Mods and elevators are the death and taxes of video games. The quintessential loading-screen environment, elevators in games move you between floors apparently separated by several pocket dimensions. Mods, meanwhile, begin with the best of intentions, but usually languish for months in a haze of derivative writing and endless added features, as the team debates the inclusion of yet another assault rifle, whether the enemies should be Russian nationalists or cyborg aliens, and the inevitable "moral choice" that makes killing children in Bioshock seem subtle. Without these humble influences, however, we may never have seen the wonder of modding that is Elevator: Source.

Elevator: Source is a multiplayer elevator simulator, built on Garry's Mod and Half-Life 2: Episode 2. After installing the sim, you begin the exciting journey of waiting for the elevator, riding the elevator, and politely pretending not to notice the headless Combine soldier sharing the elevator with you. The heart of Elevator: Source is the way it embraces the silliest and most banal parts of gamemaking, turning the things you'd otherwise do anything to skip into the entire experience. It's also the rare parody game that looks like a brilliant project in its own right. Even if you don't have the necessary games to run it, check out the video and source link below, which promises "real elevator physics" and an AI that "really goes into the elevator and waits." It's even got its own morality system, and it's a pretty complicated one — you can get out of the elevator... or stay in it.