Paradox reveals Afterworld — a post-apocalyptic grand strategy inspired by Fallout and Mad Max

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Paradox Development Studio is taking a break from conquering history and space, setting its sights instead on post-apocalyptic North America. Afterworld will see you take control of a tribe of survivors as you explore and conquer the ruins of the fallen continent. Which you might already know, after yesterday's leak. But now it's official!

Afterworld was just revealed during Gamescom's Opening Night Live, with a trailer that's evocative of both Fallout and Mad Max. Paradox has naturally put its own spin on things, however, with features like the Ancients, immortal leaders who existed before the collapse of civilisation, and who are now fighting to rule what's left using forgotten technology. They might cause some problems for you.

Like Stellaris, you'll be able to pick your tribe's origins, including a Fallout-inspired start that sees you leaving the safety of your bunker to begin a new life in the wasteland. There's a survival bent to the proceedings, with your tribe needing to scrounge up the bare necessities like food and water before it can start thriving. Unlike previous PDX games, you really are starting from scratch.

Eventually you'll be able to rebuild civilisation or create something completely new, founding new religions, establishing laws, and taking advantage of pre-Fall technology, like that big ol' spider robot from the trailer. With convoys you'll be able to set up trading routes and supply lines to keep your new civilisation ticking, and if things get too rough you can leave your home behind and migrate to a new land, or just become nomads or raiders.

Afterworld seems to be shaping up to be Paradox's most exploration-heavy grand strategy game—even when compared to Stellaris. Take the ideas tree, for instance. This is essentially your tech tree, and it's based entirely on what your tribe experiences.

Instead of seeing the whole tree laid out in front of you, or getting a random selection of techs to choose from, the tree is revealed through exploration. If your tribe encounters a river, you'll learn about irrigation, unlocking the appropriate idea in the tree. If you meet another tribe and they've established a religion, then you'll discover the organised religion idea.

This is also where the procedural generation can shake things up. While the terrain and geography are immutable, you'll encounter different tribes, resources and dangers when you start a new run. So you'll always be able to find that river and unlock irrigation, but other experiences will be random.

Afterworld's development is being led by Dan Lind, formerly game director on Hearts of Iron 4. But there seems to be plenty of concepts drawn from Paradox's other grand strategy games as well. I've mentioned Stellaris a couple of times already, but it looks like there's plenty of Crusader Kings DNA in here too. Even though you're running a tribe rather than inhabiting an individual ruler, it still seems like there are some RPG nods.

"Afterworld is Paradox’s first non-historical setting in a decade, and I can’t wait to see what stories our players will tell with it,” says Lind. "This is the first world we’ve gotten to build from scratch in a long time, and the first one we've had the pleasure of destroying before the game starts. The old world is still out there in fragments, waiting to be found. What comes after it is entirely up to the players."

I know a lot of PDX fans were hoping for a Stellaris-like fantasy game for the developer's next outing, but we've already got so many fantasy-themed 4X games—the post-apocalypse strikes me as a more novel GSG setting.

A couple of weeks ago I got to go hands-on with Afterworld, so keep an eye out for my preview soon.