Well, at least in BD, when a bottom boulder is removed, the ones straight above will fall down… which is not the case in this game if your review is to be believed (also seen on that hilarious screenshot ).

Ah, no they are slightly more sophisticated. But I have to admit they are very much alike: 'Eat' away some pieces and watch the others fall.


In a way they were a precursor to the internet, which in the the end really killed Shareware. Maybe for the reason you cite above, the overabundance of stuff and not knowing how to keep up with it, maybe it was also because there was enough free games to make you wonder why you should pay for the other ones in the first place. In the end all that remains of Shareware are trial versions and something like it's inversion: The Kickstarter (paying for a game that doesn't even exist instead of paying for a game you already have).

So, to sum it up, this game has worse physics than Boulder Dash?

On the topic of the news, I would actually argue that those compilation CDs killed the Shareware concept. At first, they certainly did bring more attention to it on the surface, but if you think about it, it took away attention from the individual games. It sort of was the beginning of the age of total availability of too much stuff which nobody ever could find the time to even try out seriously! Don't we all know and hate it these days…?

Feel free to share anything about Operation Cleaner (1998) here!