Some settings seem ripe for almost unlimited exploration, and one of them belongs to the Fallout games, starting with the first one in 1997, up through Fallout 76 in 2018. The Fallout series takes the bright image we had of the future in the 1940s and '50s and imagines that it all came true--and then went horribly wrong. We had nuclear-powered cars, home assistant robots, and every convenience you could've ever imagined. Everything was clean and slickly designed.

And then, in 2077, nuclear war blew it all to hell. That's where the players come in. Having lived in underground bunkers called Vaults, built by a company called Vault-Tec, these self-sustaining shelters became homes for countless potential survivors and were meant to work until the world was safe to inhabit again. Many of the vaults, however, were also used as experiments on their inhabitants, and others simply malfunctioned. Throughout the game series, players have left their vaults as early as the year 2102 and as late as 2287, emerging into the post-apocalyptic wasteland in pursuit of knowledge, supplies, and survival.

The game series has garnered a loyal fan base thanks to iconic art direction, memorable use of classic pre-war music, and wide-open worlds to explore full of quests, characters, and decisions. As the Vault Dweller, you can join the Brotherhood of Steel, hang out with Ghouls (heavily-irradiated, mutated humans), fight raiders, and run from Super Mutants and Deathclaws, while deciding how you want to save the world, helping people or using them, making allies and meeting companions.