Download the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack

The Best of Windows Entertainment Pack was released by Microsoft back in 1995 for Windows and in 2001 by third-party publishers to the Game Boy Color.

Microsoft released a total of four Windows Entertainment Pack packages for Windows that it sold as standalone game packages for Windows.

Each pack included seven or eight games; some of the games were classic Windows games such as Minesweeper or FreeCell, others popular games at the time such as Tetris or Taipei (which later become Mahjong Titans and Microsoft Mahjong).

All games were 16-bit games which ran on 16-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows but not on 64-bit versions.

The Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack

Microsoft released the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack in 1995. It included 16 games of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack series and released under the Microsoft Home series of software.

The Best Of Windows Entertainment Pack 32 Bit/64 Bit Compatible Version is a rare version of the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack that includes several of the most popular games of the entire series and some applications.

Rare also, because it was never released and lacked some of the games such as Chip's Challenge, JezzBall or Pipe Dream which the original Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack included.

What makes it special is that all of the games and apps included in the pack run on 64-bit versions of Windows as well.

It includes:

• Calc -- good old Windows calculator.
• Cruel -- a Solitaire card game.
• FreeCell -- classic FreeCell game.
• Golf -- another Solitaire card game.
• MSPaint -- classic Microsoft Paint.
• Pegged -- strategy game in which you need to eliminate pieces to end up with a single piece by jumping over pieces to eliminate them.
• Reversi -- classic Reversi game.
• Snake -- Grow your snake by eating apples.
• Sol -- Solitaire.
• Taipei -- Mahjong game.
• Tictac -- 3d Tic Tac Toe game.
• Winmine -- Minesweeper

All games run under any supported version of Windows. I tested the games on a 64-bit Windows 10 Pro machine and they ran without any issues.

You can download the entire package or individual games from the Archive.org website. The entire package has a size of less than 2 Megabytes; individual games have a size of less than 100 Kiloybtes and the largest file is Microsoft Paint with a size of 400 Kilobytes.

Just download the collection from the website and extract the archive on the local system. All games and apps can be run right away without installation; great for putting them on a USB Flash Drive or running them in locations with strict installation policies.

All games run locally only; they have no Internet component or phone home functionality. The classic games, for instance Winmine or FreeCell, work pretty much like newer versions of those games. The controls may be more clunky but gameplay itself is largely the same.

Closing Words

The Best Of Windows Entertainment Pack 32 Bit/64 Bit Compatible Version includes classic games and some apps that you can run on any modern version of Windows. The programs are as lightweight as it gets but still fun to play around with.

Great for Windows 10 users who don't want to install Windows Store apps to play games and those who prefer games and apps that keep things local.

Now You: Do you play games on your Windows PC?