With Autumn rolling in and Summer coming to a depressing close, there’s nothing better than cosying up with a nice blanket, a warm hot chocolate, and your steam library! And what with the terrifying reality of living in the modern world – where every news headline seems to foretell the end of the world – it’s a nice change of pace to play a game where that’s all a distant memory and the world’s already over, you know?
The post-apocalyptic genre is one of the most popular and potent video game subgenres there is right now, and it’d be a shame to miss a single one. That’s why today, I’m counting down fifteen of the best post-apocalyptic games you can play right now on your computer!
1. Fallout: New Vegas – 2010 (PS3/X360/PC)
Set in the nuclear wasteland in what’s left of the Mojave Desert, you - a courier delivering a secret package to New Vegas - begin the game on a 24. carat run of bad luck as you are kidnapped, shot and left for dead in an unmarked grave by mercenaries. After being rescued, you are left with only one mission: revenge, and a million ways to take it.
Considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time, New Vegas throws you into one of the best open world settings around (in no other series could you play blackjack with mutants) and tells you to let loose: complete freedom in how you play and who you play. Will you join Caesars Legion and try bringing about the old ways? Would you rather join the fight to reclaim Hoover Dam with the New California Republic?
Two Securitrons 12 o’clock!
Fun Factor: 90/100
2. Left 4 Dead 2 – 2009 (PC/X360)
With the world reduced to safe zones and quarantines after a worldwide pandemic nicknamed the ‘Green Flu’ wreaks havoc and turns much of the population into mindless zombies, four survivors must work together and blast away the undead hordes for a thin chance at reaching New Orleans – one of the last cities standing. Travelling across country to start a new life, Left 4 Dead 2 is a fun and action-packed road trip of a post-apocalyptic game.
Often times, sequels struggle to live up to the hype and adoration of the original game. This is not one of those times. Left 4 Dead 2 goes above and beyond from the foundation set by the previous game by improving on the gameplay, gunplay, and characters to create a special, once-in-a-lifetime multiplayer experience. If you have three friends and a taste for zombie blood, this is a must-buy!
Which hallway? Dark and ominous or zombie-infested?
Fun Factor: 85/100
3. The Last of Us – 2013 (PS3/PS4/PS5/PC)
Twenty years after a viral fungal infection took over the population – transforming much of the United States into clickers, blind cannibalistic husks of their former selves – Joel is forced to take in the young and immune Ellie and help smuggle her across the country. In doing so, however, Joel learns to regain his humanity and fatherhood in a time where there isn’t enough of either.
Now both a successful video game franchise AND TV show, many players may have been turned onto The Last of Us thanks to the chunk o’ hunk that is Pedro Pascal. These players will be rewarded with one of the greatest games of all time – one that can tug on your heart strings and bite it out a second later (bad zombie joke). If you haven’t already, you need to check this one out!
Don’t stray too far into the dark – who knows what’s around the corner…
Fun Factor: 90/100
4. DayZ – 2018 (PS4/XBO/PC)
As the only open multiplayer game in this list, DayZ is perhaps the most realistic depiction of a zombie apocalypse scenario yet released! Trapped in an open world nightmare filled with hordes of the undead, your only objective is to survive by any means necessary. Sometimes, however, your worst enemy could be another player scavenging for food and just trying to make his way in the world. The only piece of advice I have? Good luck and godspeed…
Another zombie apocalypse classic, what DayZ lacks in story it makes up for in gameplay: set in the fictional Republic of Chernarus in the midst of a global zombie epidemic, this multiplayer survival horror has you exploring the 225km wide region in search of resources: the undead aren’t your only enemy here, as hunger, dehydration and a variety of diseases could get you before any zombie sinks their teeth into you. That and the ability to farm for your own crops make DayZ perhaps one of the most fully realised apocalyptic settings yet.
Daytime is one thing, but a zombie-filled town at night? It’s a bit much.
Fun Factor: 70/100
5. Death Stranding – 2019 (PS4/PS5/PC)
In the aftermath of the Death Stranding, a cataclysmic event that led to undead creatures known as Beached Things wreaking havoc on the surface – as well as the first instance of Timefall (rain which rapidly ages whatever it touches) – the United States of America is reduced to small remote colonies scattered across the country. It is the role of couriers such as Sam Porter Bridges to travel the long and lonely routes between cities to deliver information, resources and deliveries.
Created by the glowing brain genius that is Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding is somehow as far away as possible from the Metal Gear series while still carrying Kojima’s signature style and atmosphere: gloomy, emotional and scarily prophetic. While new players may not appreciate the gameplay (prompting Kojima to describe the game as a new genre, the “strand”-type game), fans and people who stick with the innovative mechanics will be rewarded with a post-apocalyptic masterpiece.
Death Stranding is full of beautiful views like this – just don’t get too distracted, you have a job to do.
Fun Factor: 75/100
6. Metro Exodus – 2019 (PS4/PS5/XBO/PC)
Set in the aftermath of a nuclear war that has rendered much of the planet inhospitable – reducing mankind to small and scattered factions warring against both each other and the hostile mutated population – you follow Artyom and Anna after having escaped the titular Russian Metro system upon discovering there is life outside the tunnels.
Although new players may initially struggle with the heavy lore of the previous titles in the Metro franchise, players who stick with it will be rewarded with a dark dystopian adventure across a cold and desolate landscape. Metro Exodus takes you across a destroyed version of the Russian Federation in the hopes of slowly rebuilding the world.
While things don’t look the best underground, the destruction and desolation is even more apparent on the surface.
Fun Factor: 75/100
7. Half-Life 2 – 2004 (PS3/X360/PC)
Gordon Freeman awakens from the stasis the mysterious G-Man put him under to a changed world: some twenty years after the Resonance Cascade of the first Half Life, Earth is under Combine control, with Gordon seen as a martyr-like figure. Now, with a little help from his friends new and old, Gordon must fight off the Combine invaders and help take back his planet.
If the original Half Life was apocalyptic - with Gordon fighting his way through the very Resonance Cascade he started - then Half Life 2 is post-apocalyptic: travelling through the desolate, polluted plains of City 17, to the zombie infested town of Ravenholm and eventually the dystopian prison Nova Prospekt. To cap it all off it’s also one of the greatest games of all time. Pretty good mix if you ask me.
Nova Prospekt never looked better than when it was overrun by antlions!
Fun Factor: 100/100
8. FrostPunk – 2018 (PC/PS4/XBO)
Somewhere between Snowpiercer and Cities: Skyline, FrostPunk takes place in an alternate reality in which a volcanic winter leads to the planet’s cooling, a ruined harvest, and millions of deaths worldwide. As the Captain, you must lead a number of refugees to begin building a new city – one that can handle the cold – and help rebuild society from the ground up.
Perhaps the most unique game in this list, FrostPunk blends its steampunk visuals, early 19th century aesthetic and strategic gameplay to create a fun post-apocalyptic experience. For fans of typical city-building sims, this game is a worthwhile change of pace from the usual shtick and one that rewards players for pushing its boundaries (Child labour and 24-hour shifts? Anything to keep that city warm!)
A successful city – warm even in the -50C weather.
Fun Factor: 80/100
9. Project Zomboid - ? (PC)
Knox Country is quarantined, the Knox infection is spreading faster than previously thought, and all communications break down July 18th. This is how the world ends and this is how you die. Project Zomboid presents a 28 days later style scenario of the end of the world and asks you how long you can survive. There’s no good ending, no bad ending, and only one option: survive.
Project Zomboid is a fun, isometric sandbox game that asks the question: what if the world DID end? Now I know that sounds stupid considering all these games are post-apocalyptic, but in all of them there’s something left at least. Project Zomboid instead lets you watch the slow death of society in progress. Like Minecraft but depressing! While currently only in early access, you can play the game on Steam as it continues development.
Looks like someone’s surrounded!
Fun Factor: 80/100
10. The Long Dark – 2017 (PC/PS4/XBO/SWITCH)
After surviving a plane crash and losing sight of his associate Dr Astrid Greenwood, Will MacKenzie finds himself trapped in the cold Canadian wild – it’s only after he meets some survivors that he realises the reality of the situation: the world as we know it is over, and the quiet apocalypse has begun. While there are no obvious threats to your character, the wilderness is a terrible place to be stuck in.
Maybe one of the more brutally realistic post-apocalyptic games out there, The Long Dark skips the zombies, aliens, and nuclear weapons for a geomagnetic storm. There’s nothing out there save for the wilderness and the few scattered survivors sharing stories from before the world ended. The world it inhabits is harrowing but also hard to look away from, like your friend trying to pick up a girl way out of his league. If you haven’t already, definitely pick this one up!
Just one of the many beautiful but lonely scenes you’ll find in game.
Fun Factor: 75/100
11. Horizon Zero Dawn – 2017 (PS4/PC)
An outcast since birth, Aloy has been raised on the outskirts of civilization all her life – what’s left of civilization anyway. Over the last thousand years, mankind has been reduced to four small tribes and the dominant species is machine. That doesn’t stop you from fighting your way through the region, however, to find out the link between your past and the history behind the end of the world.
When I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn, I didn’t leave the house, see sunlight, or speak to a non-NPC person for about two weeks. Horizon Zero Dawn opens with a huge inspired open world filled with ungodly large machines and continues with a story that’ll leave you invested and thinking about Aloy for weeks after completion. Whether it’s a Tallneck, a Strider, or a Behemoth, there’s always something around the corner to scale, evade or attack!
An open world for the ages!
Fun Factor: 85/100
12. XCOM 2 – 2016 (PC/XBO/PS4/SWITCH)
Some twenty years after the first game, XCOM 2 follows the same XCOM military organisation – only now Earth is already lost and under the alien force’s totalitarian control. Reduced to a rebel resistance, you must face off the alien threat (through ADVENT, the puppet government they use to control the planet) as the recently awoken Commander – whose strategic knowledge and insider info has been used by the aliens to take over.
Firaxis games had the difficult task of following up one of the most critically acclaimed turn-based strategy games of all time in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Thankfully for them (and for the army of pitch-fork wielding fans), XCOM 2 goes above and beyond, adding much needed depth to both the story and gameplay. Just don’t get too attached to your squad, it won’t end well.
A combat scenario highlighting the turn-based combat
Fun Factor: 80/100
13. Duskers – 2016 (PC)
One of the most immersive games I’ve had the privilege of playing, Duskers features the unique gameplay loop of typing in command lines: from your tiny dying spaceship, you control multiple drones on the hunt for resources and answers. As seemingly the only person left alive in the whole universe, you must scavenge the stars for any hope you can get. But beware, you’re only the last person alive – but something else is lurking on those spaceships.
Fans of Cassette Futurism (the aesthetic design seen in Alien and Robocop) will love this unique take on the strategy genre. Set after an unknown disaster has left the universe a vast graveyard filled with derelict ships, your only option is to survive and figure out what happened to the rest of the galaxy? By piloting drones, the player remains at a safe distance from any harm – that doesn’t stop you from feeling terrified when something does attack, however…
Typing in code has never felt so petrifying!
Fun Factor: 65/100
14. Stray – 2022 (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO)
A lonely cat in the big city sounds more like a Disney movie than a dystopian video game – but you’d be surprised! After falling deep into an endless chasm and finding an underground city, a stray cat must crawl, climb, and claw their way to the surface. With the help of a friendly AI drone, you must explore the city – populated by robots and monsters – and discover the lost history behind Walled City 99.
While missing the combat that readers may be looking for, Stray is a comforting adventure game jam-packed with cute cat action! Highly anticipated from its announcement (because who doesn’t want to play as a Cat in a post-apocalyptic setting), Stray delivers in every aspect. The highlight is surprisingly the city itself, which is built to accommodate the unique movement and gameplay.
Just a small cat in a big world :3
Fun Factor: 70/100
15. The Walking Dead – 2012 (PC/PS3/PS4/X360/XBO/SWITCH)
In the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, it’s the first few survivors that have to figure out how to stay alive. Following the young girl Clementine as she grows up in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, The Walking Dead emphasises choice and character as you’re forced to fight your way across the country - the hardest part isn’t fending off zombies, it’s keeping your allies close.
While TellTale might be dead and buried, we can still enjoy their great narrative-driven video games such as the Walking Dead. Based on the renowned comic book series, The Walking Dead is a game that’ll have you sobbing just as much as it’ll have you screaming - blending character-driven stories with undead scares!
One of the first zombies you stumble onto – poor kid!
Fun Factor: 80/100
