit large archive dedicated to preserving lost games that were never released to the public. Sharing history and stories from the developers, assets and more before it is too late. GTW has been preserving lost video game history online since 1999, and long before that offline.

Please Browse our archive and discover the many entries that we host for many different platforms.

Latest News and Posts

Thrust

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1988 Firebird Software

Platform: PC DOS

Thrust was a brilliant budget title from the mind of the late Jeremy Smith back in 1986, developed first for the BBC Micro (released via Superior Software), then converted to a large number of platforms by Firebird Software to great acclaim from all magazines.

Oddly (as a side note), according to Richard Hewison who worked at TelecomSoft, the Firebird C64 version got released before the BBC version by a matter of months. Although it looked very simple, the game was an extremely playable gravity-based title, and still holds up very well today!

thrustpage 1

The game even later saw an unofficial conversion to the Atari 2600 in later years. However, PC users were lacking a conversion for their platform … or were they? Continue reading →

Posted in: PC, Reviews | Tagged: | 8 Comments

Riftwar Saga

Posted: by Frank Gasking

1992 Kid’s Source

Platform: PC Engine

A short entry for now on a currently missing PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 title called Riftwar Saga, which was a 1/2-player hack and slash title that was due for release in 1992 from a company called Kid’s Source.

The game was an action adventure title which was set in a fantasy world of Midkemia (the fantasy world of Raymond E. Feist, a very well known fantasy author – thanks Alex and Dane!), and EGM magazine’s brief preview of the game promised non-stop action combined with a strong storyline and creative problem solving.

rift1

Overall the game would consist of around nine levels in total, with bosses at the end of each level to defeat. Sadly, the game disappeared without a trace and would become a game of mystery to many, including ParanoiaDragon, who first highlighted the title to us via Twitter.

Later in 1993, Betrayal at Krondor was released on the PC, an RPG title which shows that the brand was clearly trying its best to get into the computer game realm at the time.

Continue reading →

Posted in: PC Engine, Reviews | Tagged: | 6 Comments

Kontakt

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1999 No publisher

Platform: Commodore Amiga

Kontakt was a new adventure game being written for the Commodore Amiga sometime in 1999, where you would control a reporter called Albert Faser, who suspects someone of carrying out illegal transactions.

kontakt3

When given a tip-off, he leaves the editor of his newspaper (also a trusted colleague) with a floppy disk containing a message about his intentions. When he gets caught, he wakes up on a hard and uncomfortable bed. In a room with no doors, windows or other openings – you now have to figure out what to do next. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

GTW64 August 2023 updates

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

As summer starts to near the end, we continue to squeeze out more updates for the C64 archive – which seems to have no end in sight! Check out the following updates for August:

Early Karl Hörnell game found

puzzlemania2

Karl Hörnell’s early title Puzzle Mania has been found and preserved by Genesis Project. Check out some of Karl’s earliest work.

Puzzle Mania

19 Boot Camp – Part 2 graphics found

19load mpic

A big recovery has been made by GTW64 on a series of assets for the adventure version of 19 Boot Camp – Part 2. Check them out below if you missed the recent update.

19 Boot Camp – Part 2

Also … 5 new entries added

Anty Up, Connections, Funfair Inc, Matterhorn, 1990

And … 19 other updates added

Arthema, Bomb, Chess, Crystal Castles V1, Denny’s Quest 2, Devious Designs, Footloose, Joust, Messiah 3, Phoenix Lair, Prince Of Persia, Quo Vadis V2, Rockus, Shear Panic, Switchblade, Typhoon Thompson, Victory Road (UK version), Worron

Posted in: GTW64 news, News | Leave a comment

The Connoiseur and other Atari prototypes

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Our friends at Atarimania.com have informed us of a recent discovery of an unreleased text adventure for the Atari called The Connoiseur. A game that was intended for release by Synapse Software in 1984.

the connoiseur 2

The game was archived by the National Videogame Museum, and added into the atarimania archives in August 2023.  You can find more details and a download here:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-connoiseur-_41655.html

Additionally, we were informed of prototypes that were preserved thanks to John Hardie, with a number of titles:

More details about the recoveries can also be read about on these two AtariAge forum posts. Forum post 1 and Forum post 2.

Posted in: Atari 400/800/XL, Prototype, Reviews | Leave a comment

Realms of Darkness

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1993 Grandslam

Platforms: Commodore Amiga and PC

Realms of Darkness was billed as a role-playing game for people who hated role-playing games. As well as an isometric Populous-style viewpoint for its RPG features, there would also be a side view approach for combat situations.

rod 6 640

The game was set within the Plains of Darkness, and follows the adventures of a boy who has been cursed with a long dead Necromancer’s soul, and who must go on a quest to try and save himself. Along the way he must meet various characters to conversate with, to get clues to help solve puzzles and obtain objects to help progress. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | 2 Comments

Thalimar: Land of Chaos

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1999 Insomnia

Platform: Commodore Amiga (and later PC)

In Thalimar: Land of Chaos, you control a powerful mage – a servant of darkness who wants to take over and burn villages, kill innocent people, and carry out other unceremonious acts of evil. A bit of a twist on the usual hero role like you get with most games.

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Whilst solving a series of puzzles and completing various missions, you would cause chaos by desecrating temples, use dragons to raid villages, cause tensions between different regions – all attempting to accumulate with disorganization of political and social life and dethrone the king. Continue reading →

Posted in: Commodore Amiga, PC, Reviews | Tagged: | 4 Comments

GTW Book reprint now available!

Posted: by Frank Gasking

Great news, but a reprint of The Games That Weren’t book is now available for pre-order.

The Games That Weren’t chronicles 40 years of video game projects that never made it past ‘work-in-progress’. Discover more than 80 unreleased gems from the annals of gaming.

1692081755700

Pre-order your copy here: https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/the-games-that-werent

According to Bitmap Books, shipments will be fulfilled in the order they were placed, starting on Monday 21st August 2023.

Posted in: News | Leave a comment

Echelon: The Storm

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

2001 Hyperion Software

Platform: AmigaOne

There were big plans with the AmigaOne, and yet another title that would be planned for it was a conversion of Echelon: The Storm. A game that was being developed by Buka Entertainment that year for the PC platform and eventually released in 2001.

echelon 640

The game was an aerial combat simulator with a first person view, where as well as piloting planes, you could control other vehicles too. Around 100 in total, with 100 additional objects that would appear in the game. The entire game would consist of two campaigns, each with 30 non-linear missions taking place in different weather conditions at different times of the day. Continue reading →

Posted in: AmigaOne, Reviews | Tagged: | Leave a comment

Inferno: The Odyssey Continues

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

1994 Ocean Software

Platforms: Amiga CD32 and Atari Jaguar (TBC)

As Commodore were desperately holding on towards the mid-1990s, the Amiga CD32 was also desperate for an injection of new and exciting titles to try and help keep everything afloat. Ocean and Digital Image Design (D.I.D) would answer the call with plans to release both T.F.X and Inferno: The Odyssey Continues on the platform.

inferno 640 2

Inferno was billed as the sequel to Epic by some magazines – even though developer Charles Wallace would later tell CD32 gamer magazine that it wasn’t really the case). It was reportedly set 90 years after the events of Epic, where you are a top pilot who has to battle the forces of good and evil.

D.I.D were looking to create an ambitious space simulator with complex and detailed 3D environments, with seven planets and three moons to explore and around 130 missions to complete (Charles later quoted 700 missions). Many magazines described it as being T.F.X (a typical jet fighter simulator) set in space, which is unsurprising considering it would be using essentially the same 3D graphics engine. Continue reading →

Posted in: Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, Atari Jaguar CD, Reviews | Tagged: | 3 Comments