Minecraft is about 10 years old now, but it has stayed a popular game partly because of the number of mods it has and how easily it is to share worlds. Minecraft was already a game that gave infinite possibilities to build and be creative, but through mods, there are even more possibilities. Minecraft makes it very easy to change the graphics, sounds, and the players skins. The default skin is Steve who is a basic guy, but there are thousands of downloadable skins that the player can choose to make themselves. The default graphics and sounds are also pretty basic, but there are mods that make the graphics hyper-realistic and make the game more immersive. On the other hand there are also graphics mods that make the game cartoony or medieval. The vast number of mods available makes it easy for each player to customize their own game however they please.
An example of a graphics mod that is hyper-realistic.
There are also mods that go beyond changing the graphics and change the mechanics of the game. Since the Minecraft world is so open, there is also a wide variety in the types of mods there are. However, almost all mods add new items to the game that change how the game can be played. I played a version that added jetpacks and other cool technological inventions into the game. Minecraft is a good example of how mods have benefited the game because they add more variety and creativity to a game and creates a positive, supportive community around the game.
Finally, Minecraft makes it easy to share worlds with other people. This allows people to make mini games in a Minecraft world or to share a realistic build of a real-life place. The Xbox version of Minecraft comes with a prebuilt world that is full of cool builds, such as pirate ships, and is fun to explore. Back when The Hunger Games was popular there was a version of the hunger games built into a Minecraft world. People have also created story modes in their worlds which gives Minecraft more of a narrative and makes the game more directed than before. Minecraft starts out as a very basic world, but the developers allowed the community to modify the game which resulted in a variety of game types and is a good example of how mods improve a game.
Source: Minecraft or Mods?