Released in 1997, post-nuclear RPG Fallout stands as one of the most influential games ever made. Taking place in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, the game casts players as a survivor inhabiting a vault – an underground fallout shelter developed before the bombs fell.
On discovering that your water purification system is broken, you’re forced to leave your home and explore the perilous New Californian desert. Together with its 1988 predecessor, Wasteland, Fallout set the template for post-apocalyptic fiction in games, and has since led to a number of sequels and spin-offs, including a controversial foray into the live service genre with Fallout 76.
Today, Fallout’s influence can be felt on several independent projects, where smaller teams are putting their own spin on the classic isometric role-playing formula. Here’s what the creators of a new crop of modern Fallout-likes have to say about the genre and its renewed popularity.
