Ark is one of the most important games of pop culture in the last 15 years.
It might not be as close to Minecraft in terms of prominence. But it still marked the beginning of another era that culminated with the return of Minecraft YouTube videos and the resurgence of Minecraft into the eyes of the public.
And let’s face it – Ark is just extremely fun to play.
The game offers so much. However just like in Minecraft, it’s only natural for gamers to feel like they want more.
If you’re like me and you love to mod games then you’re in for an absolute treat.
There are hundreds of amazing mods that the community has managed to create, and it’ll take you a while to sift through it all. So I’ve gone through and ranked 50 of the best Ark mods for you to try out and enjoy. Naturally these are all totally free so you’ve got your pick of the litter here.
Dragon mods are always going to make me go hyper, and the Small Dragons mod is no exception.
This adds a small dragon to the game which can wear armor (the creator of the mod is always designing new pieces to add to it) and it can even be ridden. Like flying on a dragon!
Or even used as a cool pet if you wanna go that route.
You can find these dragons in male and female variations so there’s a lot of cool stuff here.
Probably the mod with the most original name on the list, Jurassic Ark allows you to create parks much like you do in the Jurassic World park builder that came out in the mid-2010s.
Add a spark of Jurassic Park to your game of Ark with the Jurassic Ark mod.
Do you want to add a whole bunch of new decoration items to the game? If so, look no further.
The fantastic eco brings us another mod from his collection that adds a bunch of new items to the game, all of which can be easily crafted, picked up, and stacked.
Reinvigorate your home with these amazing new items.
If you think the base game doesn’t provide enough of a challenge then strap in and download this ridiculously difficulty-boosting mod.
It adds Kaijus to the game!
If you don’t know what they are, imagine facing creatures the size of Godzilla over and over again.
You’ll probably end up pretty tired without proper equipment to fight them, right? Well with this mod, you get the creatures and the equipment. Now get down to business!
Oh man, these creatures are so gorgeously crafted.
I think I would download this mod even if they didn’t move and simply acted like statues.
It’s super complete and makes the game feel really different when you see some of these winged beasts roaming the skies.
Ride them, tame them, or kill them – the options are endless and your game will be fantastically different with these legendary dragons and wyverns in it.
Advanced Rafts allows you to create some massive rafts, much bigger than the ones you can create in vanilla Ark.
This will allow you to feel like you’re sailing on a weird ferry of sorts. But it does still feel pretty vanilla (depending on what madness you want to build).
In any case, Advanced Rafts adds a great feature to the game that you wouldn’t even think about.
Decorations, resources, crafting stations, weapons, and much more.
This Content Pack adds a whole bunch of new items to the game, which serve to provide every player with a twist to their Ark experience like they’ve never had it before.
If you like mods that change the core structure of the game, then by all means give this one a try. Especially for the new weird decorations.
All this stuff keeps the base of Ark intact, but adds so much that it truly feels like a more advanced version of the game.
The Volcano is another amazing map mod that adds a whole new island to the game, which on its own has a whole bunch of different areas (including 5 biomes!).
It’s an amazing add-on that is sure to give you a few more hours of entertainment if you’re tired of Ark’s traditional maps.
It allows you to play with foundations in many ways, enabling you to create some completely new structures in places that you wouldn’t even have thought of building on them before.
If you fancy yourself a bit of an architect this is well worth looking into.
Alright, so this mod is technically no longer supported.
But it still deserves a special mention on my list.
It basically turns Ark into a Minecraft-looking version of the game, with new structures and items that resemble does you find in Mojang’s classic title.
And you could still install this to play with it even without modern support. I’ve yet to read about it crashing the current game.
It’s time to create a whole bunch of new types of rooms with the Stairs mod with rounded walls.
New structures and many new possibilities await the savvy builder who dares to use this self-explanatory feature to create more diversity in buildings styles.
Ark has everything it needs to be a more sci-fi-ish game under the right circumstances.
And I think the ISO Crystal Isles map is the best one to move your gameplay in that direction.
It basically brings those worlds from sci-fi movies into the game, all in one fantastic and gigantic map that is sure to offer you quite a unique experience.
Yes, it’s that time again to add one of eco’s mods to the list!
This is one of my favorites, I have to admit.
It lets you create awesome-looking terrariums, aquariums, and even animal habitats that you can put in any place you wish. What’s even better is that they’re fully animated!
This is actually the second version of the mod, but it has to be said: it’s far better than the first one.
As its name suggests, you get to play as a dinosaur.
All of the dinos that you can choose from are specifically made to be used with this mod, so they are balanced and work quite well when controlled by the player. A must-have or at least a must-try.
Valhalla is just one more fantastic map mod that has been birthed by the Ark modding community.
With a whole bunch of fantastic features and biomes to explore, it comes with underground passages, lava to be avoided, glaciers to be explored, and many other features.
All of this cool stuff make this mod one of the best extra maps you can download for your Ark playthrough.
This is the Ark Additions ultimate collection that I wrote about a little earlier.
It adds plenty of new creatures to the game, all of which are crafted with a unique level of detail that makes them look even better than some of the dinos that come with the base game.
Seeing is believeing here so you’ll just have to check it out.
If you’re one of those who spends days upon days building in Ark, stop right now.
Download this mod. Done?
Alright, now you can continue and enjoy the fun!
This mod will redefine building in Ark, with changes to the core mechanics of the game to improve the building system entirely. It’s something you really have to play with to appreciate.
Born in the first half of the 90s, video games have been a part of my life ever since I was introduced to Age of Empires I by my dad. I'm a Mass Communications graduate with a specialization in Marketing, as well as a hardcore gamer. My aim is to bring you quality content so you can get the best out of your games and take your experience to the next level!
