Back then we extended the usable lifetime of 286/386 by using them as home computers where we didn't need to play the latest games. People who got 286/386 as first computer probably got them after they were decomissioned from business due to being obsolete. 386 got longer life thanks to 32bit programming with protected mode. In hindsight it was probably better to get an old computer back then not only from financial perspective but also education - people who got good computers focused on gaming only.

Nowadays, it makes little sense to run Transport Tycoon, Command & Conquer on a 386 like I did and play it at sluggish pace. This makes the target era for such a retro computer shorter than it was historically.

For 286, the end year is about 1993. The reason is 32bit protected mode games requiring 4MB+ RAM from 1994. You cannot play Doom.
For 386, the end year is about 1994. The reason is games requiring 8MB RAM and 486 instruction set from 1995. Games released in 1994 can run sluggish, like Lion King, Transport Tycoon, Warcraft 1. Heretic, Rise of the Triad cannot be played.

.. I've played a lot of shareware games on Windows 3.1 on my 286 throughout the 90s. 🤷‍♂️
Maybe I was just lucky, but there were only a few that needed a 386+.
If they did, it was because of WinG, I think.

Comet Busters! comes to mind, it used WinG in a later version.
The old version I played on my 286 didn't use WinG yet, I suppose.

A good overview can be found here, I think: https://win16.page/

So far (currently) the numbers are like this:
8088: 130 games
V20: 49 games
80286 - Real Mode: 4 games
80286 - Standard Mode: 363 games
80386 - Standard Mode: 14 games
80386 - Enhanced Mode: 27 games

Commercial titles using WinG or Win32s were needed a 386+, of course.
There also were Win32 builds of some games I had on Windows 3.x.
Such as Hyperoid32, EMPipe32 or Enhanced Wintrek.
They were test builds for then-new Windows NT 3.x, I think.
Some also ran on Win32s and Win95, Inthink.

There was a time that the 286 ran the world, economy and space ships.
Beyond the sky as the limit.

Jo22 wrote on Today, 14:35:

.. I've played a lot of shareware games on Windows 3.1 on my 286 throughout the 90s. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe I was just lucky, but there were […]
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.. I've played a lot of shareware games on Windows 3.1 on my 286 throughout the 90s. 🤷‍♂️
Maybe I was just lucky, but there were only a few that needed a 386+.
If they did, it was because of WinG, I think.

Comet Busters! comes to mind, it used WinG in a later version.
The old version I played on my 286 didn't use WinG yet, I suppose.

A good overview can be found here, I think: https://win16.page/

So far (currently) the numbers are like this:
8088: 130 games
V20: 49 games
80286 - Real Mode: 4 games
80286 - Standard Mode: 363 games
80386 - Standard Mode: 14 games
80386 - Enhanced Mode: 27 games

Commercial titles using WinG or Win32s were needed a 386+, of course.
There also were Win32 builds of some games I had on Windows 3.x.
Such as Hyperoid32, EMPipe32 or Enhanced Wintrek.
They were test builds for then-new Windows NT 3.x, I think.
Some also ran on Win32s and Win95, Inthink.

ohh nice website thanks

myabandonware lists hundreds of games in 1990s and I believe many of them will work on 286, even those released in 1994/1995, many from https://win16.page/ but it will not be the top selling games.

286/386 are very rare these days and deserve to be conserved for future generations. Their greatest value is authenticity rather than the amount of software they can run.