Regardless, it’s a fantasy that many enjoy indulging in, and there are some great games to help with that. Check out 25 of the best post-apocalyptic games available on PC and what makes them so fun.

Fallout 4

Controversial though it may be among hardcore fans, Fallout 4 remains the most accessible game in the series, with some of the best combat. The Commonwealth is pretty massive, with multiple points of interest to explore, junk to pick up and settlements to build up. Learning more about the post-nuclear fallout world, whether it’s HalluciGen Inc and its suspicious chemicals that drive enemies mad or the creepiness of Dunwich Borers, is enticing. Plus, you can lead gangs of raiders or build robots with the DLC. Just steer clear of Preston Garvey. Your sanity will thank you.

The “Xplay Presents: Hyper Light Drifter Celebration + World Exclusive Announcement” stream will take place on March 31st at 10 AM PT/1 PM PT via Twitch and YouTube. Originally released for PC in 2016, Hyper Light Drifter is inspired by The Legend of Zelda, taking place in a mysterious world with the protagonist, The Drifter, suffering from a strange illness.

Exploring the different dungeons shines more light on the world’s history along with uncovering more details on The Drifter’s past. With challenging hack and slash combat, memorable bosses, and a slick art-style inspired by 8-bit and 16-bit titles, Hyper Light Drifter received a fair amount of critical acclaim at launch. It subsequently released later that year for PS4 and Xbox One, followed by a Nintendo Switch release in 2018 and an iOS release in 2019.

For more details, you can check out our review here. Heart Machine recently released Solar Ash, a 3D action-adventure platformer for PS4, PS5 and PC. You can read our review for it here.

https://twitter.com/HeartMachineHQ/status/1506979319712829445

The update will start players with a book of riddles with challenges that must be completed for the outfits. Lore rooms must also be discovered to find the weapons themselves. While Hollow Knight’s hero doesn’t quite make an appearance, you can obtain the Pure Nail to attack up and down along with bouncing on enemies while attacking downwards (which inflicts critical damage).

The Drifter gets their energy sword and Hyper Light Gun – fire the latter to mark targets and use the former to deal critical damage. More marks on a target equals more damage. As for The Penitent One, using the Face Flask will deal self damage and convert 35 percent missing health into recovery. Juan from Guacamelee can use Pollo Power to transform into a chicken that lobs explosive eggs around him at enemies.

Skul has a bone club for slaying foes with a whirlwind attack as its secondary that deals critical damage. Finally, the explorer from Curse of the Dead Gods brings his trusty machete and pistol – the first two attacks use the machete while the third unleashes the firearm to deal critical damage. Holding the attack button charges up a stronger ranged attack which is slower.

The update is currently live on PC and will come to consoles and Mac later. Check out the rest of the patch notes below.

UPDATE NOTES:

Balancing

• Fire-related affixes can no longer appear on Ice-related items, and vice-versa.
• Dropping a bomb when rolling no longer interrupts invisibility.

Quality of life

Added a new log system

• A simple system that will log everything going on internally, to help us understand where some bugs come from. No personal data will be logged.
• No changes should be noticeable on your side, apart from log files appearing in your game folder, that you might want to include in future bug reports.
• Added the roles of everyone in the “Evil Empire” section of the credits. That way you get to know us a bit more.
• Added the ability to scroll through affixes in the Minor Forge menu.

Mods

• Mod support updated!
• Added a new Key system, allowing to pass data through levels in the same game.
• Added a system allowing the modification of an exit door on next levels, even vanilla ones. Yes, you can make an exit to Prisoners’ Quarters, in Prisoners’ Quarters.
• Added Timed Doors, No-hit Doors and Old Timed Doors to the level scripting API.
• Added the possibility to modify a Timed Door’s needed time in the same level.
• Added an API call returning if a player has a specific DLC.
• Added an API call allowing health fountains to adapt to the current player’s Boss Cells.
• Added a new button in the mod UI. The “back” button is now used… to go back.
• Fixed the mob spawn system.
• Fixed the Boss Cells Tube reloading a vanilla game when used in a modded level.

Bug fixes

• Fixed Cocoon not activating What Doesn’t Kill Me.
• Fixed What Doesn’t Kill Me cooldown.
• Fixed the ability to multiply Serenade.
• Fixed Boomerang not getting its ammo back if the projectile was destroyed in some cases.
• Skills’ actions can no longer be interrupted.
• Fixed a weird interaction between the Jerkshroom’s attacks and the Parry Shield, which would sometimes hit the player when parrying.
• Fixed Demolishers dealing damage through Ice Armor.
• Fixed Grenades dealing negative damage in some cases.
• Fixed Armadillopack not parrying Guardian Knights and Automatons.
• Hunter’s Grenade can no longer be used to reset the cooldown of other skills
• Breakable props now follow the same generation rules as floor decorations.
• Fixed player tracks not being loaded when changing outfit.
• The Scarecrow can no longer be skipped.
• Fixed damage buff on invisibility not triggering.
• Fixed Stilt Village’s shortcut sometimes being impossible to get to.
• Fixed Tonic’s effect getting cancelled on any update of the inventory.
• Fixed Mama Tick’s behaviour sometimes becoming broken after interrupting its movement.

The latest free games on the Epic Games Store are now available with The Bearded Ladies’ Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter. Whether you’re interested in tactical stealth strategy or retro-style Zelda-like action, they’re worth checking out. Both titles will be available until August 22nd at no cost.

Next week will see Fez from Polytron Corporation offered for free. The classic platformer first released in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and was a major influence for future platformers like Monument Valley. Fez 2 was in development until controversy erupted and creator Phil Fish cancelled it in 2013.

Fish would subsequently leave the industry, with little hope for the sequel ever being made. Regardless, you can still enjoy the original classic. Fez will be available free from August 22nd to 29th on the Epic Games Store. Stay tuned for more details on other free titles in the meantime.

Though the Epic Games Store is only offering one free game this week – the 3D puzzle game GNOG – it has two enticing titles for next week. The first is Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, an action adventure Zelda-like title with a 16-bit art-style. The other is The Bearded Ladies’ Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, a tactical turn-based role-playing game.

Both games will be free from August 15th to 22nd. You need an Epic Games account to claim them and the Epic Games Launcher to access them. Hyper Light Drifter is critically acclaimed and worth playing, especially with the developer’s follow-up title Solar Ash Kingdom releasing exclusively for the Epic Games Store.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden recently received a paid expansion with Seed of Evil. Only the base game will be free on the Epic Games Store, but you also get a free mode with Stalker Trials, offering tougher challenges in remixed maps. There’s a free demo currently live on Steam, in case you want to try it out right now.

Heart Machine’s stellar sci-fi Zelda-like title Hyper Light Drifter makes its way to iOS today. The port is handled by Abylight Studios who also worked on the Nintendo Switch version. If you’ve forgotten how stellar the game and its retro sprite graphics look, check out the tweet below.

Hyper Light Drifter released in 2016 for PC and made its way to PS4 and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch port with some exclusive content released last year. The story focuses on a mysterious stranger with a life-threatening disease. He uncovers an ancient civilization which could offer a cure but must go through various challenges in the process.

It’s worth checking out the title on iPad Pro thanks to its support for 120 frames per second (it’s 60 FPS on other devices). You can also avail of the additional weapons, enemies and areas that were previously exclusive to the Switch version. Heart Machine is currently working on a brand new game called Solar Ash Kingdom which will be releasing on the Epic Games Store for PC. Stay tuned for more news on that title in the coming months.

pic.twitter.com/BRgi7DKGRb
Hyper Light is coming to iOS super soon! Nab it here: https://t.co/e17pQa17cX

— Alx Preston | Heart Machine (@HeartMachineZ) July 24, 2019

Remember Heart Machine, the studio behind the incredible Hyper Light Drifter? It’s coming back with something new and sumptuous called Solar Ash Kingdom. Currently slated to release for PC on the Epic Games Store, the trailer showcases a fully 3D world. Check it out below.

Published by Annapurna Interactive, we don’t know about other platforms or if the game will be a timed exclusive to the Epic Games Store. Regardless, Heart Machine’s Alex Preston confirmed to IGN that it would have “a whole new set of incredible tech and key innovations” to differentiate it from Hyper Light Drifter. “We strive to tell a beautiful story through our world, the atmosphere, our characters and even our gameplay—each aspect of our games are painstakingly considered—which requires a large investment of time,” said Preston. “Thanks for bearing with us and our relative silence; we’re so excited to start opening up about the game and the process behind it on our devlog and beyond.”

Preston said that the studio wants to “put out our best for our audience to see just how far we’ve come from our days of pixel art.” As it stands, Solar Ash Kingdom captures the same surreal look and ambience that defined Heart Machine’s first game.

As for Hyper Light Drifter, it’s currently available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. It also recently released for Nintendo Switch in September 2018. Check out GamingBolt’s official review to learn more about why it’s such a great game.

Heart Machine, the folks who brought us the extremely well received Hyper Light Drifter, are not resting on their laurels. It sounds like they already have a brand new game in the works. Based on a job listing posted on Gamasutra, it sounds like the development studio has already begun hiring for this new title.

The title, based on the job listing, sounds substantially different from Hyper Light Drifter. Where that game was a pixel art adventure game in the vein of classic titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the job listing for this new game asks for experience with 3D modeling and Unreal Engine 4, specifying “character interactions, NPC interactions, scripted sequences, combat, environmental interactions, and much more” as mechanics that the game will apparently have.

Given how great Hyper Light Drifter ended up being, I am sure no one will have any trepidation’s surrounding this new game, whatever it does end up being. Hopefully they announce it soon. Hyper Light Drifter is out for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, Linux, and Ouya.