Remembering Microsoft Entertainment Packs, the Candy Crush of the 1990s

Casual gaming can be a bit of a dirty phase these days. It conjures up images of ad-laden freemium games where you spend more time watching a video about another game than actually playing the one you downloaded. Once upon a time though, casual gaming skipped the word 'casual' and focused squarely on 'you mean I can play games on my office computer instead of look at these dull spreadsheets?!' And that's how so many early 90s PC owners found themselves hooked on a Microsoft Entertainment Pack.

It's weird to think about now but, back in the early 90s, Microsoft needed to make Windows more appealing to both homes and small businesses. We take it for granted these days, but back then people weren't sure if they actually needed a PC at home and small businesses had other plans. Who could blame them? PCs were expensive.

I distinctly remember the family PC costing a good £1,000 or so, and it took up a lot of room too. What started out as a work tool for both my parents, as well as an educational tool for me, soon turned into a place where you could find a scrappy selection of games to lose your free time to. Much of that selection stemmed from the Microsoft Entertainment Pack.

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