Being part of a creatively-driven fan community is a fantastic experience. Everyone shares a common passion - be it a movie, book, or game - and channel that energy into something constructive. Some people make art, others create music. And a few bring all those creative efforts together into something massive. Each entry on this list features a fan-developed game years in the making. Years spent toiling away in the developer's free time, hundreds of hours fueled by all-consuming fandom. And then poof all that work was undone.

The threat of a cease and desist letter hangs heavy over the heads of all fan developers working with someone else's creation. It is the Sword of Damocles, the Eye of Sauron, the all-powerful force that at any moment could shut the project down - but so often waits until the last minute to do so. Here are seven lovingly crafted fan games sunk by such letters.

It's only natural fans would want to spend more time exploring one of the Super Nintendo's most beloved JRPGs. While Chrono Trigger had an official sequel - Chrono Cross - it wasn't the direct sequel some wanted. Enter Kajar Laboratories, the fan-driven developer behind , an extensive ROM hack that looked and played just like the original. Set five years after Lavos' demise, Crimson Echoes finds the original cast on a new adventure involving alternate timelines, reptilian AI, and a resurrected king from the past. These plot points help set up the events of Chrono Cross, thus bridging the gap between the two games.

And here's the worst part: the game was cancelled just weeks before its release. After five years in development, Crimson Echoes was officially shut down in early May of 2009, mere weeks before its planned release date. By this point, the game "35 hours of gameplay and 10 separate endings" along with some new modes and other extras. Basically, everything you could have wanted from a Chrono Trigger 2.

The extensive fan-community surrounding My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is one of the most creatively-driven communities out there. So it should come as no surprise that - between all the music, artwork, and movies - a few fan-made MLP game have popped up as well. Fighting is Magic was a 2D fighting game from MANE6 who hoped to marry the spirit of My Little Pony with the high-speed action of Capcom's Vs. series. The result was a light years away from anything you'd find on MUGEN.

And here's the worst part: Fighting is Magic got hit with a cease and desist letter shortly after helping raise over $200,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. In 2013, the organizers behind EVO on their Facebook page to determine the eighth game in their fighting game tournament lineup. Fighting is Magic was on that list, and drummed up a fair amount of support, but that didn't save it from getting shut down shortly thereafter.

Kids and adults the world over have been capturing pocket monsters for almost two decades, and yet we still don't have an official Pokemon MMO. In 2009, a small team of independent developers sought to fix this glaring omission with Pokenet. Players were able to battle, train, and level up their Pokemon, even though the game was still technically in beta. In essence, it looked like a really crowded version of the Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen games, with dozens of trainers wandering the Pokemon wilderness.

And here's the worst part: Pokenet was shut down on April Fool's day. What kind of a sick joke is that? Plus, if you do a simple search for 'Pokemon MMO' you'll discover Pokenet isn't the only Pokemon MMO in town. So why did it have to be canned while all these others live on? Your guess is as good as mine, and mine is 'bad luck'.

This one is a real heartbreaker. After eight years toiling away on their own time, Spanish developer Bomber Link finally released Streets of Rage Remake. This massive game was a glowing tribute to an arcade classic. It contained over 100 stages, 19 playable characters, and a 76-song soundtrack remixed by five different musicians. It was a beast and, according to the developers, designed completely from the ground up. According to , "It does not use reverse engineering nor a single line of code from the original games. It's all based on visual interpretation."

And here's the worst part: Not only did Sega can this glowing endorsement of their own franchise, they shut down their own as well. A video of a prototype Streets of Rage remake hit the web in 2012, courtesy of developer Ruffian Games. The footage shown was of a playable demo thrown together in six weeks. It was all for naught, however, as the project was apparently scrapped for unknown reasons.

The story of this fan-developed Metal Gear remake helps highlight just how arbitrary the whole cease-and-desist process appears. In 2014, a fan-developer Outer Haven announced it was halting development on its remake of the 1987 classic, Metal Gear. This came as a bit of a shock after the same developer just a few months prior announced that they had received Konami's blessing to move forward with development. For Pete's sake, they even got David Hayter himself to supply some voice work for their trailer. These guys were dedicated.

And here's the worst part: they had the green light from Konami, or so they thought. Originally, the developers and are working on a new game that's Metal Gear-free.

Super Mario 64 is one of the most beloved 3D platformers of all time, and a testament to Nintendo's skill at game design. Even so, if you want to play the game today there are only a few ways to do so. Developer Royston Ross offered a new alternative earlier this year with , a high-definition remake of the Bob-omb Battlefield using the Unity game engine. You could even play it in your browser. But after about a week in the spotlight, the game was taken down at Nintendo's request.

And here's the worst part: the entire thing was a tease within a tease. Not only did we get a very limited taste of the Bob-omb Battlefield in HD - remember, it wasn't up for long - that stage in itself was a tease of a fully realized Super Mario 64 HD, something that should really be in our lives. I guess we'll just have to make due with our $10 ROM dump on Virtual Console.

What's especially odd - and/or maddeningly frustrating - is that the likelihood of a company issuing a cease and desist letter appears almost arbitrary. Why did Pokenet get singled out as the PokeMMO to axe? Why did a remake of a Super Mario 64 stage get shut down when there are hundreds of Mario 64 hacks and remakes out there? And here's the big one: why is there not an industry-wide standard covering this sort of thing?

Look at Valve: they embraced the fan-developed, HD . If all companies required all fangames to be shut down, that would be one thing, but instead it appears the decision hinges on the personal whims of the companies themselves.

So I say embrace the creativity. These fangames are a testament to the rabid devotion of their communities; not to mention an excellent source of good PR. You don't build a loyal community by stifling its creative efforts.

Unless you've spent the last few years swan-diving into your McDuckian money pool and smoking cigars made of rolled-up Benjamins, you've probably noticed how expensive gaming can be. Paying several hundred dollars for a console is a pricey barrier to entry, but once you're up and over, the cost of games themselves can be equally daunting. Sure, there's always Xbox's to pull from, but what happens when those just don't satisfy and you need some new games on the cheap?

Well, you can come here, where we're gathering a list of great recent titles that cost $10 (£6.70) or less. When used game shops let you down and garage sales offer nothing more than John Madden Football '93, you can check here for top-notch games that'll keep your backlog and wallet pleasantly plump.

PS3:

Poor male-model hopeful Raiden has never been a fan favorite (which might have something to do with him usurping Snake's Metal Gear throne in Solid 2), but turn him into a sombrero-wearing cyborg ninja with a mechanical dog, and that changes everything. Gone are the stealth tactics of yesteryear, because in you go on the offensive with high-powered sword moves and a slow-motion Blade Mode where you quite literally slice enemies to pieces. But fast-paced and exciting as it is, Revengeance never forgets to be a Metal Gear game - the fact that you get to go nine rounds with a malevolent American senator is proof enough of that.

PS4: .)

You wouldn't think the tale of a few meandering rectangles would twist the heartstrings much, but soundly squares up with that notion. A puzzle-platformer starring a cast of colorful shapes that slowly expands over their journey through a defunct computer program, Thomas Was Alone challenges you to move all blocks through a given level to their appropriate exits before you can advance. Already intellectually stimulating, the whole experience gets an extra layer of charm from a witty British narrator who tells you all about the blocks' thoughts and feelings, making them feel like interesting and empathetic characters despite their lack of dialogue/vocal chords.

iPhone and iPad:

Most of the time, it's wise to steer clear of games that force you to read an expository database to understand what the heck is going on, unless you're looking for a good sleep aid. I say most of the time because now and then a title like Year Walk comes along. Based around a type of divination in Swedish folklore called Årsgång, Year Walk is an adventure game where you face supernatural peril for a chance to see the future. Alone it's a ghostly journey through a forest full of cryptic symbols that'll have you twitching every time your house creaks. But it gets even more enthralling with the addition of the companion app, which explains the terrifying nature of those symbols to make the whole experience even scarier. You'll probably need a real sleep aid after this one, and a night light.

PS4:

There's a little liar in all of us, and there's also a little doofus who will fall for anything someone else's inner-fibber says. Fibbage exploits both for comedy gold, because whether you're fooling or being fooled, it's going to be hilarious. In Fibbage, up to eight players (who can be just about anywhere and still participate on their smartphones) are given a fill-in-the-blank sentence and must insert a convincing (or just hysterical) falsehood for anonymous submission. You get points for guessing the truth or convincing others that your lie is legit, but the real reward is seeing just how ludicrous your question-answer combinations get. The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is officially called Massive Horse Orange? Who knew!

The oft-forgotten older sibling of Journey, is all about how it feels to be a petal drifting along on a summer breeze. And... that's it. The entire point of Flower is to drift calmly through a melodic and serene natural setting, and that's what makes it so brilliant. It was designed to be relaxing and peaceful, which is exactly what it does through its simple gameplay, beautiful settings, and gorgeous classical soundtrack. Flower is all about experiencing a place and a feeling, taking in the beauty around you without the stress of a mandatory goal. Even if you don't think this sort of game is up your alley, at less than $10 it could well be worth a try. You might like it more than you thought.

iPhone and iPad:

Comics are a pretty linear artform, so on those random occasions when you read panels out of order because the illustrator decided to get all artistic on you, it's usually more confusing than enlightening. But what if reading those panels out of order actually significantly changed the story for the better? That's the premise behind Framed, a puzzle game depicted through comic panels that you can switch at will. Altering their arrangement changes the story dynamically, and can mean the difference between your noir protagonist getting shot in the back or making it to safety. Combine quick thinking with a unique premise and crisp art that'll keep your eyes happily locked on the screen, and you've got the best of comics and games wrapped up in one intriguing package.

Xbox 360: .)

No one does bullet-strewn testosterone-fests better than Rockstar Games, and while all eyes are on GTA 5 these days, the company's entry in the Max Payne series deserves more than a quick backwards glance. is a humanizing look at a noir action-hero who's hit rock bottom (and the rocks at the bottom of his glass), as scenes of explosive Bullet Time action are interspersed with talk of addiction and morality. You can easily play through with reckless abandon, but what makes this game stand out even now is how it brings us closer to the man himself, and hope that he'll somehow find his way.

Xbox 360:

The latest addition to Square Enix's stylish shooter series, Hitman: Absolution takes some time to focus on Agent 47's softer side. That softer side is still fine with strangling target or leaving them in the desert to die, but now he has a young, mysterious girl named Victoria to look after, which gives us a look at who 47 is underneath the poker face. The game also takes a detour from its super-serious predecessors by including outrageous, sometimes downright cartoonish characters who give the experience an enjoyable edge of corniness. Combine that with the strong, choice-based missions the series is known for, and this is one to keep in your crosshairs.

Unless you've spent the last few years swan-diving into your McDuckian money pool and smoking cigars made of rolled-up Benjamins, you've probably noticed how expensive gaming can be. Paying several hundred dollars for a console is a pricey barrier to entry, but once you're up and over, the cost of games themselves can be equally daunting. Sure, there's always Xbox's to pull from, but what happens when those just don't satisfy and you need some new games on the cheap?

Well, you can come here, where we're gathering a list of great recent titles that cost $10 (£6.70) or less. When used game shops let you down and garage sales offer nothing more than John Madden Football '93, you can check here for top-notch games that'll keep your backlog and wallet pleasantly plump.

PS3:

Poor male-model hopeful Raiden has never been a fan favorite (which might have something to do with him usurping Snake's Metal Gear throne in Solid 2), but turn him into a sombrero-wearing cyborg ninja with a mechanical dog, and that changes everything. Gone are the stealth tactics of yesteryear, because in you go on the offensive with high-powered sword moves and a slow-motion Blade Mode where you quite literally slice enemies to pieces. But fast-paced and exciting as it is, Revengeance never forgets to be a Metal Gear game - the fact that you get to go nine rounds with a malevolent American senator is proof enough of that.

PS4: .)

You wouldn't think the tale of a few meandering rectangles would twist the heartstrings much, but soundly squares up with that notion. A puzzle-platformer starring a cast of colorful shapes that slowly expands over their journey through a defunct computer program, Thomas Was Alone challenges you to move all blocks through a given level to their appropriate exits before you can advance. Already intellectually stimulating, the whole experience gets an extra layer of charm from a witty British narrator who tells you all about the blocks' thoughts and feelings, making them feel like interesting and empathetic characters despite their lack of dialogue/vocal chords.

iPhone and iPad:

Most of the time, it's wise to steer clear of games that force you to read an expository database to understand what the heck is going on, unless you're looking for a good sleep aid. I say most of the time because now and then a title like Year Walk comes along. Based around a type of divination in Swedish folklore called Årsgång, Year Walk is an adventure game where you face supernatural peril for a chance to see the future. Alone it's a ghostly journey through a forest full of cryptic symbols that'll have you twitching every time your house creaks. But it gets even more enthralling with the addition of the companion app, which explains the terrifying nature of those symbols to make the whole experience even scarier. You'll probably need a real sleep aid after this one, and a night light.

PS4:

There's a little liar in all of us, and there's also a little doofus who will fall for anything someone else's inner-fibber says. Fibbage exploits both for comedy gold, because whether you're fooling or being fooled, it's going to be hilarious. In Fibbage, up to eight players (who can be just about anywhere and still participate on their smartphones) are given a fill-in-the-blank sentence and must insert a convincing (or just hysterical) falsehood for anonymous submission. You get points for guessing the truth or convincing others that your lie is legit, but the real reward is seeing just how ludicrous your question-answer combinations get. The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is officially called Massive Horse Orange? Who knew!

The oft-forgotten older sibling of Journey, is all about how it feels to be a petal drifting along on a summer breeze. And... that's it. The entire point of Flower is to drift calmly through a melodic and serene natural setting, and that's what makes it so brilliant. It was designed to be relaxing and peaceful, which is exactly what it does through its simple gameplay, beautiful settings, and gorgeous classical soundtrack. Flower is all about experiencing a place and a feeling, taking in the beauty around you without the stress of a mandatory goal. Even if you don't think this sort of game is up your alley, at less than $10 it could well be worth a try. You might like it more than you thought.

iPhone and iPad:

Comics are a pretty linear artform, so on those random occasions when you read panels out of order because the illustrator decided to get all artistic on you, it's usually more confusing than enlightening. But what if reading those panels out of order actually significantly changed the story for the better? That's the premise behind Framed, a puzzle game depicted through comic panels that you can switch at will. Altering their arrangement changes the story dynamically, and can mean the difference between your noir protagonist getting shot in the back or making it to safety. Combine quick thinking with a unique premise and crisp art that'll keep your eyes happily locked on the screen, and you've got the best of comics and games wrapped up in one intriguing package.

Xbox 360: .)

No one does bullet-strewn testosterone-fests better than Rockstar Games, and while all eyes are on GTA 5 these days, the company's entry in the Max Payne series deserves more than a quick backwards glance. is a humanizing look at a noir action-hero who's hit rock bottom (and the rocks at the bottom of his glass), as scenes of explosive Bullet Time action are interspersed with talk of addiction and morality. You can easily play through with reckless abandon, but what makes this game stand out even now is how it brings us closer to the man himself, and hope that he'll somehow find his way.

Xbox 360:

The latest addition to Square Enix's stylish shooter series, Hitman: Absolution takes some time to focus on Agent 47's softer side. That softer side is still fine with strangling target or leaving them in the desert to die, but now he has a young, mysterious girl named Victoria to look after, which gives us a look at who 47 is underneath the poker face. The game also takes a detour from its super-serious predecessors by including outrageous, sometimes downright cartoonish characters who give the experience an enjoyable edge of corniness. Combine that with the strong, choice-based missions the series is known for, and this is one to keep in your crosshairs.