There's no denying that there's something special about old, somewhat clunky games. Despite their bad graphics and predictable story lines, it's these titles that many people grew up playing, and possibly what also got them interested in games in the first place. New releases aside, enjoying the nostalgia factor is nice at times, too.

One of the most nostalgic parts about games from 15-20 years ago is the cereal box game. Once upon a time, it was totally possible to buy a box of cornflakes and get a cool game disk included. In fact, some of these games turned out to be surprisingly successful and iconic.

RELATED: 10 Game Sequels You Didn't Know Were Coming In 2020 From Indie Studios

Updated March 2nd, 2021 by Anastasia Maillot: Thanks to numerous nostalgia-loving communities around the Internet, more and more memories of the past are being preserved. Cereal box games in particular are a dying art form, which effectively marked the lives of many gamers in the 90s in particular.

Some of these early games are still around in one shape or form, and many of them were actually inspired by board games, which were digitalized. Here's a few additional games that you might recall from that time, some of which are also famous board games that are still available as PC games on Steam and other platforms.

15 Scrabble

Scrabble Cereal Box Game

Whether it was lack of imagination or lack of budget, many cereal box games were actually just copies of board games made into digital form. Back in the day, video games used to be simpler in nature, and among the first titles, many used to be like Scrabble: inspired by actual board games.

Cereal boxes with Scrabble inside as a free CD-ROM can still be found to this day on online marketplaces. It was in a bunch of different flavors, including Reese's Puffs and Cheerios.

14 Sorry!

Sorry Game

Another famous board game was Sorry!, which had players of four colors battling to get back to their respective color on the board while preventing other players from doing so. The classic board game was turned into a CD-ROM, which appeared in cereal boxes some time in the late 90s.

RELATED: Nostalgia Trip: 10 90s Nintendo Games That Need Switch Remakes

The game was found in a bunch of Hasbro Interactive's cereal boxes, and features and iconic and extremely old opening animation that's sure to remind everyone of how funky computer graphics used to be back in the day.

13 Pajama Sam

Pajama Sam screenshot with trees

Pajama Sam became a famous character first around 1996, when the first game in the franchise No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside became available in a few cereal boxes, which remain undocumented today. The popularity was good enough for subsequent games to be released, including early 2000s free demos in cereal boxes.

Pajama Sam is also available today on Steam, for anyone who might be missing those old time nostalgia gaming moments. A classic, colorful puzzle game, it's a must-have for collectors.

12 Spy Fox

Spy Fox Dry Cereal

Spy Fox was also a franchise which was born similarly to Pajama Sam from its popularity in cereal boxes. It was found in a variety of cereal boxes, including Kellogg's Coco Pops cereals. Spy Fox Dry Cereal became so popular it was event brought back for Wii later on, and made multiple appearances in the early 2000s.

Just like Pajama Sam, Spy Fox is also available for Steam for those who miss the quirky art style and old school gameplay of this classic cereal box title.

11 The Game Of LIFE

The Game Of Life

Back to more board games, a classic game that was adapted without hesitation for PC was The Game Of LIFE. Everyone remembers and recognizes this old school game and its board game box from the early 2000s. However, the PC game itself goes back into the 90s, when it was released around the end of the decade.

RELATED: 10 Games That Are Only Popular Because Of Nostalgia

The Game of LIFE was played just like the board game itself, with players having to tackle a myriad of life events while trying to ensure their families would survive and become successful. The game was in a bunch of Hasbro Interactive cereal boxes, and a new variant of it can be found in the board game section of Steam.

10 Toy Story 2

Based on Pixar's franchise of the same name, Toy Story 2 was a cereal box game that was included in many of the boxes starting from 1999 onward. It featured Buzz Lightyear as its main character, as well as familiar scenes from the Pixar movies.

The mission of the game is to head out and rescue Woody, who's been stolen by Al McWhiggin from Andy's yard sale. For its time, the game had pretty impressive graphics, especially for something free included in a Nestle's Frosted Shreddies box.

9 Bionicle

The Bionicle franchise is perfect proof of trends coming and going, and people eventually forgetting about them completely. However, back in the day, Bionicle toys were all the rage, and when a game of the same name was included in a Honey Nut Cheerios box, it was pretty revolutionary.

RELATED: The Best Free Xbox One MMO Games You Can Play

The game is an exact copy of the original story of the Bionicle franchise, with classic early 2000s game mechanics. The player gets to control each of the Bionicles as they fight through enemies.

8 Clue

Back in the day, it really wasn't uncommon for many video games to be inspired by pre-existing board games, like chess and Battleship. It's no wonder then that a game like Clue was interpreted as a computer game, and to this day can be played on PC to solve murder mysteries.

However, there's nothing more iconic than the Clue game that was included in the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal box almost twenty years ago. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to experience a traditional, well-loved game like Clue on the PC.

7 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

A somewhat newer game that was also found in a few cereal boxes is the video game rendition of the super popular TV game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. This PC game was included in the Cheerios cereal package as a freebie gift, and made our childhood dreams of participating in the show a reality.

With a set of increasingly difficult questions, players had to find the answer between four multiple choices as their points rack up until the final stage. They also have lifelines like 50/50, which eliminates two of the wrong answers, calling a friend and asking the audience.

6 Amazon Trail

Not all games found in cereal boxes were simply for fun. Some were more educational in nature, such as Amazon Trail. After answering the call of the Inca King, the player travels to the Amazon rain forests to set out on a journey through the wilderness.

RELATED: 10 Game Franchise Sequels That We Want To See This Decade

The game encourages exploring and identifying species, as well as discovering new locations while also ensuring proper health and survival capabilities in the wild. Amazon Trail was included in a box of Cheerios cereals, and delivered a surprisingly socially conscious narrative on the state of the Amazon rain forest.

5 Age Of Empires

It might be really hard to believe, but yes, Age of Empires, no doubt the most popular strategy game in history, ended up being included in a cereal box. Granted, the first game was only included as such once the second game was released.

Age of Empires is all about building and managing one's own empire, choosing from a few civilizations with different styles. From building one's own army to managing the population, this is the ultimate strategy game that many kids from the '90s will remember playing after discovering it in a Kellogg's Nutri-Grain package.

4 Cap'n Crunch's Crunchling Adventure

To advertise its cereal brand, Cap'n Crunch actually made its very own unique game which it then included in its cereal boxes. The premise of the game was pretty simple: thieves looking to steal the Crunchium used to make the cereal must be defeated by Cap'n Crunch's crunchling, who just so happens to be the player.

There's three mini games the player needs to complete to train against the thieves and the athletic competition they'll undertake to settle the conflict. It's a very strange and simplistic game, but it definitely has that sweet nostalgia value.

3 Backyard Baseball

No childhood is complete without playing this absolutely iconic baseball game at least once. Backyard Baseball was in fact once included in cereal boxes, only to become one of the most famous sports game franchises. Not just that, one of its characters, Pablo, is considered one of the strongest characters in gaming history.

RELATED: 10 Great Games For Families To Play While Stuck In The House

The game is basically a baseball sports game, featuring a whole host of playable characters who are all neighborhood kids. For its time, this game was incredibly diverse, featuring characters from a range of different backgrounds.

2 RollerCoaster Tycoon

Perhaps one of the most coveted cereal box games of all time is RollerCoaster Tycoon. To have this in a cereal box was pretty much a jackpot, due to it being so much fun and allowing for so much creativity. Among SimCity and other building and management games, RollerCoaster Tycoon was at the top of the charts at its height.

Essentially, the player would open up their very own amusement park. Through managing money and visitor satisfaction, they could unlock more attractions and build more roller coasters. It was the start of an iconic franchise, all in one cereal box.

1 Chex Quest

art of character fighting enemies and holding a spoon

Who would have thought that a promotional video game for a cereal brand would reach such incredible heights of popularity? The idea is absurd, and yet Chex Quest is without a doubt the cornerstone of any kids' childhood as one of the first first-person shooter games they ever played.

Imitating closely the play style and engine of the original Doom game, Chex Quest puts the player in a three-dimensional world where they must take down evil green enemies with the help of weapon upgrades and power-ups. The game became such a classic that it was re-released in 2019.

NEXT: Frogger: 10 Things You Never Knew About The Classic Video Game