Games on my computer

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Let me first say that at 75 years old, I have never played Nintendo or Playstation. I am not a Luddite. I am a retired Electronic technician who is more comfortable around hardware than software.

Last night I noticed that i have maybe 100 or more games on my computer with names like: Mystery Trackers, Redemption Cemetery, Hidden Mysteries, Feeding Frenzy (Deluxe, no less), Christmas wonderland, Angry Birds (heard of them, but never played),Pirate Poppers, and so on. I don't believe these came with the OS, but correct me if i am wrong. I can only guess that when I traded in my HDD for a SSD, the kind folk at Computer Doctor BG, did me a favor(?) and gifted these to me. I do not have enough time on this earth to waste my time playing these games (I waste my time playing Hoyle Card games or Mahjong). These games take up about 10 GB, probably more. Are there any of these games I should keep? I can't list them all so give me the top 5 or 10 games you keep on your computer before I send these to the Trash bin.

Pete

 

[chscag]

Most of those games you named are probably 32 bit and won't run in Catalina. Like you I have a solitaire card game and several versions of Mahjong that I play. I also have a shooter game that I indulge in once in awhile especially after I watch politics on TV.

I would go ahead and delete anything that you don't care for. You might want to try some of them first.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Well it is odd that a reputable(?) computer repair shop would participate in software piracy since you didn't purchase these apps and don't have a "license" to keep them. Either way, if you aren't into playing those games, there's no reason for you to be wasting space on them. However, if space is not an issue, then there's no reason you can't just ignore those apps and use the ones you normally do.

 

[ferrarr]

Where did you see these games? What is their exact location? Have you tried to open & play them?

 

[pm-r]

Last night I noticed that i have maybe 100 or more games on my computer with names like: Mystery Trackers, Redemption Cemetery, Hidden Mysteries, Feeding Frenzy (Deluxe, no less),

You could try checking them out if you want to waste your time on them by checking them here:
Download the best Mac apps : MacUpdate

They are all probably cheap demos or maybe even shareware, so are most likely crippled in someway unless they have been paid for or part of a software bundle.

It sounds like the trash and a delete is a good place for most of them, but if any or many have been played at some point or tried out, you may want to invest in the small utility program like App Delete,.app or AppCleaner equivalent, that will help get rid of any and all bits and pieces.

AppCleaner 3.5 free download for Mac | MacUpdate



- Patrick
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[Rod]

The first one you mentioned, Mystery Trackers, Redemption Cemetery, Hidden Mysteries is a HOD (a Hidden Object Game) distributed by Big Fish Games. Many of their games are available on the App Store for iPad and iPhone or directly from Big Fish for macOS. Mystery Trackers, Redemption Cemetery
It is 32bit as are all of their games as far as I can see including their macOS Game Manager, although that may change.
Their games are self contained apps and can be simply trashed in one, the others I don't know but probably the same.
Are you sure nobody else has been using your computer because Big Fish require a yearly subscription for downloads or one off payments from the App Store.

 

[pm-r]

Are you sure nobody else has been using your computer because Big Fish require a yearly subscription for downloads or one off payments from the App Store.

No problem direct downloading most of their software without a subscription or payment of any sort from here for example:
Download Mystery Trackers: Silent Hollow | MacUpdate
Or a free trial at
Mystery Trackers: Silent Hollow | macgamestore.com

It's also possible that the store was inclined to include a sample games bundle of which they got a commission if and when the client paid for them when they updated to the full version.

That used to be a fairly common practice many many years ago and when most downloads were done by slow dial-up modems. Often free samples were just provided as a "bonus".


- Patrick
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[Rod]

Wow, really, I didn’t know that. Hard as it may be to believe I’ve never had a new hard drive installed in any of my computers in the 30 odd years I’ve been using Macs. If they were out of warranty I did it myself, if not it was done by Apple. Never had any “free” games packages installed.


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Rod Wanted to get an SSD to replace my1TB HDD. HD was 6+ years old. working okay but wanted something that would not fail me mechanically eventually. Also wanted SSD faster speed. Let the shop do it as my vision (left eye cataract) not to mention my fingers being a little shaky at 75 would have been problematic.
Only I use my Mac, iPhone and iPad. Wife has a PC. No one else in the house.
Haven't tried to use any of the games....But, I have a DOS Hoyle card game that I can play even with Catalina. Believe I just transferred the program into my Application folder years back. The only thing is when I exit it, my print and icons are smaller than normal. Restarting puts it back to normal. Pete