There may be no truer PC gaming experience than messing around with a game for a few hours, deciding it's not quite what you're after, and then pouring a few thousand more hours into it after installing a heap of mods. One of the greatest strengths of PC gaming is, was, and forever shall be the modders who fix bugs, rework mechanics, and add more adventures to the worlds we don't want to leave.
Many of our PC Gamer Top 100 picks this year aren’t just classics in their own right: They've become functionally endless and self-sustaining games through community efforts. They may have been great to begin with, but modders have made them truly unmissable.
Here’s nine of them, highlighted along with a handful of their best or most iconic community creations.
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
2024 Top 100 rank: #96
Sometimes mods elevate a game. In this case, mods are practically required to run it at all. Developed using an early, unsupported version of the Source engine, Bloodlines launched with serious issues. But under that thick crust of jank lay a gem of a game that the community has been polishing ever since. Here’s a trio of projects expanding and improving this flawed classic:
- Bloodlines Unofficial Patch by Wesp5: It’s functionally impossible to play VTM:B without some kind of fix pack, but this eternally evolving project is all you need to get started. Those willing to delve into its optional ‘plus’ features will find a treasure trove of restored cut content and even a growing side-campaign where you play as a vampire hunter.
- VTMB: Clan Quest Mod by burgermeister01: Nearly five years without an update, this one might be getting a bit long in the tooth, but it’s still the closest thing VTMB has to a proper expansion. Adding a new hub area, a major questline to each clan, plus a handful of sidequests scattered through the game available to any character.
- VtM: The Final Nights by Zer0morph: A mechanical remix with some extra quests mixed in, this ambitious mod comes with a full old-school manual, detailing seven all-new playable clans (replacing the originals) and all of their new powers and gameplay mechanics. The experience is overall a bit tougher, more in line with old tabletop rules.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
2024 Top 100 rank: #57
There are few AAA franchises more defined by their mods than the Elder Scrolls series, and that legacy really began here; the first game in the series where fans could really change its world. While not quite as popular with modders as Oblivion and Skyrim, here’s a trio of enduring Morrowind mega-projects.
- Morrowind Rebirth by Trancemaster & crew: Morrowind wasn’t the prettiest or most polished game even in its own time, so a large chunk of the community have spent well over a decade polishing it up, fine-tuning its balance and refining what was already there. Rebirth now feels almost like a professional remake, with regular updates still rolling in.
- Tamriel Rebuilt by the Tamriel Rebuilt Team: Tamriel Rebuilt is the opposite. Rather than further refine what’s there, it expands the original map outwards, filling in the blanks and adding new cities with their own quest arcs to the world that fit in so seamlessly that it’s hard to tell where ‘vanilla’ content ends and the modded stuff begins.
- Skyrim: Home of the Nords by SHOTN Team: And here’s the bizarro third option. Why linger on Morrowind’s volcanic valleys and strange giant bugs when you could pine for the fjords? This mod brings a large chunk of Skyrim (with more planned in future updates) to the game, with over a hundred new quests to tackle in the region’s colder climes.
The Binding of Isaac
2024 Top 100 rank: #55
Arguably the game that defined the action-roguelike as we know it, and one with a famously active mod scene. The final expansion, Repentance (required for most higher-end mods) was primarily the work of the community, based on their Antibirth mega-mod.
Now it’s easier to mod Isaac than ever, thanks to full Steam Workshop support. Here’s three must-haves:
- Fiend Folio: Reheated by too many people to credit: Still the biggest, still the best. A colossal slab of new content that rivals the Repentance expansion in scope, making every single basement floor variant into a distinct environment with its own full set of monsters. There’s a big ‘Reloaded’ update on the horizon, too.
- Skill Trees by Ab Aeterno: A rapidly evolving showcase of what the recent Script Extender allows modders to do. This adds a Path of Exile-like meta-progression skill tree to the game, letting you level, upgrade or modify your favorite characters over the course of dozens of runs, or even slot gems into the board to modify your modifiers!
- Epiphany by The Epiphany Team: Restrained, but focused. Eight ‘tarnished’ variants of the original characters (with another nine planned), each with new mechanics and gimmicks. Everyone gets challenges, unlockable items and trinkets. Everything fits into the game so seamlessly, it feels official.
Starcraft 2
2024 Top 100 rank: #31
Blizzard’s flagship RTS has always had decent mod support, but the past couple years have seen a real resurgence, thanks to a mixture of improved official modding tools, an in-game campaign browser and some new high-level options available for those outside of Blizzard’s walled garden. Here’s a few recent full-game-scale highlights:
- Starcraft: Mass Recall by karlprojektorinski & crew: The entirety of Starcraft 1, Brood War, the demo missions and even the N64-exclusive content recreated in the Starcraft 2 engine. A genuinely great way to re-experience the original story with better AI and major quality-of-life improvements, with options to play vanilla-style, or with Brood War tech in the OG missions.
- UED: First Light by NexusCore Games: Probably the most polished custom campaign to date—11 missions, with more to come—fully voiced with cutscenes. This is the story of humanity’s first alien encounters, long before they started using convicts as space marines. Be warned that its missions are LONG and HARD. Save often and play at normal speed.
- Azeroth Reborn by Synergy: Available through Starcraft 2’s in-game campaign, this is an impressive remake of Warcraft 3 that puts Blizzard’s own ‘Reforged’ remaster to shame. Featuring all the quality-of-life improvements you’d expect from SC2, better AI, finer balance and years of community feedback and tuning.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
2024 Top 100 rank: #30
Some mod scenes are late bloomers. Up until recently, Halo modders were limited to using the old, janky Gearbox-developed PC port. Now the massive Master Chief Collection is seeing a renaissance thanks to the release of modern, official tools and Steam Workshop integration. Here’s some highlights:
- Cursed Halo Again by InfernoPlus: What if every possible intrusive thought you had made it into Halo? A chaotic, nonsensical remix of the first game, with Minecraft grunts, piss beams, a salt rifle, D20 grenades and an entire multi-track Mario Kart tournament integrated into the story, cutscenes and all. Also Master Chief knows kung fu now.
- Halo 4 Reflow by d3ad connection: Rebalance mods for the MCC campaigns are common enough, but no game needed an overhaul more than Halo 4. This impressive mod brings the much-maligned combat and aesthetics of Halo 4 (including its underrated Spartan Ops co-op campaign) more in line with its predecessors. Great even for a first playthrough.
- Ultimate Firefight Series by Weaver900: A rich, meaty Halo stew. Enemies, vehicles, bosses, NPC buddies and weapons from across the whole series, all thrown into a roguelite twist on the classic instant-action Firefight mode. Playable solo but absolutely best with friends, you’ll see something new every time you play.
Thief Gold
2024 Top 100 rank: #28
A stealth classic. While many gravitated towards Thief 2 and its broader assortment of environment textures and enemy types, the original game still has something special to it. Recent years have seen a small uptick in creative mods from its devotees, plus one astoundingly good full campaign:
- The Black Parade by an all-star team: Possibly the best Thief campaign ever made for any game in the series, official or otherwise. Ten intricate, non-linear and highly replayable missions starring a new protagonist, with a new story told through new, voiced cutscenes done in authentic Thief style. This is a must-play for all modern stealth game fans.
- Between These Dark Walls by Skacky: Part of why The Black Parade was so great was because of lead mapper Romain ‘Skacky’ Barrilliot: Community pillar and level designer at Arkane Lyon, now working on the upcoming Blade. Between These Dark Walls is the first in a trilogy of huge missions that were some of Thief’s best, pre-Black Parade.
- The Scarlet Cascabel by PukeyBrunster & Tannar: Two massive maps for Thief that stand in stark contrast with each other. The first half of this mod is set in a small woodland town, with medieval homes nestled in between tree trunks and roots. The latter half is a sprawling, often-spooky four-storey hotel complex that will take you hours to explore and loot.
Total War: Warhammer 3
2024 Top 100 rank: #12
Strained as the relationship between Creative Assembly and its fans can be, it’s hard to deny the tenacity and dedication of Total Warhammer modders, recently given a second wind thanks to some breakthroughs in what modders are capable of within the engine.
You will need all three Total Warhammer games to get the most out mods due to their Immortal Empires focus, but it’s worth it. Cheaper than a tabletop box set, at least.
- SFO: Grimhammer 3 by Venris & team: Probably the biggest and most enduring of all Total Warhammer mods. Grimhammer is a full-game rebalance and rework, aiming to make things a little more lore or tabletop-authentic without messing with that core Total War experience too much. The changes made would fill a novel, and most just feel right.
- Lost Factions: Araby by Team OvN: Just one of a series of mods by team OvN that expand little fringe bits of lore into fully playable factions. Four of them here, all based around the middle-eastern Araby. Desert caravans in the campaign layer, and magic carpet-riding archers and big blue Djinn in battle, plus some funky animated, sword-swinging ropes.
- The Old World Campaign by ChaosRobie: Mined Immortal Empires for all it’s worth? First: How? But, okay, if you’re after something fresh, here’s an all-new campaign map with its own objectives, hundreds of factions and nearly 1300 settlements to fight over. Everything old is new again, and full of grim darkness.
Doom (1996)
2024 Top 100 rank: #10
A '90s FPS classic with an open source engine, tools simple enough for anyone to create new levels and monsters with, and a massive community that’s always bringing in fresh blood. Doom has it all, and picking out the must-have mods would take forever. If you want to see the all-time bests, check out the community Cacoward archives on Doomworld. But here’s three personal picks from just this year:
- Eviternity 2 by Dragonfly & crew: Sequel to the stunning Eviternity (play that first). While this doesn’t have any GZDoom bells and whistles, it’s still one of the most impressive campaigns in recent memory. Six episodes with all-new aesthetics, great music, and tightly designed combat with some fun new monsters.
- Abysm 2: Infernal Contract by Jazzmaster: The Dark Souls of Doom mods. A Souls-like interconnected world map full of dungeons, multi-phase bosses and loot to find. This one’s been around a few years, but got a final ‘directors cut’ update in 2024 for it and its two expansion campaigns.
- Space Cats Saga by DerTimmy: What if Doomguy was a ‘90s big-haired anime catgirl? Four playable characters, all hilariously overpowered compared to Doomguy (even pistol-slot weapons melt Arch-viles like butter) but the levels throw whole armies of demons at you to even the odds, making for some deeply cathartic splatterfest excess.
Minecraft
2024 Top 100 rank: #4
Minecraft has almost always been a mecca for modders, and while the newer Bedrock edition of the game might offer a palace for fresh faced gamers to tinker with their experience (or just buy paid mod and skin packs), the old Java edition remains a lawless land of boundless creativity. Here’s three big projects running on that older codebase:
- Better Minecraft by LunaPixel Studios: Minecraft, but More. This enduringly popular mod pack draws content from across the community, but with the end goal of creating a familiar experience with more varied environments, creatures and way cooler themed dungeons, plus a few quality-of-life features like teleportation waystones and minimap system.
- Drehmal: Apotheosis by Primordial Team: One of the biggest and most impressive ‘adventure map’ mods, without getting too far away from core Minecraft. At least, not until things start taking a turn for the sci-fi. Playable solo or co-op, this massive hand-crafted world is packed with lore, quests and puzzles and even a full religion system.
- Pixelmon by the Pixelmon Mod Team: This incredibly popular mod (usually played on public servers) has so far evaded Nintendo’s legal wrath. Not even trying to mimic Minecraft’s aesthetic, the Pokémon here are detailed 3D models, ready to throw down in authentic turn-based combat against players, wild pokemon or NPC trainers.
