#post-apocalyptic

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

Directed by Nia DaCosta

From mysteries to cosmic horror to supernatural thrillers to apocalyptic stories, we're excited to showcase the most gripping and atmospheric interactive fiction games that didn't quite fit into one of the five main categories.

We interviewed @thelonelyshore-if, creator of The Lonely Shore (overall winner of the bonus category). Read our author spotlight here.

Completed

The Passenger (cosmic horror) by @the-passenger-if

Ongoing

The Lonely Shore (overall winner) by @thelonelyshore-if

Sanguine Sky by @sanguinesky-if*

One Knight Stand by @oneknightstand-if

You can play all of the submissions in this category here (many of them are horror, post-apocalyptic and supernatural/thriller).

One is full of machismo bullshit, heavy emphasis on cruelty and impartiality, while the other acknowledges the pitfalls frankly, but the characters strive to do better. I want more international post-apocs to compare them to. I think socioeconomic and cultural aspects inform these works heavily.

(Okay to be fair there's a narrative reason for Mad Max being the way it is, it's purposefully over-the-top as a form of mythology, and I love them, so they get a pass lol) But yeah, most post-apoc stories focus on the world being the way it is as punishment, almost never a chance at rebuilding, which is what I like.

At the end of the day it all feels like fantasizing about the end: won't it be awful, yes, but. What then? What do we do with the endless options ahead of us? Do we give into the cruelty we're told is inevitable, or do we work to defy it? If we don't work to defy it, it's pointless torture porn.