At some level, Fallout has always been part strategy game. The 1997 original relies on turn-based combat and close resource management. Fallout Tactics trades the RPG structure for something closer to XCOM. And then you have Fallout 4’s settlement construction and the pseudo city building in Fallout Shelter. Combining Frostpunk’s hard-biting, survivalist aesthetic with the Fallout series’ various nods towards strategy and 4X, in combination, Endzone and Endzone 2 represent two of the most underrated, underplayed games in the genre. With the sequel nearing its full release, PCGamesN has 30 Endzone 1 Steam keys, and 30 for Endzone 2 to give away right now.
The world is over. The final remnants of humanity are scattered across makeshift settlements and crumbling ruins. At the strategy game level, Endzone 2 combines overarching, macro decision making with day-to-day micromanagement. You need to find a decent place to establish your town, assign members of your population to essential jobs like collecting fuel and hunting for food, and secure basic resources by drilling a well by the lake. Over time, your camp can grow into a fully fledged city, complete with electricity and production. But in the early stages, you’re surviving by the skin of your teeth.
Deep and detailed (it has an expansive world map, with dozens of individually designed characters and elements), what separates Endzone 2 from Frostpunk is its RTS game mechanics. Although you need to build your settlement, you’re also responsible for scavenging runs and scouting locations for new towns.
Your lifeline is the Pathfinder, an armored bus that you can drive through the wasteland and use to collect supplies. In some cases, your missions are simple – trek to a nearby ruin and pick it clean of wood and other essentials. Sometimes, though, things get tough. Maybe you need to deploy the Pathfinder’s crew to build an improvised bridge, or dig a new road that bypasses a pocket of deadly radiation. These sections punctuate and break up the city-building game core of Endzone 2, and make you feel like you’re surviving on the ground, rather than directing everything from a distance.
Already available in early access, Endzone 2 is scheduled for a full release in summer 2025. In the meantime, we’re giving away 30 Steam codes for the first game, Endzone: A World Apart, and 30 codes for Endzone 2 itself. All you have to do to enter is enter your details into the box below. And make sure you drop into our community Discord, too.
Our Endzone giveaway runs until 4am PST / 7am EST / 12pm GMT /1pm CET on Thursday March 13.
You can purchase Endzone and Endzone 2 now over on Steam.
You might also want to try some of the best survival games, or maybe the best 4X games on PC.
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