Fan Game

Sometimes fans love a property so much that they end up making derivative works. One such type is the fan video game.

A fan video game, or "fan game" for short, is technically any type of game made by fans, for fans. In the context of this article, however, it is a game that is made completely (or near-completely) from the ground up. This contrasts it with a Game Mod, which uses an existing game as its basis. Unlike an Unlicensed Game, these games are rarely sold for profit.

Fan games are prone to Troubled Productions and are oftentimes vaporware. In contrast with just modding a game, making an original title can just be too much work for fans (especially since there is no profit in it). Other times, a cease-and-desist from the content owner puts an end to the project.

Contrast with Game Mod and can overlap with Fan Remake, Fan Sequel, and Video Game Demake. See also M.U.G.E.N, OpenBOR and RPG Maker, video game engines that are used to make their own fan games for Fighting Games, Beat 'em Up and RPGs respectively.

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Examples:

Based on Anime & Manga

• Grief Syndrome is a Beat 'em Up based on the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
• Your Bizarre Adventure is a Roblox-based RPG/fighting game hybrid based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Based on Live-Action Films

• The Room: The Game turns The Room (2003) into a 2D Top-Down Adventure-Style game.
• Terrordrome the Game: Rise of the Boogeymen is a big Intercontinuity Crossover between many of the famous monsters of movies, all made in CGI. Just like MLP: Fighting Is Magic, the game has been closed various times because of cease-and-desist clauses, but eventually was recreated in other fighting game engines like M.U.G.E.N and Fighter Maker 2000 by ripping their sprites and sounds to be remade under those engines.

Based on Literature

• Warrior Cats: Untold Tales is a Wide-Open Sandbox based off the Warrior Cats series which allows you to become a Clan cat (or rogue or kittypet, if you prefer), hunt, and explore. The game was later revamped into the commercial game Cattails.

Based on Live-Action TV Series

• The Babylon Project is a space combat flight simulator based on Babylon 5, using the open-source FreeSpace 2 engine.

Based on Toys

• Bionicle The Masks Of Power (here's the homepage) is an in-progress BIONICLE fan-game recreating the 2001 saga and boasting an extensive re-creation of the island of Mata Nui.
  • Masks of Power isn't the only one of its kind. Bionicle Quest For Mata Nui has been in development for over six years and even got approval from LEGO themselves!. They've also gotten Tony Wedgwood, the narrator for the majority of the G1 commercials, to do some voice work for the project.

Based on Video Games

• Abobo's Big Adventure gives A Day in the Limelight to the eponymous Giant Mook from Double Dragon, having him fight through a huge mashup of Nintendo Entertainment System goodness.
• Torotribution is an upcoming Cave Story fangame where you play as Alex, a childhood friend of Toroko whose goal is to revive his lost mimiga friend with the help of Balrog's cousin, all through graverobbing and other shenanigans...
• Chrono Trigger Resurrection (later renamed Chrono Resurrection) was to be a full-3D remake of Chrono Trigger, until it was C&D'd away (a few years later, Square Enix would publish the Nintendo DS port).
• Crash Bandicoot: Crash Bandicoot Crystals Wrath is a Crash Bandicoot fan game that has been stuck in Development Hell for a while. It's been in development since 2013 but has been restarted several times. It was originally fully 3D ala Crash Twinsanity but is now 2½D like the original Crash trilogy.
• Dark Souls: Nightfall, a fan sequel to Dark Souls developed by an alumni of popular Souls modders. Features an extensive combat system, a very dynamic game world (with timers and a day and night cycle inspired by Majora's Mask), fully voiced NPC's, new bosses and enemies built from the ground up, a twisted and dark version of the first game's map, and a new story centered around the concept of exploring the Age of Dark for the first time in the series.
• Day of the Tentacle has a Fan Sequel known as Return of the Tentacle that has been in Development Hell since 2004. The prologue to it was finally released in 2018, and the rest of the game is still in the works.
• FGORPG, formally known as GBAFGO: FATE/GRAND ORDER for GAMEBOY ADVANCED is an upcoming Pokémon Emerald romhack of Fate/Grand Order, with Servants as Pokémon, with three Servants at once like Fate/Grand Order.
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Has its own page.
• Gradius:
  • Spolous is a Gradius game in all but trademarks, featuring its signature power-up meter, a variety of weapon loudouts, and a lot of stages inspired by the source material. Unlike most Gradius games, this one doesn't have respawn checkpoints, but your Options only fire regular shots.
  • Universe^note Look for the files that begin with "グラディウス風STG【UNIVERSE】" is more explicit in its referencing, taking the assets from the games themselves. It features noticably more intensive enemy patterns and attacks, but also features various conveniences like a rear-shot button and dying not completely de-powering your ship.
• HoloCure is a Vampire Survivors fan game based on the Virtual YouTuber group hololive, with the English groups -Myth-, -Council-, and Project: HOPE as the initial roster. Later updates are planned to include the Japan and Indonesian talents.
• Love Is Strange is a romance Visual Novel based on Life Is Strange.
• Mega Man is no slouch in the fan-game department, either. Expect to see a lot of Sailor Earth Robot Masters:
  • Hard Hat is a series of fangames based on Mega Man (Classic) series.
  • Rokko Chan is a Rule 63 example.
  • Mega Man: A Day in the Limelight, where Robot Masters take the place of the Blue Bomber.
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge has a fan remake/Affectionate parody M:I-2: LeChuck's Revenge, which also references Mission: Impossible II and tons of other pop culture media from the 1990s and early 2000s.
• Your Affection is a romance Visual Novel that serves as a sequel to Persona 4.
• Pokémon: While most fan games from this franchise are ROM hacks, Pokémon Uranium took 9 years to make in RPG Maker, and it features a whole new region with 100+ new mons. Unfortunately, it was taken down to avoid copyright claims.
• Power Bomberman, a Bomberman fan-game with an emphasis on perfecting the series' Battle Mode.
• Rayman has list of some fangames made by different developers.
• Resident Evil:
  • Resident Evil: During the Storm: A prequel to Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Puts you in the shoes of Kevin Ryman and several other police officers during the siege of the R.P.D. and forces you to make several critical decisions over the course of the story.
  • Resident Evil: REVisited: A prequel to the first game that puts you in the shoes of Trent, an Umbrella agent dispatched to the Spencer Estate after communications with the Mansion Lab cease.
• Rhythm Heaven:
  • Karateka Mania is a Rhythm Game based on the Karate Man minigames.
  • Polyrhythm Mania is a Rhythm Game based on the Polyrhythm and Built to Scale games.
  • Bouncy Road Mania is an extension of the Bouncy Road minigame.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Freedom Planet was first conceived as one of these before being retooled into an original story.
  • Project AXSX refers to a long-running attempt to recreate the famous cancelled Sonic game Sonic X-treme. It is one of various attempts but is the most well-known.
  • Sonic Utopia is an in-development fan game from a Sonic fan who doesn't like how Sega does 3D Sonic. It features Sonic's classic design and attempts to emulate the original games' charm with an open-world 3D twist.
  • Sonic Ages is a hand-drawn sidescroller styled after the classic games.
  • Sonic Studio is a Mega Drive-style game where players can build their own Sonic the Hedgehog levels. All the sprites are built from the ground-up.
  • Sonic Omens is an episodic fan-game with cutscenes and full voice acting. It's a 3D game using the Boosy gameplay.
  • Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a 3D Classic Sonic game made in the Doom Engine. It itself also spawned two mods that could classify as full fangames in their own right running on its engine, those Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart and Sonic Robo Blast 2 Persona.
  • There is the famous "Sonic.exe" creepypasta, in which the players control Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman (in that order) and get murdered by a demonic-looking Sonic each time.
• Spyro the Dragon:
  • Spyro: Myths Awaken was a game based off of the original Spyro the Dragon trilogy. It was originally conceived as Spyro 4 before being renamed. Myth Awakens had a retraux style similar to the PS1 games. The game was cancelled after it received a cease-and-desist. It was turned into Zera: Myths Awaken, starring a new protagonist.
  • Spyro 2 Spring Savanna is a fan interquel between the second and third games that is in development. It emulates the style of the games as well. The game creates a spring-based home world to go with the summer, autumn, and winter ones in the original Spyro 2.
  • Spyro Mortas Mayhem is a fan game in development. It allows you to play various characters such as Spyro, Flame, Ember, and Cynder.
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has The Jedi Masters, a full-conversion Game Mod for Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords that seeks to create a more satisfying conclusion to the trilogy than the controversial Star Wars: The Old Republic.
• Story of Seasons:
  • Stardew Valley started life as a Harvest Moon fan-game before becoming a Spiritual Successor instead.
  • Harvest Moon: Meadow of Dreams is an attempt at making a fan-game using fan feedback. It includes things people want in Harvest Moon, such as a Gay Option.
• Sugary Spire is an upcoming fanmade candy-themed Role Swap AU fangame of Pizza Tower.
• There are several Super Mario Bros. fan games made in Adobe Flash and other game engines. Here's a full list. Prominent examples include:
  • Super Mario Bros. Crossover sees several NES stars playing through recreations of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. Special, and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels,
  • Super Mario Fusion was a Mario fan game with a focus on Mario and friends adventuring through the Real World, with assets from Metal Slug and Halo as a basis. Eventually, other developers began adding more content and playable characters from other games, such as Sonic, Tails, Roll, Arthur, and many more, eventually renaming the project Mushroom Kingdom Fusion. Unfortunately, a number of factors led to the project's cancellation. The original head developer went on to make Super Mario Fusion Revival with intent to revisit the initial concept.
  • Mari0 is Super Mario Bros. with a Portal Gun.
  • Psycho Waluigi aims to fill the demand for a starring role for everyone's favorite Advertised Extra.
• Super Smash Bros.:
  • The Super Smash Flash series, Super Smash Flash 2 in particular, is an unofficial Super Smash Bros. installment made entirely in Adobe Flash.
  • Super Smash Bros. Crusade does something similar to the above.
• Due to the 10+ year Sequel Gap between The Great Giana Sisters and Giana Sisters DS, the Giana Sisters series has had several fan-games:
  • Giana's Return is a Fan Sequel that began development in 1998 and ended development in 2004. A different coder restarted the game but almost had to quit because an official sequel was coming out; Giana's Return was allowed to continue as long as it was freeware. The last patch for the game was released in 2014.
  • Giana Madness is a cancelled 3D fan game.
  • Mario & Giana Adventure is a 3D crossover between Giana Sisters and Super Mario Bros.
  • Giana Worlds is a 1999 Fan Sequel to the original game. It has a cancelled sequel called Giana Worlds 2.
• The Mansion is a game based off of Clock Tower.
• Touhou Project has an enormous amount of fangames for a game made by a single person, ranging from simple Flash games to shoot'em ups to RPGS to actual console games.
• Undertale has MANY, ranging from one-off battles to full-blown games. The ones with pages on this wiki include:
  • Dusttale: A game based on the Dusttale AU, in which Sans can remember resets and goes Ax-Crazy from hundreds of Genocide runs committed by the Villain Protagonist.
  • TS!Underswap: An upcoming game with an original take on a popular fan Role Swap AU. It's been in development in 2016 and had a demo released in December 2020.
  • Undertale: Last Breath: Another game based on the Genocide run, in which a certain Easter Egg character works together with the route's Final Boss to try to stop the Villain Protagonist.
  • Undertale: Papyrus's Belief: A game based on the Fandom-Specific Plot known as "Disbelief," which takes a spin on it by having Papyrus be unfazed by the death and destruction caused by the player during a Genocide Route instead of being completely broken by it.
  • Undertale Red: A battle against an Original Character, a Royal Guard member named Red, with multiple "routes" you can choose from and Multiple Endings. Notably turned Red into a Recurring Fanon Character.
  • Undertale Yellow: A prequel where you play as Clover, who is Doomed by Canon. Had been in development in 2016 with a demo released that same year and released in Dec 2023.

Based on Visual Novels

• Corpse Party has had alot:
  • Corpse Party Zero
  • Corpse Party: Cross Fear
  • Corpse Party if...
  • Corpse Party D2: Depths of Despair
  • Corpse Party D2: Fatal Operation
• Danganronpa:
  • LINUJ's Danganronpa Another series are fan-made Danganronpa games that take place in their own universe. There are two games, Danganronpa Another and Super Danganronpa Another 2.
  • Project: Eden's Garden is similarily based on Danganronpa, though in American setting instead of a Japanese one.
  • Ace Attorney Ultimate Justice is an in-progress crossover placing the Danganronpa cast within the Ace Attorney universe.
• Higurashi Daybreak started out as a fan-made first-person shooter based on Higurashi: When They Cry. It was eventually canonized and remade.
• Katawa Crash is a Flash game loosely based on Katawa Shoujo.
• Homecoming: Morenatsu Revisited is a fan-made continuation of Morenatsu, which intends to remake, expand, and finish the story after the latter was cancelled.

Based on Web Originals

• The Boss A Jacksepticeye Fan Game is a fan-game based off of the Youtuber Jacksepticeye.
  • The Boss Is Nothing is its DLC.
  • Glitch In The System is its sequel.
• Little Runmo - The Game is a fan game based on Little Runmo.
• RWBY:
  • Summer Rose Court is a visual novel based off of RWBY.
  • RWBY: Grimm Eclipse started out as a fan-game but partway through development it was licensed.

Based on Western Animation

• Call of Gruty is a mobile Third-Person Shooter game based on a meme originating from the Despicable Me fanbase.
• Nick Kalmar developed a Cats Don't Dance homage game, with help from artist Shelley Pleger and sprite builder Reggie, among others. It's a simple platform jumper with an occasional hazard to throw snowballs at. It's available as freeware from the fan site [1] under the Fun Stuff tab.
• DoodleBob and the Magic Pencil is an action-platformer game based on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Frankendoodle".
• Eggs For Bart is a horror game based on The Simpsons and a line from Game Grumps.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Up until its cease-and-desist. My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic was a game based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. After the CnD, Lauren Faust joined the Mane 6 team and helped to retool the project, which eventually became known as Them's Fightin' Herds.
  • Starswirl Academy was originally a romance visual novel based off of Friendship is Magic where you can date humanized versions of the Mane Six. Hasbro forced the characters to be name changed, however their designs and personalities were not, resulting in a cast full of Captain Ersatz. Even the characters initials are the same.
  • Story of the Blanks is an 8-bit horror game where Apple Bloom stumbles into the Everfree Forest.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue Palooza is a fan game ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) that pays homage to the Licensed Games of the cartoon developed by Konami.
• Mr. Krabs Overdoses on Ketamine is a dark parody of SpongeBob SquarePants where Mr. Krabs is a ketamine addict.
• IFSCL is a simulation game by Alexis Foletto, a.k.a. Immudelki or Immu, based on the supercomputer from Code Lyoko.

Miscellaneous Examples

• AI Dungeon 2 allows anyone to make a fan Text Adventure game thanks to the use of custom user-generated scenarios. In particular, there are quite a many JoJo's Bizarre Adventure scenarios that get uploaded onto the site daily.
• Edelweiss is a Dating Sim set in the universe of the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV mod Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg. No, we are not making that up.

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