Ep.123 – Persistent Apocalypse: The Role-Playing Revolution That Survived the Wasteland
Wasteland (1988)
A Trip Down Memory Card Lane · David Kassin and Robert Kassin
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Show Notes
In 1988, Interplay released Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic RPG that laid the groundwork for Fallout and decades of open-world storytelling. We trace how Rick Loomis’s Flying Buffalo connected a team of authors and artists, Ken St. Andre, Michael Stackpole, and Liz Danforth, whose tabletop experience shaped the game’s world. Our conversation follows Brian Fargo’s rise from Bard’s Tale to Wasteland, his partnership with Electronic Arts, and how the team blended narrative and systems to create one of the first persistent worlds in gaming. We discuss its critical success, odd sequels, and the long path that led to inXile’s revival of the franchise decades later. Join us as we wander the wasteland, one pixel at a time, on today’s trip down Memory Card Lane.