Preserving Cancelled & Unreleased Video Game History Since 1999
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.
Our next title is a strategy game which can allow for up to 4 players in total.
Number Jotto is described as follows:
“Deduction, logic and patience are the skills you must master to win the game. The object is to discover your secret jotto number using the least number of tries. Each move is your probe that the computer must respond to with two hints. Think carefully, examine your guess chart on the screen, eliminate and choose wisely. Your opponent may show no mercy. NUMBER JOTTO is an ideal strategy game for the entire family, and may be played with up to four people.”
The game was never to surface, and if it has – then it unfortunately hasn’t been preserved just yet. There is also a Vic 20 version which is yet to be found, and it would be great if the C64 and Vic 20 versions could be preserved. Can you help at all?
Our next game is slightly obscure, and was briefly advertised by US magazines in 1983. Thanks to Peter Weighill for the heads up.
The game was called Bubbles, and has you controlling Clarence the Clam, who must avoid and destroy menacing creatures of the deep. It was a clone of Centipede, and according to the coder Randal Linden – it was released. Some shops in Torono were selling it, but it is unknown if it ever made it to the US.
It is possible that Syntax didn’t last long, and Bubbles only made it out in limited numbers. Also in their line up was a utility called Scribbler, which also seems to be missing. However, Marco van Vlaanderen found Scribbler on an old tape in 2019.
We don’t usually host utilities that are missing, but have added to this entry as a curiosity and to ensure its preserved and available for others. Confirms it was released too :) Csaba Virag found a disk copy later, and this has been added to the download.
Do you know anything more about the Bubbles game though, and can you help us preserve it?
We’ve been on a roll recently (thanks to Peter Weighill) with a number of large company collections of games which have seemingly never seen the light of day, or they are just very obscure.
Our next set is from Orbyte Software, which was a US based company selling educational software. They had a staggering number of titles including:
Inventory Control– FOUND – See downloads!
Pre-School Concepts
Letters & Words
Count Down
Early Numbers
Early Math
Addition & Subtraction
Multiplication & Division
Math Pack Drills
Math Challenge I –FOUND – See downloads!
Math Challenge II
Math Logic I & II
Graphic Math
Fraction Skills I & II
Fraction Frenzy I & II
Decimal Equivalents
Decimals
Measures ‘n Metrics
Factors & Multiples
Prime & Composite Numbers
Advanced Calculations
Reading & Rhyming
Nouns & Verbs
Adverbs & Adjectives
Subject Agreement
Prepositions & Modifiers
Reading References I & II
Stars & Stripes
Map Skills
Pioneer Progress
History Flash
Earth Science I & II
Weather I & II
The Human Body I & II
Basic Machines I & II
Measuring Power & Mass
Measuring Energy
Dollars & Sense I & II
Money Wize – FOUND – See downloads!
Jigsaw Joggle
At Wit’s End
French
Spanish
Italian
Latin
Only three titles have been preserved so far, can you help us recover the rest?
Yet another collection of educational titles which don’t seem to be out there just yet, thanks to Peter Weighill for the heads up. Were they unreleased, or merely just limited release?
The titles advertised in US magazines by Gladstone Electronics was:
Alphabet Factory
Match-up
Adding machine
Take Away Zoo
The Word Bird
Time Zone
None of the games have been preserved just yet, though the Atari/Apple editions could well be preserved already.
It has recently been confirmed that “The Word Bird” and “Time Zone” were developed by Kevin Kieller and John Traynor (who created Jack Attack). The games and Alphabet Factory were designed by Jill Golick as part of her company Teego Software. Word Bird (Commodore 64) won a Parents Choice Award and was reviewed in Creative Computing – so it should be released and out there..
Do you know anything more about the titles, and if so can you help us preserve them?
Another publisher where most of the games seem to be completely missing. Unreleased or just not archived yet? We’re not sure. Thanks to Peter Weighill for highlighting
Davka Software seemed to specialize in Jewish related software, and had the following programs advertised:
Accelerated Software released a number of titles on the C64 back in 1984, but their advertised Space Wars game was one which never quite made it, or so it seemed.
Was it possibly due to the games market crash at the time? Or was it just a limited release that still needs to be found and preserved?
In May 2022, contributor Paladin managed to find a copy of the game and fully preserve it – confirming that the game did see a release (albeit limited).
Download a copy of the game below, and we can thankfully say that this is now a “case closed”!
Highlighted by Peter Weighill, Tunes n Trivia was a pop quiz game released in the USA and which seems to have only been sold via mail-order. As a result, the game could have had a very limited release overall.
It has been confirmed by the author’s son that the game was released, though only about 100 or so copies were likely sold.
It is hoped that someone out there may have a copy of the game which can be preserved fully. Please let us know if you do! :)
Another company entry, thanks to Peter Weighill, for a number of educational titles that are currently missing, and from another US based label called Sungem Educational Adventures.
The following games were advertised with screenshots:
Spelling Space Wars
State Chase
Kids on the Commodore
Beginning Years
Metric Fever
Searcher of the Solar System
Raceway U.S.A.
Math Mania
It is likely the games were actually released and are out there, but can you help us find them and get them fully preserved?
Thanks to Peter Weighill for the heads up. This entry is a collection entry for a bunch of educational titles that were advertised by “Little People Software” in the 80’s in America, but don’t seem to have surfaced just yet.
All of the following games were advertised, but were they released? If so, can you help us preserve them?
Humpty Dumpty alphabet program by Dave Paulsen
Little Bo Peep number program by Joe Sams & Scott Barker
L.P. Money I by Arron Grant
L.P. Money II by Tom Wanne
L.P. Shapes by Doug Knapp
L.P. Traffic Signs by Tom Wanne (FOUND – See downloads!)
L.P. Child Protection by Tom Wanne
L.P. Colors by Arron Grant
L.P. Farm by Arron Grant
L.P. Addition by Doug Knapp
L.P. Subtraction by Doug Knapp
L.P. Opposites by Tom Wanne
L.P. Multiplication by Arron Grant
L.P. Expressions by Arron Grant
It is possible they were all released, just in limited numbers – so this could be a case of just trying to find copies that are out there and get them preserved for its too late.
Our next entry into the GTW archives is a very neat proof of concept that has unfortunately been cancelled, but looks very impressive indeed.
Red Baron 3000 is a vertically scrolling shooter, with some cool parallax effects and simultaneous music and sfx. It was created by Hein Holt who was inspired by the parallax effects of Flimbos Quest and Hawkeye 2.
Originally planned to be a demo part, it expanded rapidly into a game, with enemy routines and collisions.
Work was halted when a major rework was required to try and free up more memory for the game as a whole, and also doing the artwork was found to be a slow and cumbersome process for Hein. There was a brief reprieve for the game, when Hein got inspired by seeing Xenon 2, and was going to manually convert all of the assets to the c64, when interest was lost again.
Hein decided to fully close the door on the game, and now it has been released into GTW64 as a result. A huge shame, as the game certainly looks and plays impressively, even at this early stage.
DISCLAIMER: We are a non-profit digitisation project, aiming to digitally preserve software and history which would otherwise be lost for good. If for any reason there is anything that you do not wish to be on the website, please contact us for removal.
Games That Weren't® is the registered trademark of Frank Gasking.
