Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike began as a Half-Life mod in 1999 and has never really been replaced, only reissued. The core loop - buy, plant, defuse, no respawns - is so well balanced that Valve have spent two decades adjusting it rather than redesigning it.

What makes it endure is that almost nothing is random. Recoil patterns are fixed, so mastering a rifle means learning a shape and pulling against it. Utility lineups are memorised down to the pixel. Economy management decides rounds before anyone fires. It's a game about knowledge as much as reflexes.

Dust II is probably the most-played level in the history of the medium, and every regular player carries a mental map of its angles whether they want to or not.

The skin economy became its own phenomenon, with knives and rare finishes trading for more than the hardware people play on. That's a strange legacy for a mod, and an extremely profitable one.

This collection covers the weapons, kit and iconography. Fanart, sized for a pointer, no spray pattern required.