Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game cover art

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

by Interplay Entertainment · published by Edusoft

Released October 10, 1997 on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game Game intro thumbnail

About Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

The Vault Dweller is tasked with exploring post-nuclear California in order to retrieve a water chip to replace the broken chip of Vault 13, their home, which they are the first person to ever leave. The player will engage in Western RPG character building and turn-based tactical combat while getting to know settlements and factions of people, mutants and ghouls through branching dialogue trees.

Fallout is set in the timeline which deviated from our own some time after World War II, and where technology, politics and culture followed a different course. In the 21st century, a worldwide conflict is brought on by global petroleum shortage. Several nations begin warring with one another for the last of non-renewable resources, namely oil and uranium; known as the Resource Wars, fighting begins in April 2052 and ends in 2077. China invades Alaska in the winter of 2066, causing the United States to go to war with China and using Canadian resources to supply their war efforts, despite Canadian complaints. Eventually the United States violently annexes Canada in February 2076 and reclaims Alaska nearly a year later. After years of conflict, on October 23, 2077, a global nuclear war occurs. It is not known who strikes first, but in less than a few hours most major cities are destroyed. The effects of the war do not fade for the next hundred years and as a consequence, human society has collapsed leaving only survivor settlements barely able to make out a living in the barren wasteland, while a few live through the occurrence in underground fallout shelters known as Vaults. One of these, Vault 13, is the protagonist's home, where the game begins. In Vault 13, in 2161 in Southern California, 84 years after the nuclear war. The Water Chip, a computer chip responsible for the water recycling and pumping machinery, breaks. The Vault Overseer tasks the protagonist, the Vault Dweller, with finding a replacement. He or she is given a portable device called the "Pip-Boy 2000" that keeps track of map-making, objectives, and bookkeeping. Armed with the Pip-Boy 2000 and meager equipment, including a small sum of bottle caps which are used as currency in the post-apocalyptic world, the main character is sent off on the quest.

Release dates by platform

MacNAOctober 10, 1997 · Out now
MacEUSeptember 11, 2002 · Out now
PCAugust 19, 2009 · Out now
LinuxJanuary 3, 2012 · Out now

Reviews & players

Steam reviewsVery Positive94% of 25K positive
Player score86666 ratings on IGDB

PC system requirements

Official specs from Steam

Full specs

Minimum

OSWindows
ProcessorPentium 90Mhz or faster
Memory16 MB
GraphicsSVGA
DirectX®Any DirectX
Hard Drive565 MB

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game FAQ

When did Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game come out?

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game was released on October 10, 1997 for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Is Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game on PlayStation 5?

No. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game has not been announced for PlayStation 5. It is available on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Is Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game on Xbox Series X|S?

No. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game has not been announced for Xbox Series X|S. It is available on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Is Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game on Nintendo Switch 2?

No. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game has not been announced for Nintendo Switch 2. It is available on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Who is making Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game?

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is developed by Interplay Entertainment and Black Isle Studios and published by Edusoft, MacPlay, and Bethesda Softworks.

Is Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game multiplayer?

No. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is single player only.

How much does Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game cost?

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game costs $9.99 on Steam. Prices checked October 9, 2026.

Is Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game good?

Steam players rate it "Very Positive" — 94% of 25,296 reviews are positive.

What are the minimum PC requirements for Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game?

The minimum GPU is SVGA. See the full minimum and recommended specs on our Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game system requirements page.

Fallout series

17 games in release order

Full timeline
  1. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game1997
  2. Fallout 21998
  3. Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel2001
  4. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel2004
  5. Fallout 32008
  6. Fallout: New Vegas2010
  7. Fallout Online2012
  8. Fallout Shelter2015
  9. Fallout 42015
  10. Fallout 762018
  11. Fallout Shelter Online2019
  12. Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition2025
  13. Fallout 3: RemasterTBA
  14. Fallout: New Vegas RemasterTBA
  15. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2TBA
  16. Fallout ExtremeTBA
  17. Van BurenTBA

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