While the Fallout series has had its share of peaks and valleys throughout the years, there’s no denying its impact on contemporary western RPGs.
Best known for its comprehensive lore, the franchise fuses post-apocalyptic settings with themes of sci-fi, dystopian societies, and American consumerism.
In this list, we’ll explore the top games similar to Fallout that mirror the series’ atmosphere, open-ended gameplay, and branching narrative.
For more gaming recommendations, check out our growing library of curated lists, and comment below with your favorite Fallout game!
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Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Players looking for a Fallout alternative with extensive RPG progression are welcome to check out the latest game in Techland’s parkour survival series.
In Dying Light 2, you’re cast as a free-running survivor on a mission to explore a vast city overrun with hungry zombies and rival groups.
Similar to the Fallout games, players must make tough decisions throughout the story that will impact their standing with various factions.
The game is also ripe with tension as many quests either send you to dangerous areas or task you with venturing out at night when zombies are more ferocious.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
Similar to Fallout, the Mass Effect series has dipped in quality throughout several mainline games, resulting in both critically-acclaimed and panned entries.
Seeing as the original came out in the early 2000s, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is the preferred way to play through the entire trilogy in 2025.
In it, you play as either a male or female Commander Shepard as they travel across the universe defending planets from a race of powerful machines called Reapers.
Players are joined by a squad of companions with diverse backgrounds that will lend a hand in battle and weigh in on important decisions that carry over between games.
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
Platforms: Windows, PS4
Previously a PlayStation-exclusive, Horizon Zero Dawn was ported to PC where it greatly benefits from a thriving modding scene.
Aside from that, the game has much in common with Bethesda’s enormous-world RPG series in terms of setting and themes.
In this game, you control a hunter living in a world after a worldwide catastrophe, where humans and robots strive to coexist harmoniously.
Throughout the game, players can unlock new weapons, gadgets, and tools that allow Aloy to tackle challenges, befriend the machines, and help her tribe.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
If you’ve got a hankering for a Western adventure like Fallout: New Vegas, then Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent open-world game to start with.
In it, you take on the role of Arthur Morgan as he tries to keep a gang of erratic cowboys in check across a vast American landscape spanning five US states.
Players have the option to travel by foot or horseback as they ride around the countryside, explore lofty mountains, get into bar fights, and hunt unusual animals.
This is further complemented by a well-crafted narrative that centers on an aging cowboy forced to confront his mortality while managing a criminal enterprise.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Much like Fallout 76, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden launched in a bumpy state but has managed to find its footing through numerous updates.
One of the game’s main selling points is its XCOM-like RPG combat system that favors covert approaches over outright hostility.
To this point, many encounters can be avoided by carefully navigating your way around the enemy while engaging party members chat with each other.
If you find yourself getting easily attached to Fallout characters, then Road to Eden’s vibrant cast of anthropomorphic survivors will quickly feel like family.
SurrounDead
Platform: Windows
Next up is SurrounDead, an open-world survival game that sees you traveling across a desolate post-apocalyptic landscape overrun with zombies.
In this game, players must collect weapons and equipment by scavenging through buildings and houses and trading with other survivors.
Similar to Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, it has a base-building component in which players attempt to protect themselves from zombies by fortifying structures housing their loot.
Additionally, the game features a day/night cycle and dynamic weather effects that throw new challenges your way.
State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
Platforms: Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
State of Decay 2 is another zombie game that features comparable survival mechanics as games like Fallout 76.
In it, you’re tasked with growing and supervising a team of survivors while venturing out into the world in search of resources to keep your community alive.
The game is focused on scavenging for supplies and fortifying your base to deal with in-game events such as zombie infestations.
Resources in each map are finite, forcing you to carefully decide what goals you want to achieve and which skills to invest in.
The Outer Worlds
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
The Outer Worlds is about as close as you can get to Fallout without a team of Bethesda’s lawyers coming to bang on your door for copyright infringement.
Developed by Obsidian, the same studio that made Fallout: New Vegas, it casts you as an unlikely hero tasked with determining the fate of a starving space colony.
As you make your way across the game’s varied solar system, you’ll encounter unique planets, characters, and challenges that can be tackled in distinct ways.
While it may lack the massive open-world of a Bethesda game, The Outer Worlds offers well-written characters, flexible combat, and refined RPG mechanics.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
Much like the Fallout series, The Witcher 3‘s vast open-world provides you with ample opportunities to stray from the main path and into the unknown.
While its distinct locales and otherworldly creatures may fall under the category of fantasy, the extensive lore behind them rivals that of Fallout.
This is further complemented by a cast of intriguing characters and engaging story centered on the monster-hunting Witcher, Geralt of Rivia.
Far from the empty slate Fallout players are used to receiving, Geralt can still evolve throughout the narrative by making decisions that lead to different outcomes.
BioShock: The Collection
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mac
The BioShock games are known for blending classic sci-fi storytelling with first-person shooter mechanics to deliver a thrilling experience from start to finish.
Just like Fallout, the series is extremely lore-heavy, with each game introducing fresh characters and events belonging to the same universe.
Instead of just choosing our favorite entry, we’re recommending you pick up BioShock: The Collection, which includes all three games in the series.
Each entry has been remastered for contemporary HD displays and runs at 1080p while bundling together all previously released DLC.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
We all knew it was only a matter of time before we got to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the most recent entry in Bethesda’s other action RPG series.
Serving as the fantasy-inspired counterpart to Fallout, the game sees you embarking on a quest to slay a formidable dragon by exploring an expansive open-world.
It’s basically Fallout if you were to swap out the mutated creatures and futuristic technology with mythical beasts, magic, and medieval weaponry.
The optimal way to play Skyrim these days is with the Anniversary Edition, which includes a decade of updates from the base game, Creation Club, and various add-ons.
Metro Exodus
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Mac, Linux
Metro Exodus continues the narrative established by 2010’s Metro 2033 while maintaining consistency with the 2002 novel by Dimitry Glukhovsky it’s based on.
In it, players take on the role of a Russian scavenger named Artyom as he and his new family ride a train through the icy wasteland looking to reconnect with civilization.
In contrast to previous games in the series, Metro Exodus expands its scope with bigger open-world environments for players to explore and interact with.
Additionally, the game includes a crafting system, substantial story choices, and a variety of diverse biomes that introduce distinct enemies and obstacles.
Far Cry New Dawn
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
If you enjoy combing through each post-apocalyptic environment introduced in the Fallout series, then you may also like Far Cry New Dawn.
This spin-off game shares the same setting as Far Cry 5, only 17 years in the future where a nuclear war has radically transformed the world.
Players assume control of a new character tasked with rebuilding Hope County and defending its inhabitants from a crew of roving bandits known as the Highwaymen.
The game maintains many of Far Cry 5’s systems while implementing new tier-based enemies, upgradeable bases, and expanded weapon crafting.
Wasteland 3
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Linux, Mac
The Wasteland series is sure to scratch a similar itch for RPG fans, particularly those that have a certain affinity for the older isometric Fallout games.
A pleasant beginning is Wasteland 3, where you explore a frozen wasteland in the 22nd century while twisted groups fight for dominance.
Players act as leader of the Desert Rangers, a squad of magnetic gunslingers trying to survive in this infernal new post-apocalyptic world.
Similar to Fallout, the game offers a lot of freedom in how you decide to flesh out your characters’ builds, approach each challenge, and investigate the world.
Rage 2
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
Published but not developed by Bethesda, Rage 2 features a post-apocalyptic setting without the ridiculous bugs that we’ve come to expect in Fallout games.
The FPS builds upon the original Rage by dropping players in a post-apocalyptic driven by fast-paced combat and unbridled exploration.
While the story and characters can feel a bit over-the-top compared to Fallout, there are still some standout performances that make the adventure worthwhile.
Thankfully, most of your time will be spent out in the world exploring fresh biomes, infiltrating enemy camps, and upgrading your gear and abilities.