Fan game
Template:Current-GCOTW Fangames are video games made by fans featuring popular video game characters from one or several established video games. Sometimes the style of play in question is as close to the original as possible, but as often as not fangames have unusual twists or are different altogether. Though the quality of fangames has always been variable, recent advances in computer technology and in available tools have made creating high quality games easier.
Many fangames attempt to duplicate the gameplay originally found in the source material, while others may take the notable characters or locations and drop them into an entirely different play experience. Other variations may occur with the characters and locations themselves, changing the tone or style by which they are presented.
Fangames are made with a variety of tools. Some of the more common ways of doing this would be by using readily available programs designed for the casual user, while others may choose to manually code a game from scratch in a programming language.
Some companies go out of their way to shut down fangames, declaring them copyright infringements. Such shutdown has been believed to have a chilling effect on free speech, where amateur developers can't predict what a court will find as fair use. Other times, companies have endorsed fangames. Very few companies have ever officially made comments on fangaming, however; one company that has is Capcom, who formally stated that fangames of their products could be made. This is also seen through a Myst fangame, called The Ages of Ilathid, where Cyan Worlds, the original creators of Myst, had given permission to the creators of the fangame. Most companies that don't outwardly promote or challenge fangames have in the past exacted a de facto policy of non-involvement or neutrality, officially stating that their copyrighted material may not be used without permission, but refusing to prosecute fangamers for doing so, in much the same way as fanfiction is produced.
Because of the sheer number of fangames available on the Internet, it's rare for any one game or game designer to achieve any kind of immense popularity.
See also
- Dojin soft - Japanese equivalent.
- Game Maker
- Klik & Play
- Game Development
- Amateur Adventure Games