Can You Watch the Fallout TV Show Without Playing the Games?

The Fallout television series has hit Amazon Prime like a nuclear bomb and become one of their most talked about series ever. With that in mind, more and more people are interested in watching the series, meaning a lot of folks who haven’t played the games are wondering if they can watch it without hours and hours invested in the video games.

Can You Watch Fallout Without Playing the Video Games?

Despite being a pretty avid gamer myself I have never played any of the Fallout games myself aside from brief experiences at events like E3 so I’m in a perfect position to answer this question. That answer is a pretty resounding, “Yes.”

Director Jonathan Nolan and the team behind the Fallout series know full well that most people have not played any Fallout games and that even those that have played some probably haven’t played them all. So they’ve crafted a TV series that could easily stand on its own without any more experience. For those coming in fresh to the franchise, the series sets up the premise quickly, even going as far as flashing back to before the apocalypse, and establishes the world in wonderful detail. None of the characters are from the games and the show even takes place years after the game’s stories take place. Basically, it’s designed as a clean slate for all while still being connected to the world of the games.

There are, however, connections and nods to the games. I don’t specifically know all of them but there’s definitely moments that are shot like people who know the games should be getting it. The introduction of the needles that heal you is one such moment, though I have no background on what they’re called or how they work in the games (Editor’s note: they’re called Stimpaks!). Like any film or show based on another medium the world is richer when you know more about it so for those who know about Fallout there’s definitely more to understand.

In fact, the worse case is probably being just a little bit knowledgeable about Fallout lore. If you go in totally blind than the references, locations, and world will all seem new and the unexplained will seem like mysteries the series is setting up. On the other hand, if you go in with a bit of background knowledge on things like the New California Republic than you instantly feel like you’re missing out on some depth that could be given just because you know these things came up. In the case of Fallout, ignorance is truly bliss unless you know everything.

With that in mind, watch the series before diving into more information here at Escapist.