The Best Games Like Wasteland You’ll Love – Top 25

Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic adventure-based, role-playing game series. It is a Turn-based combat video game developed by Inxile Entertainment and published by Unity. The games feature both Single and Multiplayer gameplay and there are three games in the series to date, Wasteland, Wasteland 2 and, you guessed it, Wasteland 3.

Other outstanding features of the game include a strong character customization menu, a laundry list of locations and warring factions, and dialogue that is snarky, lighthearted, and makes plenty of callbacks and references to other games in the series. It equally comes with forceful turn based combat, a complex storyline that engages you in an addictive manner and motivates the player to find out where the story will take them.

You can play the game by yourself or with an ally in the main storyline, giving you the freedom to decide if this is a solo or co-op mission. The party-based role-playing feature of the game lets you manage a team of seven characters, which includes four-player intended characters and three NPCs.

The game comes with a lot of quest variations that you can complete, and each one provides more challenging gameplay than the last. The game lets you unlock fresh items and resources with the use of your experience points.

Each Wasteland title integrates essential features like a new game universe, hundreds of missions you can unlock. It equally features an array of cool vehicles and excellent graphic details. Our lists of games like Wasteland include other role-playing adventure games that come with deep turn-based gameplay and multi-faceted, layered combat mechanics.

These games offer a tonne, or at least a few similar mechanics to the Wasteland series and rank among the best games in the turn-based genre. These games are all still available on various platforms and they all allow you to build your own team of characters, discover large game locations, take on different types of missions and immerse yourself in a turn-based game format.

Eager to know what we have in our list of best games like Wasteland? Let’s go!

Best games like Wasteland: Our Top 25 Picks

1. ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game

https://www.gamersdecide.com/sites/default/files/authors/u147389/atom-rpg-base.jpg

Atom RPG is an Indie Post-Apocalyptic game that takes place after the Soviet Union and Western Bloc used explosives to send the world into nuclear oblivion in 1986. You’ll be playing the game as a survivor of the Soviet wastelands that goes in search of ways to survive in this new world.

This game comes with a lot of skills you can learn, and this includes locking picking, which can help you satisfy your urge for kleptomania. It equally comes with a thrilling combat system that’ll keep you constantly engaged.

The non-linear gameplay means you can undertake any mission you choose, or perhaps no set mission at all. This can include fishing while avoiding the main storyline or merely traveling around with the characters you encounter and building your extensive base. That right folks, there’s base-building mechanics. 

You might also be interested: The Best RPGs on Steam to Try Next [2021 Guide]

2. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

If you don’t fancy playing as a human, with Mutant Year Zero, you can play as a party of animal-like creatures. All the included characters perform specific roles, which can include a rampaging boar or a high-flying sniping duck. Plus, there’s a woman who can lash her enemies to death with vines. It’s brutal but forgive us, it’s also a lot of fun.

Your key task is to serve as a scavenger for ‘The Arch’ which is the last remnant of society after the apocalypse. You must gather resources from the waste while battling your way through ghouls, other mutants, and the occasional human survivor.

This game marries together the exploration and dialogue-heavy format of Wasteland with the combat seen in Xcom. Offering something that marries retro and modern gaming aspects together quite nicely.

3. UnderRail

 

UnderRail is set in a futuristic environment when the whole human race on Earth was forced underground because of a nuclear holocaust that created a system of metro station-states known as the UnderRail. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t this Metro 2077? Well, yes, but in an RPG, turn based format.

You play as a citizen belonging to one of the underground states, caught in the middle of a war between different groups who are contending for supremacy over the remnants of the human race. The game offers a lot of player choice, narrative freedom, and the ability to engage in combat or try to talk or sneak your way out of potential brawls.

You can also set traps, build barriers, take control of your foes, and so on. The game is one that may not be a graphical masterclass, but narratively and mechanically, it’s solid. This game is a window into the world of post-apocalyptic cults, and who doesn’t want that?

4. Gorky 17

Gorky 17 is our first entry on the list that doesn’t take place after doomsday, but the events of this game could easily spell disaster without a skilled player at the helm. In this title, NATO has sent a troop to examine a secret Russian base that surrounds a series of abandoned towns in Poland. Upon inspection, mutilated creatures begin walking the streets. And it’s your task as Cole Sullivan, to lead your team to try to decipher what is happening.

The game does a great job of rewarding exploration and nails the abandoned eastern European town setting throughout. Plus, we have to give credit to this game, the graphics may have aged like milk but the soundtrack for this game is still as ominous and unsettling as ever.

The game constantly trip feeds players vital info that will help them piece this compelling story together. However, remember that every choice matters, and some choices are irreversible.

5. Dead State: Reanimated

Dead State is a captivating, high-tension survival game with RPG elements and with base building and management features. It’s set in central Texas and features turn-based tactical combat, a strong storyline, and dialogue that centers on your ability to survive at all costs.

The undead roams the earth, resulting in a society that is crumbling. While society rips at the seams around you, your task is gathering groups of survivors to build a fortified settlement, to search for resources and food, to protect your clan from the other roaming survivors who could potentially raid your settlement. In short, you may be the last hope humans have to escape extinction.

You will encounter plenty of the undead but thankfully, the Reanimated version of this title ensures more balanced combat, more competent AI and tonnes of additional tweaks that will help you push back the horde.

This game is all about survival and you will have the choice of being a diplomatic leader or an authoritarian, cutthroat dictator that will cut down anyone who stands in the way of their group’s safety. 

6. Phantom Doctrine

Phantom Doctrine is a spy adventure game set at the height of the Cold War. You’ll take up the role of a former KGB or CIA agent trusted with the mission to prevent the destruction of the world as we know it. So, you know, chill, day-to-day stuff. 

You will use your team of undercover operatives to penetrate bases and gather essential information that will assist you in your quest to take down the evil threat, and naturally, you’ll get involved in a gunfight or two. You can take on missions in complete stealth or engage in open battle. Depending on the missions you take on, you’ll either be in control of a crack team of CIA or KGB operatives. Or alternatively, you can use groups of criminals from afar to take care of the problem without dirtying your hands at all.

The game also offers a fairly fleshed-out multiplayer mode too, allowing you to test your tactical acumen against your pals. Overall, this turn-based strategy game is well worth giving a try.

7. Skyshine’s BEDLAM

In Skyshine’s Bedlam, you take up the role of a mechanic who oversees a nomadic fortress referred to as a Dozer. Your role within this game is to take your Dozer from the city of Byzantine to a distant haven across the wasteland. However, that is easier said than done

You’ll encounter waves of hostile factions that control the ungoverned wastes as you explore, and these can include AI-powered androids, Cyborgs, mutants, marauders, and much more. Your only goal is to get from point A to point B safely and protect any crew members that you meet along the way.

This game is like Wasteland in terms of setting and strategic, turn based combat. However, it is a roguelike game that plays much like FTL: Faster Than Light. So if this sounds like a match made it heaven, then be sure to give this a try.

8. End State

In End State, you play as the leader of a squad of mercenaries who are deployed to a war-torn country called Brekovia, where several factions are fighting for power.

You have the ability to choose how to free this country from its oppressors, what mercenaries you hire, and how you choose to take out those who threaten to disrupt the peace. You can do this by sneaking up on them and snipping them from afar or taking the loud approach and making a big entrance.

Also, much like games such as Sniper Elite or the Fallout series, you’ll be treated to a slow-motion ballistics simulation that shows you all the gory details of your target’s demise. This is a great turn-based strategy game and one you should check out, even if it is still in Steam early access.

9. Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout Tactics Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is a spin-off title from the main Fallout game series which is developed by Micro Forte and published by Bethesda Softworks and uses the same core mechanics of the first two titles, all be it with more of an emphasis on strategy. You’ll be playing as a member of the Brotherhood of Steel with the task of restoring the wasteland to its former pre-war glory.

You will play the role of a BoS soldier and will lead your team of initiates through a series of missions. Unlike the central Fallout series, tactics draws inspiration from Final Fantasy Tactics and put the focus on linear missions and more importantly, combat. This is a fun departure from the main series and allows players to really get into the nitty-gritty of wasteland combat. Be sure to check out this retro gem.

10. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

If you aren’t vibing with the tactical spin-off Fallout game, why not try the real thing. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is an Adventure and Role-playing video game developed by Interplay Inc. This post-apocalyptic game is the initial title in the popular gaming franchise and first introduced players to the wacky and wonderful world of Fallout.

The game would allow the player to play a game that was about as close to a digitalized tabletop game that you could possibly imagine. The character creation options, the perks and skills on offer, the vast open world, and the incredibly well-realized characters scattered across this open-world allowed players to immerse themselves in an RPG adventure with depth that up until then, had never been seen in gaming.

You’ll encounter all the enigmatic Tombs and vaults that harbor horrifying and sometimes bloody secrets as you engage in tactical turn based combat with radiated mutants, gangsters, and mutated unfriendly wildlife. All in the search of a water chip that will save your people from certain doom.

11. Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

 

If you loved the game above, why not take on the direct sequel? Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is an Adventure-centered Role-playing Game and Single-player video game developed by Black Isle Studio. This game takes all the fun tabletop-focused mechanics of the breakout Fallout title, then doubles down, adding a bigger map, a more extensive storyline, and much-improved performance.

In this title, the player will still be on the hunt for a needle in a haystack. However, in this adventure, you’ll be on the hunt for the GECK (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) instead of a water chip. However, as is always the case with large RPG adventure games, side quests, and other interesting content will try to distract you from your main goal.

This game may use the same engine and core mechanics of the original title, but many will tell you that this game is bigger, more nuanced, and far superior to its predecessor, and we are inclined to agree.

12. Divinity: Original Sin

Divinity Original Sin offers you plenty of freedom and complex tactical gameplay. You can organize your troop and prepare for a retro meets modern RPG adventure. 

In this title, you play as either one or both of the customizable source hunters, depending on if you are playing solo or in co-op. With your role being to investigate a murder in the nearby town of Cyceal. This one quest branches out fast, leading to a long and compelling series of events that will captivate you from start to finish.

This title offers dynamic combat which is similar to Wasteland and perhaps even more so, like the combat within the Dragon Age series. It’s an excellent adventure and one that you should take on at your earliest opportunity.

13. Divinity: Original Sin 2

It’s only logical that we mention the sequel here too. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the second installation in the series. It is an adventure-centered; Role-playing, Single, and Multiplayer video game developed and published by Larian Studios. The storyline is set centuries after the first installation of the game. In this iteration, the world is calling out for divine intervention and it just so happens that the powers of a deity lurk deep within your character. However, it’s up to you to coax them out.

This second installment in the series allows for player choice in all areas. You have complete control of your character development, how you carry yourself in this strange new land, how you lead your party to victory in combat. Plus, if you finish the main game and still want more, there is a game master mode that allows players to create their own stories. So basically, it’s endless and limitless RPG fun.

14. Disco Elysium 

Disco Elysium' has some of the sharpest dialogue you will ever experience

What do you get if you take a classic, 1990’s style, turn-based, dialogue-heavy RPG and strip it of any combat whatsoever. Well, it might look a little like Disco Elysium. This game throws you into the role of a drunken detective with amnesia and your job, alongside piecing together the finer details that make you, you. Is solving a murder mystery, navigating the political firestorm that is Revachol, and using your cunning, wit, and investigative skills to uncover the secrets of the land.

This game cleverly swaps traditional combat for perks, complex skill trees, and genuine investigation through exploration. The game is beautifully presented in an oil painting style and the game has been altered in the Director’s Cut to offer much cleaner, crisper voice acting. This is perhaps one of the most unique entries on the entire list and that is our endorsement, so go play this one!

 

15. Pillars Of Eternity

Screenshot - Shaders of Eternity (Pillars of Eternity)

Much like Wasteland, Pillars of Eternity is a successful Kickstarter campaign that delivered on all of its promises and more. pillars of Eternity is a game set in a fantasy universe where the player gets separated from their caravan crew and gets caught in a strange situation that allows the player to communicate with spirits. Granting them the controversial role of a Watcher.

This game is a party-based RPG that will see you explore a vast open world, gather up a merry band of interesting characters as you try to understand your new supernatural affliction, and try to solve the Hollowborn pandemic that plagues the land.

 

16. Icewind Dale

Let's Play Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition Gameplay #1 - Hrothgar - Playthrough Walkthrough PC HD - YouTube

 

Icewind Dale is a superb 1990’s RPG developed by Black Isle Studio and published by Interplay. It is an Action-Adventure, Role-playing, Lone-player, and Multi-player video game based loosely on the trilogy of novels by R.A. Salvatore and is set within the Icewind Dale‘s region.

This game plays similarly to games like Baldur’s Gate, allowing you to take control of a group of adventurers and enjoy gameplay mechanics which mimic those you would find in a typical DnD campaign.

Icewind Dale provides you fun-filled turn-based combat experience where you must use custom tactics and commands to take on the hostile creatures of the realm. This game aims to be the closest thing to a DnD campaign outside of a tabletop setting and considering that this game was made around three decades ago. You have to say, they did one hell of a job.

17. Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard is an Action-Adventure, RTS, Role-playing, Lone-player, and Multi-player video game created by Liquid Entertainment and published by Atari. The game includes two separate campaigns that are set in the surface world known as Eberron and an underground kingdom known as Khyber.

While playing the Eberron campaign, your tasks include building bases, developing your own teams, gathering resources, and pilling them up as you’d obtain in any standard RTS game. The game features three manageable groups which include the Flame, the Umbragen, and the Lizardfolk. Each of these groups has strengths and weaknesses that will favor certain playstyles.

Playing a DnD campaign usually involves gathering a group of players around a table, getting hold of a competent dungeon master, and playing through hours of tabletop gaming, only to be resumed weeks or even months later. However, with Dragonshard, all the parts are there before you. Allowing you to enjoy DnD gaming without the usual stresses.

18. Shadowrun Returns

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If you fancy a turn-based role-playing game that is a little bit more futuristic, you might want to check out Shadowrun returns. This is a sci-fi title that marries the fantasy aspects of the household games within the genre with a Cyberpunk feel and aesthetic. The game offers a compelling but linear story and turn-based combat which has plenty of layers for players to peel back and uncover.

This game offers an impressive array of game mechanics such as terminal hacking, multiple weapon classes which can be altered on the fly and you can even use shaman abilities to summon spirits to help you in battle. It’s like a top-down Cyberpunk 2077 but without the bugs. If that sounds like fun, you might want to give this one a try.

 

Remember Fallout Tactics? Well, how about the game that acted as the inspiration for that title. Final Fantasy Tactics follows Ramza Beoulve a soldier in The Lions War. You will have to band together with your party and try to quell a war that rages between two noble factions. To do this, you’ll need to have your tactical turn based combat hat on.

This game unlike the more open and explorative format of normal FF games, allows players to work through a series of missions to push the story forward and despite this game‘s age, it remains one of the fan favorites in this long-running franchise’s history.

20. Icewind Dale II

Icewind Dale 2 Complete on GOG.com

Icewind Dale II is an Action-Adventure, Role-playing, lone-player game developed by the Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment. The game is set in the DnD Overlooked Realms and sees you take control of a band of soldiers while engaging in wars between the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale.

The game provides an isometric outlook akin to titles like those listed above which allows the game to maintain that retro look and features many factions, each with their own unique skills, powerups, and traits that will suit varying playstyles.

You need to select your desired faction to start playing the game. This allows you to complete multiple quests. You can do this freely, interact with NPCs, choose your desired missions, and strive to fulfill all of them.

Any mission you choose requires engaging in combat against powerful enemy characters using available weapons and magical spells. It features a real-time turn-based combat system that you’d find in the third series of D&D. Icewind Dale II provides an appealing game environment, sophisticated mechanics, and attractive visuals.

21. Neverwinter Nights

NWN:EE Screenshots - Photography — Beamdog Forums

Next, we have Neverwinter Nights, a game produced by Bioware and Obsidian Entertainment. This game takes place in the Forgotten Realms of the DnD universe and particularly, in the city of Neverwinter. In this campaign, the player will be placed in the center of a plague crisis and you will have to stop the Wailing Death before lays waste to every life form on the planet.

This game offers a solo and multiplayer experience and also has online functionality as well. Players will also have access to a mode that allows you to create your own custom campaigns. In short, Neverwinter Nights is a huge and insanely replayable isometric RPG game that you have to try!

 

Tyranny is next up on the list and for good reason too. This game is very like the Wasteland series in terms of design, gameplay, and presentation. In this title, you play the role of a Fatebinder and must travel the land putting out fires that have sprung up since the evil overlord Kyros took over the kingdom. This game puts you in the shoes of ‘the bad guys’ and it will be your decisions from the beginning of this game onwards that shapes the fate of the kingdom.

This game focuses on giving players more meaningful choices than the other game produced with this engine, Pillars of Eternity. You will have to make hard decisions, side with warring factions and use a wealth of combat options to settle scores when words just won’t do. It’s a super RPG game and one you should check out right away.

 

23. Mass Effect

Shinobi602 on Twitter: "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition - New Screenshots… "

 

This one might feel like a stretch but we included this one as this game series is one of the most cohesive, immersive, and well-designed RPGs out there. The central focus of this space opera is incredible writing, player choice, and decisions that will alter not only the course of the game but the games within the series that follow. Not to mention the iconic Hero and Renegade system that allows you to be whatever kind of Shepard you want.

The game also has a character stat menu to tinker in, incredible 3rd person combat, not unlike the Gears of War series, and will allow you to explore some of the most incredible, picturesque locations you can imagine. It’s a seminal gaming series and if you somehow missed it, put that right soon.

24. Force of Nature

Force of Nature is an indie open-world sandbox game where you can undertake several missions which include simple turn-based combat, crafting items, building structures, and undertaking farming activities. It comes with Action, Adventure, Strategy, management, and role-playing game features.

You can explore all the 10 regions of the game world. Each of these areas comes with distinctive vegetation and wildlife. You’ll find yourself traveling to these specific regions, gathering and mining resources, designing weapons and clothing and building bases.

It’s a game that combines resource management and survival with turn-based strategy. Honestly, it’s a little more like Runescape than Wasteland but there are still plenty of similarities here.

25. Battle Brothers

Battle Brothers is a mixture of role-playing and turn-based strategy game where you play as a leader of an avaricious enterprise in a realistic, low-power, medieval imaginary world. The game allows you the freedom to choose where to go, choose who to recruit into your team, whom to engage in combat with, and the contracts you want to use.

You can equally decide how to train and equip your troop in a systematically created open-world adventure. You can roam freely through the map to arrange for contracts so as to make money, uncover locations you can loot, enemies you can war against, and visit cities where you can offer supplies to hire their men.

You need to be able to properly manage your resources to improve your levels and provide your teams with sufficient weapons. However, if you are handy when it comes to Isometric RPG’s, we think you will manage just fine. 

Honorable Mentions: 

  • Baldur’s Gate
  • Far Cry 6
  • Dragon age
  • Magick Obscura
  • Mad Max 
  • Xcom
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Shadowrun
  • Borderlands

FAQs

Question: What is Wasteland Remastered?

Answer: Wasteland Remastered is a renovation of the 1988 installation that initiated the post-apocalypse video games. It allows you to bring order to a lawless future or set everything ablaze. You have the freedom to choose your part but remember every choice comes with a consequence.

Question: Is Wasteland Remastered a good game?

Answer: The game is a great one. However, because it is not a modern-day developed game, many gamers find it less appealing. Most gamers would prefer to go for modern role-playing games instead of this one that is a bit old.

Question: What is Wasteland 2?

Answer: Wasteland 2 is an upshot of Wasteland, a 1988 post-apocalyptic PC role-playing game developed by Interplay Productions, after the development of the popular Fallout series.

Question: What is a Desert Ranger in Wasteland?

Answer : Desert Ranger(s) are a crucial part of the Wasteland story, primarily in the first and second sequel. They are also the main part of the initial surviving objectives where players have to build power bases for them in the region.

Question: Which languages is Wasteland 3 available in?

Answer : At the time of writing, the Wasteland 3 Is available in 6 languages, namely, English, Russian, Spanish, Polish, French and German.

Question: Which platforms does Wastlend 3 Support?

Answer : The Wasteland series are available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Macintosh, Windows, and Linux.

 Conclusion

There you have it, plenty of action, role-playing adventure-based games like Wasteland. If you can’t wait for the next installation of the wasteland series and are looking for similar games to satiate your hunger, these games are great alternatives. Tell us about your favorites in the comment section.

Check out more related games if you loved playing:

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