While some gamers are happy to play a game as the developers intended, there are some video game fans that just aren't content with playing a game as it is and just have to download or even create mods for it. These mods can come in a variety of forms and can simply change the game's aesthetics or even take it a step farther and change huge elements of the gameplay.
There are mods out there for just about every game, particularly PC games where downloading mods and having them work in your game is pretty easy. Some of these mods have gotten really popular and there are a few that have actually been developed into full-fledged games of their own. Some of them stay similar to the original game, but then there are some that seem so different and unique that it's hard to believe they were once simply a mod.
To see 10 games that started out as mods, keep reading!
10 DayZ
DayZ is a survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has turned almost everyone into a violent, unpredictable creature known as an "Infected." Players have to scavenge for supplies, work with other survivors, and take down the Infected they encounter in order to survive.
This game started out as a mod of the same name and was originally created for the game ARMA 2. The mod is basically the same as the game, it puts the characters from ARMA 2 into the same fictional country as the full game of DayZ is set and pits them against violent zombies.
9 Garry's Mod
When it comes to mods that have become their own game, Garry's Mod is definitely one of the best-known. This game even kept the word "mod" in its title, so it's hard to forget that it once started out as simply an addition to another game. Garry's Mod, often abbreviated as GMod, is a sandbox game that was originally developed as a mod for Valve's Source engine.
The game has no real objectives, like most sandbox games, and there are a ton of game modes that people can play in the game. The game is particularly popular because of the fact that people can create their own game modes and share them with other players as mods for their own games.
8 Dear Esther
Dear Esther is an exploration-based adventure game that was released in 2008 as a mod for Valve's Source engine, but was later adapted to a full game in 2012.
This game is one that doesn't have a real gameplay objective and is focused entirely on exploring the landscape. The game has the player listen to a man narrating letters that he had written to his deceased wife while they explore and experience the landscape. Instead of being a traditional game, it's more focused on the story and visual experience.
7 Heroes Of The Storm
Heroes of the Storm is a multiplayer battle arena game that was released in 2015. The game features characters from different Blizzard franchises and is free to play.
Prior to the game being released as a full game in 2015, it was put online as a mod for the game StarCraft II in 2010. The game has two teams of five players come together to battle against each other in an online arena. The goal is to destroy the opposing team's central structure, known as the "Core."
6 Killing Floor
Killing Floor is a game that was released in 2009, four years after it was originally developed as a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. The game is a first-person shooter in which the player fights off waves of zombie-like creatures, known in the game as ZEDs.
In 2016, a sequel to the game was released and this game has become a super popular zombie-killing game in the years since it was released. It's set in London, England shortly after a human cloning experiment goes horribly wrong and creates the ZEDs that players are tasked with fighting off.
5 Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a multiplayer FPS game that was released in 2000. The game was originally devleoped as a mod for Half-Life and puts two opposing teams together to play against one another. There are multiple game modes that give the players a variety of different objectives, typically including things like defusing bombs or setting hostages free.
Since the release of this first game, the whole Counter-Strike franchise has really expanded. Today, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, often abbreviated as CS:GO, is a really popular multiplayer game and one that not a lot of people might know started out as a mod.
4 Cry Of Fear
Cry of Fear is a survival horror game that was released in 2012, shortly after it made its way online as a mod for the game Half-Life. The game went through a lot of delays in development during its time being created as a mod, but it was released as a retail game pretty quickly after coming out as a mod.
The game follows a teenager who was recently hit by a car and is now wandering around a city, solving puzzles and battling against terrifying monsters. The game has levels set in the real world as well as some "nightmare" realm levels and they're definitely all terrifying.
3 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is one of the games that really got the massive battle royale game trend off the ground and inspired so many other games in the genre. This game was released in 2017 and was created as a mod for the game ARMA 2. It was based on another mod, DayZ, and shared online as DayZ: Battle Royale.
In the game, up to 100 players are put on an island together where they're tasked with scavenging for weapons and supplies. The map gets smaller and smaller as time goes on, forcing players to face off against one another and battle to be the last one standing.
2 The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is an interactive drama simulation game that was released in 2011 as a mod for Half-Life 2. It was released two years later as a full, standalone game.
In the game, the player controls a silent protagonist whose every action is narrated by an omniscient but unseen figure. As the story goes on, the choices that the player makes about what to do or where to go can change the way things play out. At times, the narrator tries to suggest that the player have Stanley do something in particular, but it's up to the player to either listen to the suggestions or make their own choices.
1 Dota 2
Dota 2 is a massively popular online battle arena game that has become a staple of the esports world since it was originally released in 2013. Prior to being released as a full game, this game was developed as a mod for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.
The game pits two teams of players against each other and tasks each of them with trying to destroy the other team's structures. Along with trying to take down the other team's structures, the players have to protect their own and also battle the other team, making it a challenging multiplayer game.