Fallen Land: A Post Apocalyptic Board Game – 2nd Edition

I waited a long time for this Kickstarter — the bastards took their time — but the second edition paid me back. Fallen Land is that fully sandbox, post-apocalyptic game with an RPG feel that reminds me of FFG Fallout and Waste Knights, except here the whole thing is vastly more polished and streamlined.

At its core, it is pure ameritrash: you roam the wasteland, hunt for stuff, and let the stories that emerge take over. One player may stumble upon a relic Dodge Charger straight out of Mad Max, while another gets saddled with a cursed Vespa they simply cannot get rid of. That asymmetry and madness are precisely part of its charm.

The game ties party management and the settlement together very effectively without losing its sandbox spirit. There is also fair PvP, so players are not merely moving alongside one another through separate adventures: they can clash as well, whenever the post-apocalyptic situation calls for it.

I would not recommend it indiscriminately. This is a genre that will not be to every taste, especially now that big thematic games like this rarely come out anymore — the first Fallen Land was released in 2006, if I remember correctly. But if I had to choose one game from this genre, I would choose this one.

It is epic solo, too: its many story cards and missions give it enough material for me to play many sessions without getting bored. Highly recommended for connoisseurs.