Ten end-of-the-world video games

Are you are reading this from the safety of your Mayan Apocalypse Impact Avoidance Hideout deep underground, wondering which games you packed for company during your new existence as Lord of New Humanity, and surfing archived remnants of the old net for clues rather than digging through suitcases of tinned sardines and long-lasting tofu? Wonder no longer, for they were the ten titles listed below.

Are you are reading this from the safety of your Mayan Apocalypse Impact Avoidance Hideout deep underground, wondering which games you packed for company during your new existence as Lord of New Humanity, and surfing archived remnants of the old net for clues rather than digging through suitcases of tinned sardines and long-lasting tofu? Wonder no longer, for they were the ten titles listed below.

Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition (360 PC PS3)
Stride or sneak your way through the radioactive Mojave Wasteland on a mission to retrieve a mysterious package, encountering friend, foe, and strange makeshift factions along the way in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas.

The World Ends With You (DS iOS)
Said to be one of the best DS games of all time, TWEWY sees main character Neku on a three-week mission to win reincarnation in an alternative-reality Tokyo. Bonus points if you start playing on December 1 and finish on December 21.

Katamari Damacy series (PS2 PS3 PSP Vita 360) / The Wonderful End of the World (PC)
According to Katamari legend, the world is most likely to end when universal joker The King of All Cosmos instructs his pea-sized son to roll it up onto a super-sticky ball. In a similar style, PC riff The Wonderful End of the World asks players to absorb the world's best parts before it's swallowed by a mythological demon.

The Walking Dead (360 PC PS3 iOS)
It's the familiar zombie setting we all know and love, but with new characters trying to survive and protect each other from the the diseased, lurching masses -- including main character Lee Everett, an escaped murder suspect, and orphan child Clementine.

Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
The world's ended for humankind, but the rest of nature happily gets on with it on in this liberal interpretation of life after homo sapiens, as chicks, cats and chimps try to coexist in a city now populated by bears, boars, lions and even dinosaurs.

Darksiders / Darksiders II (360 PC PS3)
Two action games inspired by the biblical account and starring those lovable gentlefolk riders, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. In Darksiders, War is accused of getting the party started way too early and must find out who jumped the gun; in Darksiders II, War's brother Death sets out on his own scythian path towards justice.

Bastion (360 Linux Mac PC iOS, also Google Chrome)
When in trouble, head for a safe haven -- in this case, The Bastion, a city intended to shelter survivors of the Calamity. In this carefully crafted role-playing game, it's up to you to discover what really happened and decide how to make things right for the remaining survivors.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Prypiat (PC)
Ready for life after the apocalypse? No? Get some practice in now with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, set in Chernobyl's fallout zone, and inspired by novel Roadside Picnic and associated Tarkovsky film Stalker.

Anno 2070 (PC) / The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (DS)
As with other games in the Anno and Dawn of Discovery series, Anno 2070 puts you in charge of a nation's fate, deciding upon building projects, research interests, trade agreements, and ultimately the people's health and economic strength. Anno 2070, however, uses not historical past but possible future in a world where rising water levels have forced a radical rethink for some (but not for all). For another adventure in waterworld, see Wind Waker, in which Link's progress depends on his ability to navigate the Great Sea.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (360 PS3)
Inspired by traditional Chinese tale Journey to the West and created in conjunction with Alex Garland (The Beach, Tesseract) and Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings), Enslaved takes place 150 years in the future, with humankind eviscerated by robot war, New York overgrown, and athletic hero Monkey tasked with escorting Trip to safety.