4. Bioshock Infinite (2007)

The most exciting babysitting story of the decade

Developer: 2K Games

Genre: First-person shooter

The visual design is breathtaking

While not strictly being a game set in a post-apocalyptic setting, Infinite’s Columbia can be viewed as another type of technological purgatory. It puts you in the role of war veteran Booker DeWitt, who is tasked with finding a girl called Elizabeth and breaking her out from the floating city of Columbia, where she is held captive.

The game itself plays like a first person shooter with unlockable upgrades and powers that you get by collecting certain items. There are three types of upgrades in Infinite: Vigors (granting active powers that require a resource called Salt to use), Gears (active passive upgrades) and Infusions (increasing either maximum Health, Shield, or Salt).

What truly steals the show here is Elizabeth your companion in the game. Being well-thought out and designed, as well as useful (she has an unusual ability to make tears in space), it’s no wonder that she captured the hearts of gamers everywhere.