The end of the world had arrived just as many had predicted, in a global exchange of nuclear weapons.
What no one predicted was the sudden message that appeared before every living soul moments before impact, a message from 'The Administrators' revealing our entire world and everything in it to be a species simulation. According to the message, Humanity had been reset over a million times and every single time we could not prevent our own extinction.
No more resets for humanity. No more chances.
They would leave our world an irradiated disaster, but to keep things interesting, they would convert our species simulation to a game for their twisted entertainment.
Digital or not, real or not, I have a family to protect. A wife and daughter who need me, universe be damned. I say bring it on. Welcome to the end of the world.
Welcome to The Great Filter.
My Opinion: 214 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
This is an LitRPG apocalypse story. The game portion of the story is divided into two sections: the Assessment section, and the RPG Apocalypse. I only mention the division because a lot of the RPG aspects, like the character sheet, stats, perks, etc., don’t start until after the Assessment section. However, the entire novel does a really good job of bringing the zombie apocalypse vibe out in the story. There are survival elements, monsters to fight, survivors to recruit, and survivors to fear. These elements are combined with RPG mechanics that are pulled from Fallout, and Metro: Last Light.
Game mechanic wise, things are pretty thorough after the Assessment section. There’s XP, skills, stats, and item descriptions, and some base building mechanics. Additionally, there are purchasable perks that are very reminiscent from Fallout and a slug currency system that reminds me of something pulled from the apocalypse Metro series. In particular, I liked that XP felt like a precious resource and could be earned from non-combat activities like crafting or exploration.
Overall, this is a pretty good RPG apocalypse story. Though be aware that things get kinda dark at times in the story.
Score: 7.6 out of 10