Going through Atomfall’s irradiated British countryside can be a tough journey, as gangs of outlaws and strange wildlife are everywhere. Even the friendly people that the player runs into seem to have their own ulterior motives, so it isn’t easy to know who to trust or even where to go.
Related
Atomfall: Burning Questions, Answered
Find the answers to the most frequently asked questions Atomfall players have about the game and its requirements.
Knowing how to survive this world is key, as Atomfall doesn’t hold the player’s hand when it comes to exploration and combat. So here are some beginner’s tips to help those wandering around this quaint nuclear apocalypse make it to the end.
9
Save Often
Things happen fast in Atomfall. What might seem like an unimportant bunker could be the solution to a lead that can affect the entire game. That’s why it’s a good idea to save before entering strange locations or doing something potentially dangerous.
Keeping multiple save files will allow the player to try different solutions to questlines or can give them a way to reverse a bad decision. This game does have an auto-save function, but relying solely on that can leave the player in a tough situation if they’re somewhere they shouldn’t be or have something they shouldn’t have done. Atomfall gives the player multiple save slots, so make good use of them.
8
Choose The Right Difficulty Setting
This can be a tough game even on normal difficulty. Scrounging for loot and items while fending off outlaws can be hard enough, but even quests can be burdensome since there are no map markers to point the player in the right direction. That’s why fooling around with the difficulty settings in the Options menu may make sense.
By going into Options and selecting Playstyle in the Game tab, players can customize the difficulty to their liking. Difficulty settings will be split into three sections: Combat, Survival, and Exploration. This will help adjust gameplay elements like enemy encounters, bartering with traders, and finding quest markers. There is also an Advanced Options section in this menu if players really want to tinker with the inner workings of the game.
7
Preserve Ammo
Guns are plentiful in Atomfall, as just about any hooligan seems to have a firearm ready to point at the player. However, that doesn’t mean there will always be a bounty of bullets. In the early portion of the game, bullets can be rare, and the player will have a limited maximum amount of ammunition they can hold.
Try to avoid using too much ammo for the early portion of the game. The last thing players need is to get caught in gunfights with outlaws while holding empty guns. Use ammo sparingly and aim for the head, as most times, headshots will take down human enemies instantly, even with rusty old weapons.
6
Be Stealthy
Atomfall rewards most playstyles, and stealth is a very viable option. When just starting out, the player will have barely any weapons, healing items, or other gear, which means that facing off against large groups of enemies is a pretty bad idea. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, so it’s best not to attack enemies head-on.
Crouch and sneak around buildings to get past patrolling outlaws. Hide in tall grass to move through areas populated by enemies. If an outlaw doesn’t sense your presence, it’s possible to sneak up behind them and perform a stealth takedown. If the player can find a bow, arrows are a silent way to wipe out most enemies with headshots. Being quiet can be a good way to stay alive with limited resources or, at the very least, save some ammo by taking out a few bad guys while undetected.
5
Explore Everywhere
There are so many secrets to find in Atomfall that staying on the main path seems like a waste. By exploring just about every abandoned building or cave, the player can acquire top-tier loot, books to learn new skills, or crafting recipes to craft useful consumables and throwable items. This exploration can sometimes even lead the player to another side quest.
Players will need all the items and gear they can get their hands on, so dig through every nook and cranny to discover everything a location offers.
When the player acquires a Torch, this can be used to light up dark areas and highlight any items that can be picked to help make looting easier.
4
Use The Crafting System Liberally
Speaking of items, one thing that players will pick up constantly is crafting materials. These can be things like glass bottles, alcohol, cloth, glue, pieces of scrap, and other bits and bobs. After grabbing these materials, players can go into the crafting section of the menu and use these resources to create new items. As the game progresses, new crafting recipes will be acquired from crates and traders or learning new skills.
Players shouldn’t be afraid to craft often, as crafting materials are everywhere. Some crafting materials will be rarer than others, but almost every location has these items lying around or stuffed inside boxes and crates. So feel free to use them frequently to craft items and throwable weapons, as using everything is necessary to survive.
3
Watch Out For Swarms
The incident that left the world of Atomfall in its current state also had other side effects. This includes what’s happened to the local flora and fauna in the region, which has become viciously violent in the years since. As a result, even the smallest animals have become hostile and can overwhelm the player with swarms.
There are multiple examples of this. Going in the water in Slatten Dale will summon bloodthirsty leeches that leap out of the water to bite the player. Walking too close to purple beehives will alert the bugs inside who will attack. Poisonous rats will come out of their nests to try to inflict their toxins on the player. Watch out for these little nuisances, and if attacked, have a melee weapon ready to swipe at the swarms.
2
Keep An Eye On The Heart Rate
Atomfall has a gameplay mechanic related to the heart rate of the main character. This is displayed beneath the player’s health bar and acts like a stamina bar. It is raised when they physically exert themselves, which is done by sprinting too long or swinging a melee weapon too frequently. When the heart rate fills up the whole bar, players can no longer use melee weapons or run until it lowers to normal.
Be careful with the heart rate; raising it to the max during a melee fight can leave the player vulnerable. Don’t swing melee weapons like a wild person, and don’t go running around everywhere. Conserve energy and give the heart rate a chance to lower.
Certain items like tea will lower heart rates, so having some of that before a taxing battle can be a solid strategy. As the player accumulates more Training Stimulants, they can learn a skill called Endurance Training that can help with managing their heart rate, which may be a wise investment.
1
Hold Onto Learned Skill Books & Crafting Recipes For Trading
Special items will allow the player to learn new skills or recipes for crafting items. There are multiple ways to acquire Skill Books and Crafting Recipes, so there’s a good chance that players may come across one that they’ve already learned. Since these can’t be used again, most players may regard them as junk and leave them behind.
However, the world of Atomfall relies on a bartering system for commerce. Instead of earning a kind of currency, players swap items with traders to get what they want. Skill Books and Crafting Recipes are usually high-value items, which means they’re perfect to use for trading. Save any of them you come across, even if you’ve used them already, as they can help score weapons, Atomic Batteries, or even Skill Books and Crafting Recipes that the player has yet to learn.
Survival
Action
Adventure
- Released
-
March 27, 2025
- ESRB
-
Teen // Blood, Language, Violence