Humanity’s anxiety over the prospect of nuclear Armageddon has manifested itself in countless creative ways, but it is videogames that have perhaps thought longest and hardest about the ramifications of atomic annihilation, building worlds dedicated to exploring what happens next.
These games can be cynical, satirical, melancholy and sometimes outright goofy, but they are all ultimately visions of hope. They posit that, however twisted by fallout and factionalism it may be, life does go on after nuclear Armageddon. And they pick through the bones of the past to salvage a future.
Missile Command 1980
Videogaming first contended with the prospect of nuclear annihilation in Atari’s classic. Designed by Dave Theurer, this arcade game sees players defending a line of cities from ballistic bombardment by blowing up the titular missiles in midair with counter-projectiles. It’s worth noting that the missiles of Missile Command are not explicitly nuclear missiles. But given when the game was released, and the fact that it involves defending entire cities from complete destruction, it’s easy to imagine how Missile Command played reflected the worries of players living in the shadow of the Cold War.
Wargames 1984
evelopers Coleco clearly weren’t listening when the NORAD computer uttered the line, “The only way to win is not to play” in the 1983 movie, instead creating an interactive version of the defense system. Wargames plays like a slower, grander, version of , with players defending a wireframe USA from attack by missiles, bombers, and submarines. If the destruction reaches DEFCON
