There are many different origin stories with how our favorite video games come to be. Some simply start as fresh ideas that someone may not have seen represented in the gaming space. Others come from playing other games that they love and finding ways to expand on the concepts presented in those.
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But one of the more unique journeys for a game to take is them not necessarily starting out as a game, but amod for an existing game instead. While this doesn’t seem like it is incredibly common, there are many massively successful games that have released over the years that started out as simply a fan-made project.
10Chex Quest
As a way to advertise products, there have beenmany licensed video gamesto come out from movies to comic books. There even some non-media products that have dipped their toes into video games such as Chex cereal with a first-person shooter calledChex Quest.
Originally a mod forDoom, the non-violent experience has players walking around the planet of Bazoik as they attempt to take down the alien species of Flemoids. There are a variety of weapons inChex Quest, all of which do not kill the enemy but rather “zorch” them back to where they came from.
9Antichamber
Mods are all about implementing cool gadgets for players to interact with that aren’t in the main game.Antichamberisa puzzle platformerthat plays with psychedelic visuals and was made inside ofUnreal Tournament 3before it became its own standalone game.
Originally calledHazard: The Journey of Life,Antichambergoes out of its way to attempt to blow the player’s mind, mainly with the use of its environments and a gun that can be used to manipulate what is in front of the player. There is also music that matches with the world and evolves as the player advances.
8Killing Floor
In 2005, a mod was released forUnreal Tournament 2004calledKilling Floor. It would go on to become its own standalone game a few years later and was successful enough to get a sequel for the game and developer TripWire Interactive to later become a publisher.
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Another first-person shooter,Killing Flooris a wave-based game where players must work alone or with others in taking on hordes of ZEDs until they either die or defeat the final boss known as the Patriarch. There is also a mode that can help players earn coins that they can use to purchase tools for the various waves.
7Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
One of the most frequently modded games out there isHalf-Lfie 2, which was one of the first games to be developed using Valve’s Source engine. A game that spawned from a mod of the classic first-person shooter isChivalry: Medieval Warfare.
Taking from theAge of Chivalrymodification,Chivalry: Medieval Warfareis a first-person slasher set in medieval times when arenas of up to 32 people face each other in combat involving nearly 60available weaponsof that era. While it is mainly an online game, there are offline offerings for those who want to practice with the gameplay.
6The Forgotten City
While many mods attempt to subvert the gameplay of the base game they are created in, some just want to tell a much different story than the one told in the original game.The Forgotten Citywas a beloved mod forThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimbefore it became itsown standalone experiencemany years later.
The game takes place in an underground city that the player accidently falls into and travels 2,000 years into the past. From there,The Forgotten Cityplays like a time loop as players must figure out how the society falls apart thanks to the sins of one individual. If they can’t stop the calamity from happening, they must restart the loop from the start.
5Garry’s Mod
The Source engine is so fun to play around in that a developer decided to make aHalf-Life 2mod that allowed normal players to mess around with its systems.Garry’s Modthen became its own game that has since had many modes added to it thanks to user-generated content.
Aphysics sandboxexperience,Garry’s Modpulls characters from various Valve games and puts them into the mod to play around with and even let players set up their own scenarios. There are numerous maps that can be pulled in from these games, as well as user-created maps as well that are used to play other modes.
4The Stanley Parable
While this is yet another Half-Life 2 mod,The Stanley Parableis one of the most fascinating mods to be released to then be its own game as it strays so far from the original universe the mod was placed in. This is mostly due to many asset changes and a much different tone from the original game.
Related:The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - Best Additions To The Original Game
A walking simulator,The Stanley Parablehas players control Stanley as he wanders his office trying to figure out why his co-workers are gone. Meanwhile, a narrator tells him where he goes next in the story. However, part of the fun of the game is disobeying the narrator and going down different paths to see the game’s many endings.
3Team Fortress Classic
Many Valve fans would probably know more about the game’s sequel since it was a complete overhaul of its source, butTeam Fortress Classicitself was a massive hit when it first came out. It was originally a mod forQuakebefore Valve acquired it and released a full game in 1999.
Team Fortress Classicpits a red and blue team against each other as they play in a variety of modes, including capture the flag and escorting missions. The game is known for having a variety of different classes that range froma Soldier to a Medic, some of whom are made more famous in the game’s follow-up.
2PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Known as one of thefirst battle royalesto take the world by storm,PlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundstook the world by storm upon its release in 2017. However, it started out as a mod forARMA 2, as well as a handful of other games following that.
Played alone or with a team, players parachute down into a map where they must land then collect materials they need for battle, such as weapons and healing items. Taking down players will allow others to loot their bodies and gear up further. The goal of eachPUBGmatch is to be the last person standing.
1Dota 2
Similarly to how Valve acquired the rights toTeam Fortress, Valve also acquired the rights toDefense of the Ancients, a mod made inside ofWarcraft 3: Reign of Chaos. The company then decided to begin a franchise by creating and releasingDota 2in 2013.
The classic MOBA pits two squads of five players against each other as they try to get into their opponent’s base and destroy a statue within it called the Ancient.Dota 2has since become one of the biggest Esports in the world and continues to be supported nearly a decade after release.
