Games like Fallout: 9 post-apocalyptic worlds to explore and loot

The best games like Fallout give you a ruined world, a lot of loot, and choices that matter. But Fallout has two styles: the classic turn-based games and the open-world 3D games. So each pick below says which style it is closest to, and how it is different.

Two kinds of Fallout

The first Fallout came out in 1997 from Interplay, and Fallout 2 followed in 1998. They use turn-based combat with action points. Later games, such as Fallout: New Vegas (2010) and Fallout 4 (2015), are open-world RPGs that you can play in first-person or third-person view.

Many players like one style much more than the other. So use the Closest to line in each entry to find your match:

• The classic games: turn-based combat with action points, in a view from above.
• The 3D games: a large open world in first-person or third-person view, with real-time combat and V.A.T.S.

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.

Closest to: the 3D Fallout games, with a focus on survival.

Route 48 is a first-person survival game, not an RPG. As in the 3D Fallout games, you search abandoned buildings for food, weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies, and you fight with guns. The difference is the car: you drive between places, and you must find fuel and parts to keep it alive. Each new game generates a new world, and the game is in Early Access on Steam.

Atomfall

Developer: Rebellion. Released: 2025. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the 3D Fallout games.

Atomfall is a first-person survival-action game in a quarantine zone in Northern England. The setting is a fictional version of the area five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster. You follow leads in any order, talk to people, and craft weapons from scrap. Your choices have consequences.

Different from Fallout: the focus is on investigation, and the British countryside replaces the American wasteland. Ammunition is scarce, so each fight costs you.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Developer: GSC Game World. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the 3D Fallout games, in first-person view.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a first-person shooter in the Chornobyl Anomalous Zone, a large open world. Anomalies, mutants, and rival stalkers stand between you and the loot. You explore, scavenge resources, and try to survive in a brutal land.

Different from Fallout: it is a shooter first, with survival horror parts. See more in games like Stalker.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

Developer: Guerrilla Games, with Nixxes Software. Released: 2017 on PS4, 2020 on PC, Remastered in 2024. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the 3D Fallout games, in third-person view.

Horizon Zero Dawn is set in a far future, where people live in tribes among the overgrown ruins of a lost civilization. You play Aloy, a hunter who fights machines with a bow and a spear. You collect natural resources and machine parts to craft ammunition, traps, and potions.

Different from Fallout: the world is green and wild, and most enemies are machines. You can also take control of some machines and ride them.

Wasteland 3

Developer: inXile Entertainment. Released: 2020. Players: Single-player or online co-op with a friend.

Closest to: the classic Fallout games.

Wasteland 3 is a turn-based squad RPG. You lead up to six Rangers into frozen Colorado. Your dialogue choices change your reputation, and they decide which areas and story arcs stay open. You also upgrade an armored truck, the Kodiak, with weapons and armor.

Different from Fallout: you control a full squad, not one hero. You can also play the story in online co-op with a friend.

ATOM RPG

Developer: AtomTeam. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: Fallout 1 and 2.

ATOM RPG starts in 1986, after a nuclear war destroys both the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc. You create a character and explore the Soviet Wasteland. Combat is turn-based, and the developers name Fallout 1 and 2 as its inspiration. Quests have several solutions, and your stats change your dialogue options.

Different from Fallout: the setting is Soviet, so the places, the people, and the problems are new.

Underrail

Developer: Stygian Software. Released: 2015. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the classic Fallout games.

Underrail is an isometric RPG with turn-based combat. People live underground in a network of metro stations, because the surface is not safe. You fight with pistols, rifles, crossbows, energy weapons, or melee weapons, or you use psionic powers. If you invest in crafting skills, the gear that you make can be better than the gear that you find or buy.

Different from Fallout: the world is underground. Stealth, lockpicks, computer hacks, and traps give you many ways to avoid a fight or to win it.

Encased

Developer: Dark Crystal Games. Released: 2021 (Early Access from 2019). Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the classic Fallout games.

Encased is an isometric RPG with turn-based combat, set in an alternative 1970s. A huge artifact, the Dome, appears in a desert. You join one of five wings of the CRONUS Corporation and explore the Dome, where radiation and anomalies are a danger. Six factions compete for control, and your choices decide who becomes your ally.

Different from Fallout: a science-fiction mystery drives the story, not a nuclear war.

Broken Roads

Developer: Drop Bear Bytes. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player.

Closest to: Fallout games with a focus on dialogue and choices.

Broken Roads is a party-based RPG in post-apocalyptic Western Australia. You cross Outback roads, deserts, and ruined towns. A Moral Compass system tracks your philosophical position, and it changes your dialogue and quest options over time.

Different from Fallout: the Australian setting and the philosophy system. The store page promises a journey of 25 hours or more.

Kenshi

Developer: Lo-Fi Games. Released: 2018 (Early Access from 2013). Players: Single-player.

Closest to: the freedom of Fallout, without a main story.

Kenshi is a squad-based sandbox RPG in a post-apocalyptic world of more than 870 square kilometers. You are not a special hero. Each body part has its own health, a lost limb can become a robotic limb, and skills improve when you use them. Factions act whether you help them or not.

Different from Fallout: there is no main story. You set your own goals, from trade to war.

How we picked these games

Each game has a ruined or post-apocalyptic world, loot to find, and fights to survive. We split the list between the two Fallout styles, so fans of each style get options. We checked the facts on each Steam store page, and we used a second source when the store page did not say enough.

Which one should you play first?

• If you love Fallout 1 and 2, start with ATOM RPG or Underrail.
• If you want squad tactics and big choices, play Wasteland 3.
• If you love the 3D games, try Atomfall or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
• If you want total freedom, try Kenshi.
• If you want survival on the road, try Route 48.

For more ruined worlds, see the best post-apocalyptic games on PC. If you want to drive through the wasteland, read games like Mad Max.