Post-Apocalypse or After Party?
The end of times is a wonderful place to set any work of fiction. How did it end? When did it end? Why did end? And that's just your world building. These are questions that each game on this list asks and answers in unique ways. Are you surviving the destruction of the world or are you the one causing it? Post-apocalypse games come in many different shapes and sizes, with this list compiling the 25 most fun video game worlds that have already ended.
25. Plague Inc.: Evolved (2014)
Plague Inc.: Evolved is a full PC release of Ndemic Creation’s mobile strategy classic, Plague Inc.. You are a pathogen, of some sort, and your job is to wipe out the human race. Imagine, much like that one uncle we all have, that Covid was indeed engineered in a lab. You are in charge of that lab.
Perhaps this game feels more real now than when I first played it in 2012 on my phone, with lice being the most contagious thing I had ever experienced. However, this game is still brilliant, and Plague Inc.: Evolved is a fun experience. Wipe out humanity, again and again!
24. 7 Days to Die (2013)
7 Days to Die is a zombie apocalypse survival action RPG. The third world war has left most of the earth devastated, and on top of that, zombies are now a thing! Your only objective is survival.
This game is still in early access, but developers The Fun Pimps are making regular updates. Build your own shelter, craft your own supplies and tools, fight the waves of zombies, and find a way not to die. With fun crafting and an engaging core loop, it’s worth your time.
23. Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)
Left 4 Dead 2 is a coop focused zombie FPS developed by Valve, and is a great example of how to make a sequel. Take what made the firs Left 4 Dead great, that being shooting your way through hordes of zombies, and adding mele mechanics to the mix! So now you can slice and shoot your way through the hordes.
This one is built for coop and is the best when joined by three other mates. You can still get hours of fun playing on your own with bot teammates, carving a path through the sea of undead. The special undead enemies keep the gameplay fresh, and the best part is that you can play against your friends as a special infected, to really ruin their day.
22. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (2015)
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a mystery adventure game. You are Kate, a scientist in 1985, and a small fictional English town’s inhabitants have all gone missing. I wonder if it has anything to do with the last word in the title? Your job is to try and piece together what happened and where everyone is.
The Chinese Room have developed a slow burning thriller about a mini apocalypse that unfolds the more you explore and uncover the mysteries of what the rapture from the title actually is. The less I say about this one the better, so go get it if you like solving mysteries.
21. Sunset Overdrive (2018)
Sunset Overdrive is a zany open world action-adventure game, developed by Insomniac Games. The focus is on being fun, as it does not take itself seriously. The zombie of this undead nightmare turned into Zombies by drinking too much of a futuristic fizzy drink. The player is an employee of this drinks company, and must take care of the zombies.
The gameplay has a focus on fast paced action, with you being able to parkour your way around, causing chaos as you shoot your way through enemies. This one is worth a playthrough.
20. Fallout (1997)
Fallout is a top-down, turn-based RPG and one of the most immersive stories you’ll ever experience. The Role-Play in this RPG is brilliant, with the ability to fight, talk, sneak and trick your way through the post-apocalyptic wasteland in search of a water chip for your vault of survivors.
This title was a game changer, and if its age makes you wary to play it, rest assured that the learning curve of its mechanics are well worth the fun you will have. Everything, from how combat encounters unfold to problem solving lends itself to the narrative aspect of your unique journey.
19. Bio Mutant (2021)
Biomutant is a third-person open world RPG, developed by Experiment 101 and presenting a fun aesthetic with a new twist on the traditional open world post-apocalypse formula. Armageddon has happened, yes, but humans are now long gone. Animals of various species have evolved due to the end of the world, and now a new society has emerged. You must prove yourself in this new world as you learn more about the old one.
Biomutant came out during a saturation of open world games with crafting mechanics, but stays fresh with the presentation and animation style. The combat is a little gun-fu, a little Breath of the Wild. It stands out with the engaging concept on a tried and tested core loop. Recommended for lovers of cute critters who aren’t so cute anymore.
18. Death Stranding (2019)
Death Stranding is an action-adventure courier game by famed game director Hideo Kojima. You are Sam Porter Bridges (I love how on the nose some video game names can be), and your job is to carry supplies to isolated communities surviving the harsh world during a war that will mean the end of it. Your job is tough and dangerous, but it needs doing.
The carrying mechanics are very interesting, with not just how much you can carry but how you carry it being a concern. Weight distribution, the terrain you walk along and the state of your equipment all plays a role in if you’ll manage to keep walking. A truly unique and engaging game.
17. This War of Mine (2014)
This War of Mine is a 2D colony survival sim. Taking place during a war, the entire world might not be over, but yours certainly is. You are in charge of a group of civilians, trapped in a city under siege, where your only hope is to hide in your new home and scavenge the supplies you need to stay alive.
Mechanically you will not only be managing food reserves and access to medical supplies, but only account for the emotional state of your survivors. The emergent narratives from these mechanics are both heart-breaking and deeply engaging. Play with some tissues and comfort food.
16. Darksiders III (2018)
Darksiders III is an action RPG where you are the bringer of the apocalypse. The series has seen you play as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, with this game taking place before the first. You are Fury on a quest to capture the Seven Deadly Sins.
Darksiders 3 is classic hack and slash, with this game being a great mixture of Metroidvania and Dark Souls creating a darkly fun experience. Departing from the traditional combat of the first two, this is a fun game about the end times.
15. Wasteland 3 (2020)
Wasteland 3 is an action RPG with turn-based combat. You are what is left of Arizona Ranger Team November, and must partner with a local group of survivors to find what remains of your team. This starts a chain of events that lead you and your crew into sticky situations.
The isometric turn-based combat is excellent, with each engagement feeling like a tense shootout. Tactical considerations will need to be taken in order to survive those who seek to kill you, as if the frozen wasteland of Colorado wasn’t bad enough.
14. Crossout (2016)
Crossout is an early access free to play multiplayer vehicle building and combat game, developed by Targem Games. The core of the gameplay is car-based combat, with various modes to choose from, carnage is never too far away.
This game feels like Mad Max and Twisted Metal had a child, that was raised by Fallout. If this premise hasn’t made you start downloading this game already then, I’m not sure how else to convince you.
13. Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is an open-world action game with survival and crafting mechanics. You are Aloy, a hunter in a world dominated by machines. You must set off on a journey to discover the secrets of the past and how to save the future.
This open world is teaming with life, machines that want you dead are around every corner. The entire world is a mystery and you are the only one who can discover the truth.
12. Timberborn (2021)
Timberborn is a city building survival sim. You are an advanced species of beaver and must expand your damn colony, even if it’s the last thing you do! Your city is built around water, so how it flows and how you control it dictates your progress.
An interesting take on the end of the world, you are almost unaware of the previous civilizations as you construct yours. Most of your tech is based around wood and hydro pumps which results in interesting architecture. A great early access game.
11. Rage (2011)
Rage is a post-apocalyptic FPS with dynamic combat, set in the aftermath of a world-ending meteor. You were cryogenically frozen, being woken up by a malfunction in your sleeping bed, leading all of your friends to die before you wake up. Alone in a hostile wasteland you must now make sense of the world and try to survive.
The story in Rage is a little lacklustre, but the environment, open world and core combat mechanics more than make up for this fact. This is an unapologetic apocalyptic chaos.
10. The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series (2012 – 2018)
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series is the entire 4 seasons of the point and click adventure, plus the spin-off season. The story of Clementine is both dramatic and a well written. Every choice you make matters in this character study in the skin of a game.
Point and click adventure games aren’t always for everyone. Trust me, I’m one of them. But this entire series had me at the edge of my seat, and playing it is an experience you cannot miss out on. Now it’s all completed, go and get it!
9. Doom (2016)
Doom is Besthesda’s 2016 reboot of the grandpappy of FPSs (also called Doom) and is a fast-paced demon killing festival. After waking up from a very long nap, The Doom Slayer is tasked with helping clean up the mess created when a portal to hell was opened on Mars.
If a good story is what you want, Doom has that sprinkled on top of its insane combat, but if engaging in anything beyond “shoot the demon dudes dead” is more your speed, the protagonist agrees with you, and I think the two of you will get along like a Mars facility of fire.
8. Dying Light 2: Stay Human (2022)
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is an open world zombie action game. A follow up to the acclaimed Dying Light, Stay Human expands upon the first game with a new map, improved mechanics and a truly engaging plot.
The combat in this game is like no other, with a feeling of real weight behind the mele and satisfying gunplay the end of the world never felt so polished. You’ll be fighting both zombies and hostile humans, so keep your wits about you.
7. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a survival FPS with an atmosphere so depressing its engaging. You wake up on the back of a truck of corpses with no memory, and must set off from there across the irradiated fields of Ukraine. Finding a complicated political mess of factions, anomalies and monsters, your job is to make sense of it all.
The sequel is dropping soon, so if you haven’t already reinstalled the first of the series to see where it began, pick it up and become a Stalker. Every corner of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s world is deadly and begging to be explored.
6. Metro 2033 (2010)
Metro 2033 is a story rich FPS set in one of humanity’s last network of societies. This final gasp of life is in conflict, and the limits of your humanity will be tested in this tense shooter.
Two depressing stories from Eastern Europe, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., now Metro. What’s up with that? Metro’s system of bullets being a form of currency is very interesting, lending itself to the feeling of having to use the scraps of the fallout to try and build the new world. Your accuracy directly links to your wealth, so good luck and shoot true!
5. Lisa: The Painful (2014)
Lisa: The Painful (also known as just "Lisa") is a turn-based RPG that focuses on trauma and how to deal with it. The post apocalypse is the perfect backdrop to the brutal nature of Lisa: The Painful's story. You are Brad, the son of an abusive father (told you it was rough) who is left alone to consider his trauma after an event called the flash caused all women to vanish. Brad, now middle aged, discovers a young girl, the last woman, who he calls Buddy and vows to protect.
The combat is similar to classic JRPGs, playing on those mechanics to create a metanarrative about expectation and loss. This is a one-of-a-kind gaming experience, and one of the best examples of the freedom of thematic exploration that can come with indie development.
4. Far: Lone Sails (2018)
Far: Lone Sails is a 2D open world survival and vehicle building sim. The world is dead, and you must travel across its carcass in a wind powered wheeled vessel of your own construction. Maintenance and upgrading this vessel is your primary concern. Journey to find new places, scavenge what you can and try to find any remaining life.
This game feels a lot like what the actual post-apocalypse might feel. A lone survivor trying to keep going. The atmosphere and art style create the perfect experience of being a small blip on a now depopulated planet.
3. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (2018)
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a turn-based RPG with an emphasis on stealth and party management. The world has been hit by an apocalyptic anomaly that has turned many into mutants, shunned by what remains of the unaffected people.
Sneak and fight your way through the ruins of towns and overgrown highways as you search for a new home. The engaging combat makes every single encounter a tactical puzzle. Being outgunned doesn’t always mean defeat, and having a numbers advantage isn’t always a sure victory, so be careful.
2. Frostpunk (2018)
Frostpunk is a city building survival sim. Set in an alternative history where Europe’s cold snap of the 1800’s was worsened by early Climate Change and meant the end of civilization as we know it. To save humanity giant steam generators were built, around which new steam powered cities could survive and hopefully thrive.
Much like all city building survival sims you have to manage your people’s happiness, the resources to survive and building up for the future of humanity. The cold is another issue to manage, with highs of -20c to -30c you will have more than a few colds and frostbitten limbs to be worrying about. Are you up to the task of leading the last gasp of the human race into the dark night of the end of times, and seeing them through to their new home within it?
1. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Fallout: New Vegas is an open world RPG and one of the best games ever made! You are a courier tasked with delivering a chip to the elusive Mr House. Before you take control of your character, however, you are shot in the head. Being saved by a friendly doctor and robot cowboy, you must decide if you want to follow up on your original mission, or just take off on your very own adventure.
This game is peak Fallout, with quicky characters, interesting missions with engaging outcomes and a dynamic wasteland that feels alive with real people. The fact that you can talk your way out of almost anything, or role-play as the big stupid type, and the game will account for this in dialogue choices is amazing. Trust me, just try high luck with no intelligence, turn wild wasteland on in the first perks menu, and thank me later. Happy travels.
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