Best post-apocalyptic games on PC: 9 big and indie picks
The best post-apocalyptic games on PC do not all play the same way. This list mixes large studio games, such as Fallout: New Vegas, with indie games, such as This War of Mine and ATOM RPG. Each entry says what you do in the game and who it suits.
The list at a glance
Every game on this list is single-player. The table shows the style and the PC release year of each one.
| Game | Style | PC release |
|---|---|---|
| Route 48 | First-person driving survival | 2026, Early Access |
| Fallout: New Vegas | Open-world RPG | 2010 |
| This War of Mine | Survival management | 2014 |
| Metro Exodus | Story shooter | 2019 |
| Frostpunk | City-builder survival | 2018 |
| The Last of Us Part I | Story action | 2023 |
| ATOM RPG | Turn-based RPG | 2018 |
| Death Stranding | Delivery and travel | 2020 |
| NieR:Automata | Action RPG | 2017 |
| Mad Max | Open-world car combat | 2015 |
Route 48 (our game)
Full disclosure: we made Route 48, so we put it first.
Developer: HOLY STUDIOS. Released: 2026, Early Access. Players: Single-player.
Route 48 is a first-person driving survival game. Its tagline is "The world is gone, but the road goes on." You drive through a procedurally generated world, scavenge for fuel and parts, and fight the infected and armed survivors with guns. It is in Early Access on Steam now.
Fallout: New Vegas
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment. Released: 2010. Players: Single-player.
New Vegas sends you across the Mojave Wasteland, from Hoover Dam to the New Vegas Strip. Rival factions want control of the area. You can join one of them, or you can try to take control yourself. A reputation system tracks how each group sees you.
You fight in real time, or you pause with V.A.T.S. to aim at body parts. The optional Hardcore mode adds food, water, and sleep needs, and ammunition gets weight.
Who it suits: RPG players who want choices with real consequences. For similar games, see games like Fallout.
This War of Mine
Developer: 11 bit studios. Released: 2014. Players: Single-player.
This War of Mine is not about a hero. You control a group of civilians in a besieged city, and real events inspired the game. Snipers keep you in the shelter by day, so you craft, trade, and care for your people. At night, you send one person out to scavenge.
You make hard moral choices. Each new game randomizes the world and the characters.
Who it suits: players who want a serious survival game about ordinary people under pressure.
Metro Exodus
Developer: 4A Games. Released: 2019 (on Steam in 2020). Players: Single-player.
Metro Exodus is a story-driven first-person shooter. You and a group of survivors leave on the Aurora, a modified steam train, and travel east. The journey moves from spring through summer and autumn into a nuclear winter, with day-night cycles and changes in the weather.
You scavenge resources to craft weapons and supplies. Your choices decide if your companions survive the journey.
Who it suits: players who want a strong story with large, open levels to explore. For more shooters of this type, see games like Stalker.
Frostpunk
Developer: 11 bit studios. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player.
In Frostpunk, you lead New London, the last city on a frozen Earth. Heat means life, so every choice about work, food, and health care has a cost. You pass laws, and you must keep hope alive among your people.
You also send expeditions into the Frostland. They can bring back information, supplies, and new citizens.
Who it suits: strategy players who want survival at the scale of a whole city.
The Last of Us Part I
Developer: Naughty Dog, with Iron Galaxy Studios. Released: 2023 on PC. Players: Single-player.
Joel, a tired smuggler, must take Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of a military quarantine zone. The job becomes a long trip across a ruined America, past the infected and hard survivors.
You sneak through abandoned homes and search them for supplies. 3D audio helps you hear enemies before they attack.
Who it suits: players who want a strong story and tense stealth combat.
ATOM RPG
Developer: AtomTeam. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player.
ATOM RPG is an indie RPG set in the Soviet Wasteland after a nuclear war in 1986. Combat is turn-based, and the developers name Fallout 1 and 2 as its inspiration. You build your character with a system that GURPS inspired, and your stats open new dialogue options and quest solutions.
Who it suits: fans of classic RPGs who want a new setting.
Death Stranding
Developer: Kojima Productions. Released: 2020 on PC. Players: Single-player, with online features.
An event called the Death Stranding opens a link between life and death. You play Sam Bridges, and you carry cargo across a broken America to connect the survivors. Creatures from the afterlife roam the land.
The Social Strand System connects you to other players and to the structures that they build.
Who it suits: players who want a slow, strange journey more than constant combat.
NieR:Automata
Developer: PlatinumGames and Square Enix. Released: 2017. Players: Single-player.
Machines from another world pushed humans off Earth. You play the androids 2B, 9S, and A2 in a war to take the planet back. The combat mixes melee and ranged attacks, with fast combos and dodges, against large groups and bosses.
An Auto Mode does basic attacks and dodges for you, if you are new to action games.
Who it suits: action players who want a post-apocalyptic story with science fiction at its core.
Mad Max
Developer: Avalanche Studios. Released: 2015. Players: Single-player.
Mad Max is an open-world action game in a desert wasteland. You build and upgrade your car, the Magnum Opus, and you fight gangs on foot and on the road. Car combat with a harpoon, rams, and mounted weapons is a large part of the game.
Who it suits: players who want to see the wasteland from the driver's seat. See games like Mad Max.
How we picked these games
We looked for games where the ruined world is the core of the game, not only a background. We picked different styles, so that each reader can find a match, and we mixed big studio games with indie games. We checked developers, release years, and player modes on each Steam store page.
Which one should you play first?
- For an RPG with big choices, start with Fallout: New Vegas.
- For a story, play The Last of Us Part I or Metro Exodus.
- For strategy, try Frostpunk.
- For a quiet, human story, try This War of Mine.
- For cars and the open road, try Mad Max or Route 48.
If you want survival games that are made for one player, read the best single-player survival games.