# Wasteland (video game)
**Wasteland** is a post-apocalyptic role-playing game developed by Interplay Productions and published by [Electronic Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/electronic-arts) in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh, and later Linux[1](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html). Set in 2087, nearly a century after a nuclear war has turned much of the Earth into a radioactive wasteland, it casts the player as a band of Desert Rangers, lawmen who are the last hope of what was once the American southwest[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered). The game is widely credited with bringing the post-apocalypse to video games and inspiring a genre, and it is best remembered as the main inspiration behind *Fallout*[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered) • [3](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-crpgs/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 1988, on Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh, and Linux[1](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html) |
| Developer / publisher | Interplay Productions; published by Electronic Arts[1](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html) • [4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html) |
| Setting | Year 2087, after an all-out nuclear war; the American southwest[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered) |
| Player role | Desert Rangers defending settlers against hunger, sickness, raiders, and mutants[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered) |
| Party size | The player controls a group of characters varying between four and seven members[4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html) |
| Paragraph book | Shipped with a printed book of text paragraphs, including a decoy version of the story[5](https://www.mobygames.com/game/287/wasteland/) |
| Remaster | *Wasteland Remastered*, released February 25, 2020, with Xbox Game Pass and cross-save support[6](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-available-now/) |
## Setting and gameplay
The game takes place in 2087, after a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union has reduced the nation to a desert plagued by destruction[4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html) • [7](https://www.oldgames.sk/en/game/wasteland/downloads). The player leads a party of Desert Rangers, a band of lawmen who are the only remaining defense of good people against hunger, sickness, ravaging raiders, and mutants. A secretive and sinister force is menacing humanity, and the Rangers must investigate it, recruiting help and following leads as their choices shape the world around them[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered).
The party varied between four and seven characters, all under the player's complete control[4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html). The interface divided the screen into several spaces for the character sheet, the gameplay itself, and a text box narrating locations and encounters[8](https://as.com/meristation/2020/03/10/analisis/1583830495_448055.html). The world is organized as a large desert map containing the various city maps, which in turn contain building maps or underground levels of sewers and hideouts[9](https://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/DOS/Wasteland_-_Manual_-_PC.pdf).
**Open-world design.** Co-designer Brian Fargo described the game's structure as unusually open for its time: "Wasteland let you do anything you wanted in any order you wanted, and you could get ripple effects that might happen one minute later or thirty minutes later, a lot like [the much later] Grand Theft Auto series. The Ultima games were open, but things tended to be very compartmentalized, they didn't ripple out like in Wasteland"[10](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-wasteland-i-developing-an-open-world-rpg-in-1988).
## Development
[Brian Fargo](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-fargo), founder of Interplay Productions, co-designed the game[11](https://www.bosnan.net/essays/brian-fargo). He visited the tabletop role-playing author Ken St. Andre in Phoenix and described a post-[World War III](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-war-iii) game that Interplay wanted to build using new coding techniques developed by programmer Alan Pavlish. St. Andre developed the initial game storyline, first sketching something like the film *Red Dawn* in the cornfields of Idaho before settling on a concept of Arizona Rangers versus Terminators in the deserts of Arizona and nearby states, a region he chose because he lived there and knew its geography[1](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html).
The influences the creators cite are 1980s popular culture. Fargo called the game his ode to *Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior*, a film he was obsessed with as a teenager[12](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Magazine/R/Retro%20Gamer%20UK/Retro%20Gamer%20Issue%20134%20-%202014%20%20UK.pdf). St. Andre listed his inspirations as "Mad Max. Terminator. Daffy Duck," and among his contributions counted most of Las Vegas and Quartz and the creation of the Scorpitron robot[1](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html).
The manual states that Wasteland was developed over two years with a focus on making the game fun and accessible, adding features such as a save command, a disband command, and a strategic combat system[13](https://manuals.plus/m/21192ed22856e3212cc644d680f23579b9526dc1b83fcb122cd8bb49b7fecc19). Fargo, however, recalled a longer schedule: "One of the issues was it took us four years to make the game… We spent a lot of time on it"[12](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Magazine/R/Retro%20Gamer%20UK/Retro%20Gamer%20Issue%20134%20-%202014%20%20UK.pdf).
## The paragraph book
Because the storage formats of the era had limited capacity, much of the game's narrative was placed in a printed book included with the game disks rather than in the software itself[4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html). Specific encounters referred players to a numbered paragraph for a verbose description of what was occurring[5](https://www.mobygames.com/game/287/wasteland/).
The book also served an anti-cheating purpose. To keep players from scanning ahead for clues, two full versions of the major story were printed: one was the actual plot of the game, and the other was a decoy involving the same major settings and characters but with an entirely different explanation for the events. After completing the game, a player could skim the book and read a second, alternative story[5](https://www.mobygames.com/game/287/wasteland/).
## Legacy and Fallout
Wasteland drew many fans to Interplay and stands as one of the most respected forebears of the RPG genre[14](https://gameinformer.com/FalloutOralHistory-PartI) • [15](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-survival-guide/). Its game engine was also used in the pseudo-sequel *Fountain of Dreams*[5](https://www.mobygames.com/game/287/wasteland/).
Its largest legacy is *Fallout* (1997). Fallout was originally going to be a sequel to Wasteland, but Electronic Arts, which held the rights, declined: "We ended up having to pivot because EA said, 'No, not going to happen,'" Fargo revealed. The pivot produced an independent post-nuclear RPG whose development was practically identical in origin, leading Spanish-language coverage to describe the Fallout series as a de facto sequel[16](https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/fallout-was-a-b-tier-side-project-for-its-original-dev-and-lost-two-huge-licenses-but-its-co-creators-are-glad) • [4](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html).
The series itself returned decades later. *Wasteland 2* was crowdfunded through a successful [Kickstarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kickstarter) and released in 2014, and *Wasteland 3* followed in 2020[10](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-wasteland-i-developing-an-open-world-rpg-in-1988) • [3](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-crpgs/). inXile [Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment), the studio Fargo founded to make the sequels, and the rights to Wasteland were acquired by Xbox in 2018[17](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fallout/xbox-studio-accidentally-gave-away-the-rpg-that-led-to-og-fallout-for-free-so-now-its-giving-everyone-a-way-to-play-it-legitimately/).
## Wasteland Remastered
*Wasteland Remastered*, released on February 25, 2020, retains the spirit of the original game while overhauling its graphics and sound and expanding the musical score[6](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-available-now/) • [2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered). It is available for Windows (Steam, [Microsoft Store](https://www.edgepedia.org/microsoft-store), GOG) and [Xbox One](https://www.edgepedia.org/xbox-one), and is an Xbox Play Anywhere title with cross-save support, included with [Xbox Game Pass](https://www.edgepedia.org/xbox-game-pass)[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered) • [6](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-available-now/).
The remaster brings the original physical storybook into the game, fully illustrated and with full voice-over, adds controller support, fixes long-standing bugs, and includes quality-of-life improvements[2](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered). In 2026, a store error briefly made the remaster free on the Microsoft/Xbox Store in a non-working form; inXile let players who redeemed it keep it and replaced the broken copies with working ones in their accounts[17](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fallout/xbox-studio-accidentally-gave-away-the-rpg-that-led-to-og-fallout-for-free-so-now-its-giving-everyone-a-way-to-play-it-legitimately/).
## References
1. [Wasteland Interview (Ken St. Andre), GameBanshee](https://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28345-wasteland-interview.html)
2. [About Wasteland Remastered, inXile Entertainment support](https://support.inxile-entertainment.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042296294-About-Wasteland-Remastered)
3. [10 Best CRPGs, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-crpgs/)
4. [Regreso al pasado: Saga Fallout, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/2009/05/09/reportajes/1241848800_037355.html)
5. [Wasteland (1988), MobyGames](https://www.mobygames.com/game/287/wasteland/)
6. [Wasteland Remastered is Available Now with Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Wire](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-available-now/)
7. [Wasteland (1988) downloads, OldGames.sk](https://www.oldgames.sk/en/game/wasteland/downloads)
8. [Wasteland Remastered, análisis PC, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/2020/03/10/analisis/1583830495_448055.html)
9. [Wasteland manual (PC DOS), gamesdatabase.org](https://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/DOS/Wasteland_-_Manual_-_PC.pdf)
10. [Wasteland: Developing an open-world RPG in 1988, Game Developer](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-wasteland-i-developing-an-open-world-rpg-in-1988)
11. [Brian Fargo and the Interplay Years, Bosnan](https://www.bosnan.net/essays/brian-fargo)
12. [Retro Gamer Issue 134 (2014)](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Magazine/R/Retro%20Gamer%20UK/Retro%20Gamer%20Issue%20134%20-%202014%20%20UK.pdf)
13. [Wasteland Game Manual, Manuals+](https://manuals.plus/m/21192ed22856e3212cc644d680f23579b9526dc1b83fcb122cd8bb49b7fecc19)
14. [An Oral History Of Fallout, Part I: The Creation, Game Informer](https://gameinformer.com/FalloutOralHistory-PartI)
15. [Wasteland Remastered Survival Guide, Xbox Wire](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/25/wasteland-remastered-survival-guide/)
16. [Fallout was a "B-tier side project"..., Windows Central](https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/fallout-was-a-b-tier-side-project-for-its-original-dev-and-lost-two-huge-licenses-but-its-co-creators-are-glad)
17. [Xbox studio accidentally gave away the RPG that led to OG Fallout for free..., GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fallout/xbox-studio-accidentally-gave-away-the-rpg-that-led-to-og-fallout-for-free-so-now-its-giving-everyone-a-way-to-play-it-legitimately/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Game genres › Action, adventure, and role-playing games › Western role-playing games*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license