Dieselpunk, as the sci-fi theme and genre name implies, is a world where diesel-operated machinery (like the motor) rules the technological stage. But unlike in the current world today that's also reliant on fossil fuels, dieselpunk offers a more retroactively advanced view of technology and machinery as well as the lifestyle and economic impact they have made on the world.

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It's sadly less popular than its older, Victorian brother, steampunk, but the two tend to be mistaken for each other. Consequently, there are only a handful of games set in this theme. However, these select few dieselpunk games have set themselves apart due to their masterful understanding and application of their sci-fi setting.

8 Bioshock

Big Daddy and a Little Sister in BioShock 2
  • Release Year: 2007
  • Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X, iOS

The original Bioshock was one of the three big titles that led the FPS Renaissance back in 2007, along with Crysis and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. While it's easily mistaken for a steampunk game, Bioshock dominantly features an Art Deco theme which usually goes hand-in-hand with a dieselpunk setting.

With the absence of steam technology coupled with old World War 2 tech, Bioshock leaned more towards diesel than steam in terms of punk. In any case, no one should miss this thought-provoking video game adaptation of Ayn Rand's disastrous "philosophy," which is another flag-bearer of dieselpunk settings.

7 Mad Max

Mad Max gameplay
  • Release Year: 2015
  • Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, macOS

Mad Max, due to its chaotic apocalypse, practically reduced mankind back to its stone age tribalism but with cars and fossil fuel. To that end, it can be technically classified as having a dieselpunk setting. 2015's Mad Max is a tie-in to the reboot film.

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In this game, a jaded and gruff Max is in the process of losing his sanity and hope while trying to cope with his situation by substituting therapy for V8 cars; in short, he's having a midlife crisis in the middle of an apocalypse. The gameplay is similar to that of the Batman Arkham Asylum games, but at the very least, it's a proper Mad Max video game, which is rare.

6 Wolfenstein: The New Order

The player battling a mech in Wolfenstein New Order
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming

A fictional and alternate World War setting sprinkled with some sci-fi bits is often a common motif in dieselpunk games, and Wolfenstein: The New Order proudly flaunts its genre flag. It explores an alternate sci-fi reality where fascist Germany actually won World War 2 and is now occupying the United States, as well as most of the world.

With their victory and Third Reich came the advent of some uncanny dieselpunk technology where robots were fueled by diesel or gasoline. Sure enough, players assume the role of a resistance fighter named B.J. Blazkowicz as he guns down the more advanced versions of fascist soldiers and their environmentally-unfriendly inventions.

5 Iron Harvest

Iron Harvest gameplay
  • Release Year: 2020
  • Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X, and Series S

But enough about action dieselpunk games, Iron Harvest can prove to be a riveting and heart-pounding experience as well, despite being an RTS. More than that, it's an RTS game set in an unlikely sci-fi setting, making it more unique. Think of it as a sci-fi version of Company of Heroes, but with tech that's yet to make up its mind whether it's futuristic or backward.

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Because Iron Harvest is set sometime during the 1920s or later in a timeline when post-World War 1 factions discovered they could invent robots with the current diesel technology. So, in essence, it's a continuation of World War 1, but the factions became a bit wiser and realized that sending men into meat grinder battlefields is less cost-effective than sending mechanized men.

4 Dieselpunk Wars

Dieselpunk Wars gameplay
  • Release Year: 2020
  • ​​​​​​​Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

For those who found Mad Max's car-mageddon customization a bit lacking, then something like Dieselpunk Wars might scratch that itch some more. It's a game about building some automobile abominations that are actually less crude and more powerful compared to Mad Max's makeshift modern jousters.

With Dieselpunk Wars, players will need to utilize ingenuity and a bit of absurd ambition to create an imposing mobile war machine. Just don't expect it to look beautiful (in a conventional and modern standard). Besides, they'll often get blown up by other vehicles.

3 HighFleet

HighFleet gameplay
  • Release Year: 2021
  • ​​​​​​​Platforms: Microsoft Windows

HighFleet explores a futuristic Earth where most of the land has been turned into a dustbowl, and warfare is fought with powerful, hulking airborne aircraft carriers and destroyers. They're literally flying ships because the oceans seem to have dried out in this vision of the far future.

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Thankfully, there's no shortage of fossil fuels in supply (probably why the seas dried out). And when the world is practically ruined, there's nothing left to do for humanity but wage war in any way they can. Thankfully, this combination of action, strategy, simulation, and management has explosions to light up the gloom of that grim dark future.

2 Crimson Skies

crimson_skies_wp
  • Release Year: 2000
  • ​​​​​​​Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Arcade game

Like HighFleet, Crimson Skies features a dark future for mankind where the Great Depression caused the states of the United States to secede, thus resulting in an anarchistic Wild West dominated by aerial war machines. The hows and whys aren't particularly important here as much as the action.

Because at its core, Crimson Skies is an arcade flight game where players control an advanced dogfighter aircraft that would have made World War 2 planes look tame. For a game from the year 2000, Crimson Skies was ahead of its time and instantly became a cult classic due to its production value and the fact that it was a flight sim.

1 Punk Wars

punk-wars gameplay

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  • Release Year: 2021
  • ​​​​​​​Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac operating systems

Those who can't decide which punk genre is the best can settle the debate once and for all with Punk Wars. This sci-fi 4X post-apocalypse video game pits four "punk" factions against one another for supremacy. The factions are Steampunk, Atompunk, Steelpunk, and of course, Dieselpunk. So it's not just about dieselpunk in this game.

Each faction is staggeringly unique since they each represent different sci-fi settings. The game plays out like most 4X strategy titles; it's a turn-based game where players have to explore, expand, exploit, and eventually exterminate the other punk factions before they inspire even more games that will overshadow dieselpunk.

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