BeamWars is a Macintosh shareware

Shareware

The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...

 arcade

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

-style game that was popular in the early 1990s, created by Steve Crutchfield while he was attending the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Its pioneering use of digitized sound, music and voice effects (including the trademark "Welcome to BeamWars" and "The game is a draw" samples), and arrival as one of the first well-known full-color games for the Macintosh, won it a number of accolades, including recognition as one of the three best Macintosh shareware games of all time in MacUser

MacUser

MacUser is a biweekly computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK.In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, licensed the name and “mouse-rating” symbol for MacUser to Ziff-Davis Publishing for use in the rest of the world....

magazine's 1992 book, "MacUser's Guide to Shareware".

Objective

The player controls a beam of light which is capable of moving up, down, left or right. The objective is to avoid hitting anything while forcing your opponents' beams to crash into yours, their own, or a wall. After a set amount of time, the walls begin to close in, making survival more difficult and forcing players closer together. The winner of each round is the last surviving beam, and points are awarded based on how long each beam survived. After a few rounds, the player with the highest score wins the game. The game supports a maximum of 4 players, either human or computer controlled.