i got aoe 1 once

IMO this was peak consumerism. They literally wanted to give you more so you chose them instead of trying to trick you.

The games weren’t that great, but they were based on solid game mechanics (cause it was old board games), just a little bit of extra fun for those who wanted to try it.

The copy of Roller Coaster tycoon I played as a kid literally came out of one of those boxes, there were some legit great ones on offer.
What do you mean "weren't that great"? I got the Star Wars : Pod Racer demo in a cereal box and that was a peak gaming experience for 6-yo me
- I literally got the entire movie "a bugs life" in a cereal box on DVD.
I got a (demo) for a spider man game that was pretty good for the time.

Chex Quest HD is on steam for free

I think Chex Quest was my gateway drug to PC gaming.
- Honestly, same

Wait, is that the full version of RollerCoaster Tycoon?

They used to deliver the hyperobsessions right to your house. The Matrix was right about 1999 being the peak of American civilization.

Now when I buy cereal, I barely even get cereal.

Don't worry. You'll be charged twice as much for it.
- As is expected.

Anyone else remember Mott's Mindquest?

you would be lucky for a game to fit on a cd anymore

Most indie games are pretty tiny still. The only reason games are so huge now are usually because of audio (I think one of the CODs shipped with every language's audio and was over 100 gigs) and sometimes big textures. Most devs don't really care about size any more and treat storage as basically infinite, but with some actual work you could get a lot of games to fit on a CD.
- it's the standard procedure with computers, the hardware is improved and thus software bloats up to use all the new resources to render glossy semi-transparent buttons
- I would love for them to come with Shareware CDs like you got in the 90s from magazines. Might encourage more Devs to make demos.
Free cereal shaped USB drives?

If they did it today they would be filled to the brim with malware

I had a MacRonald's computer game

Thats how i found lego rock raiders, GREAT game

They still do that today… except it’s Fortnite skins 😑

Convincing my mom to buy a box of cereal was a lot easier than convincing her to buy a copy of Roller Coaster Tycoon

The Egypt one

What's with the random picture of Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Its not random. It was one that was included. You can even see the General Mills (cereal maker) branding on the disc.

Games on CDs? When I was a kid cereal boxes had DIY finger puppets printed on the back.

2600hz whistle?