Ever since Sonic Boom in the mid-90s, fan-made games have sprouted up left and right. Instead of being made for profit, fan games are the product of love and passion. They’re what happens when talented gamers decide to go the extra mile and turn their affection into something we can all enjoy.
Fan-made games can be divided into two groups. You’ve got ROM hacks and total conversion mods, which require the base game, usually the source of inspiration, to enjoy the fan-made creation. There are also standalone fan games, built from the ground up, usually distributed as freeware.
1
Black Mesa
Black Mesa is the poster child for good fan-made games. It is a faithful Half-Life remake that is, in some respects, better than the original. It started its journey as a free Source engine mod in 2012 and was so good that Valve itself greenlit a commercial release. The team behind the game, Crowbar Collective, launched Black Mesa in Early Access in 2015, with the full release landing in 2020.
I beat the game shortly after it exited Early Access, and it ended up being one of the best first-person shooters I’ve ever played. Crowbar Collective took the timeless classic and augmented it just enough to feel better than the original, but not stray too far from the classic Half Life formula. A definite recommendation, even if you’ve played Half Life before.
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2
Fallout London
Fallout London is a total conversion mod for Fallout 4 that takes players across the pond, revolving around various factions vying for control of the UK’s capital. The core of its gameplay is rather similar to Fallout 4, but Fallout London introduces some improvements, like the expanded dialogue system.
While it was almost as buggy as Fallout 76 at release, the team has issued a couple of patches that greatly improved the game’s stability and squashed lots of bugs. I recommend the game to all Fallout fans, with the caveat that a number of quests can still bug out.
3
The Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos
Love the Gothic series? Me too. I still can’t believe just how hard the series fell from grace with Arcania: Gothic 4, nowadays known only as Arcania. Yup, the game was so bad that the publisher removed Gothic from its name…
Luckily, there’s The Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos, a fan-made game that’s a total conversion mod for the best game of the series, Gothic 2. And let me tell you, aside from the dated visuals, this game rules.
You’ve got probably the best story of the entire series, tons of quests, excellent voice acting, well-written characters that suck you into the world like no official Gothic game ever did, and enough content to spend 100+ hours exploring the island of Archolos. This is a no-brainer recommendation if you’re a Gothic fan or an RPG fan in general.
4
The Dark Mod
The last Thief game was kind of a dud, but The Dark Mod is here to the rescue. This is a standalone game/mod based on the open-source id Tech 4 engine that powers cult-classics such as Doom 3, Quake 4, and 2006’s Prey.
The Dark Mod is a massive game that features multiple campaigns and more than 170 levels, many of which match or surpass the best moments of the Thief series. If you’ve already blasted through every piece of content The Dark Mod offers, you ought to also check out Thief: The Black Parade, touted by fans as better than every official Thief game.
5
Nehrim and Enderal Games
Oblivion and Skyrim are two of the best and most popular RPGs ever. The Bethesda RPG duo, especially the latter, defined the past two decades of gaming, both spawning flourishing modding communities.
Arguably, the best two mods for Oblivion and Skyrim are Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge and Enderal: Forgotten Stories. The first is a total conversion for Oblivion, while the latter is a total conversion mod for Skyrim, including a version for Skyrim: Special Edition.
They feature completely overhauled gameplay (no level scaling for enemies in Nehrim, yay!), fantastic stories, and standalone campaigns set in a unique universe that’s not tied to the world of The Elder Scrolls games.
You don’t have to play the now pretty dated Nehrim to enjoy Enderal. Also, if you decide to check out Nehrim, make sure to apply the NTCore 4GB patch to the executable before starting the game.
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6
Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony
Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony is a standalone fan-made Wolfenstein game built in the GZDoom engine (an update of the original DOOM engine) that not only pays a breathtaking tribute to classic Wolfenstein games but also surpasses them in virtually everything.
It’s super fun, plays like a mix between Wolfenstein 3D and the first DOOM, has a fantastic campaign, and even features cinematics that flesh out the story. It’s an awe-inspiring achievement decades in the making and one of the most impressive fan-made games ever created. A stunning boomer shooter.
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7
Pokémon Unbound and Pokémon Emerald Seaglass
The legality of video game ROMs is a gray area, so it’s important to understand the risks before getting involved.
The world of Pokémon ROM hacks and fan-made games is vibrant, with dozens of fan-made creations sprouting over the decades. Picking just one fan-made Pokémon game is next to impossible, so I’ll only mention two of the most popular Pokémon fan creations.
Pokémon Unbound is a must-play game for every Pokémon fan. A gigantic Pokémon FireRed ROM hack that introduces a new campaign with 80 missions, every Pokémon up to an including the Gen 7, and tons of side content set in the region of Borrius provide dozens upon dozens of hours of superb fun.
Pokémon Emerald Seaglass is another massive ROM hack, this time overhauling Pokémon Emerald. It features updated visuals, a slew of upgrades, extra minigames, reworks of a number of Pokémon, custom settings, the addition of hard mode, new items, various QoL improvements, and more. It turns Pokémon Emerald into one of the best, if not the best, Pokémon game of all time.
8
Deus Ex: Nihilum
The first Deus Ex game—one of the best immersive sims ever—is similar to the first Blade Runner movie in that it didn’t earn tons of cash back when it came out but still managed to become a cult classic of the genre, adored by cyberpunk fans everywhere. Its popularity spawned tons of mods, including a fair few standalone mission packs and campaigns.
One of the best ones out there is Deus Ex: Nihilum, which introduces a new campaign that takes place in the Deus Ex universe but doesn’t follow the adventures of JC Denton, the protagonist of the first Deus Ex.
Instead, you’re put in the boots of a new main character who travels around the world over the course of the campaign to places such as Hong Kong, Queens, and Berlin. While the atmosphere, music, and gameplay are top-notch, the voice acting is a bit of a letdown. Still, thanks to its massive levels filled with secrets and excellent gameplay, Deus Ex: Nihilum is a must-play for every hardcore Deus Ex fan.
9
Radiophobia 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl might be the game with the most total conversion mods. Over the years, we’ve gotten dozens of conversions that greatly differ in quality, with a selected few offering an experience that surpasses the original they’re based on.
My recommendation for prospective stalkers who want to explore Stalker’s abundant mod collection is to start with Radiophobia 3, arguably the best way to experience S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.
The mod fully overhauls the game and introduces a deluge of improvements along with a visual facelift without changing the game’s story. If you’d rather play a standalone fan-made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly is the best one out there.
10
Third Age Total War
Total War games have been grounded in different historical eras during most of the series’ lifetime, with the Total War: Warhammer trilogy being its first excursion to a fantasy realm.
But Third Age Total War, a massive fan-made overhaul of Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms that allows players to conquer Middle-Earth from The Lord of the Rings, has been around way before Total War: Warhammer was a thing. I recommend downloading the Reforged version of the mod that introduces a ton of balance updates as well as lots of other updates and fixes.
For all intents and purposes, this is a full-fledged Total War game, only made by fans of the series instead of Creative Assembly, the official studio behind Total War. It’s massive, has an astounding campaign, includes every famous location from The Lord of the Rings books and many canon-friendly units, and works great even on potato PCs.
If you’ve got an itch to play a Lord of the Rings grand strategy, you won’t find anything that comes close to Third Age Total War.
