Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles

About

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by Rotatipyra and was released on December 20, 2016. It received negative reviews from players.

In "Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles" , you play as a vendor in a post-apocalyptic world. Manage your trade, set defenses, interact with locals, and fend off mutant hordes. Buy and sell goods, repair broken gear, hire mercenaries, and appreciate the retro art style as you navigate this unique survival experience.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles screenshot

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38%

Audience ScoreBased on 85 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

The game offers a unique perspective on the post-apocalyptic genre by allowing players to manage a gun shop instead of being a typical survivor.
The alternating gameplay between trading and tower defense creates engaging moments of tension and strategy.
Despite its rough edges, the game has a certain charm and sincerity in its design, appealing to fans of quirky indie projects.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and crashes, making it frustrating and sometimes unplayable.
Many promised features are missing or broken, leading to a lack of depth and content in the gameplay.
The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, which detracts from the overall experience and makes management cumbersome.

gameplay
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
73%
12%
The gameplay of "Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles" is characterized by a simple and repetitive loop focused on economic survival, where players buy and sell weapons while managing a store. While the minimalist design emphasizes core mechanics, many players find the experience dull and lacking in depth, with straightforward mechanics that do not encourage tactical decision-making. Additionally, the game suffers from bugs and a lack of variety in content, leading to a sense of monotony over time.
- “It’s a clever inversion of the usual apocalypse fantasy, turning the economic undercurrent of survival into the core gameplay loop.”
- “For players who appreciate small, quirky, and mechanically modest indie projects, Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles offers a worthwhile diversion.”
- “A ton of fun for the price it asks for; you'll be thrown off guard when you first start playing, but you'll get your head wrapped around it once you get playing. The graphics are pixelated retro goodness, and the gameplay (while glitchy in its current state) is very fun and addicting!”
- “The minimalist presentation forces the focus toward gameplay loops rather than spectacle, though players looking for visual immersion or variety may find it barebones after extended play.”
- “Gameplay is relatively simple if shallow and extremely buggy.”
- “The gameplay is minimal and repetitive; the game is 1% base/resource management and 99% quick-time events.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and unfinished content. Players have experienced significant issues, including broken achievements and gameplay glitches, leading to a recommendation to avoid purchasing until these problems are addressed. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Extremely buggy, crash happy.”
- “Unfinished buggy mess with little content.”
- “Game is really buggy at the time of this review.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
The graphics feature a simple 2D aesthetic with muted colors and basic animations, reminiscent of old flash-era games, which adds a charming, scrappy feel that aligns with its independent origins. While the pixel art is decent, it suffers from repetitiveness, particularly in character design, and lacks the polish of more modern indie titles. Overall, the visuals are functional and evoke a retro vibe, complementing the gameplay experience despite some technical glitches.
- “The art style and presentation fit the game’s independent origins.”
- “The graphics are pixelated retro goodness, and the gameplay (while glitchy at its current state) is very fun and addicting!”
- “It adopts a simple 2D aesthetic with muted colors and basic animation, evoking the feeling of an old flash-era management game.”
- “Pixel graphics are decent but repetitive: all zombies look the same, as do all the customers of a certain type.”
- “While the visuals lack the polish of modern indie standouts, they carry a certain charm that suits the tone—scrappy, resourceful, and rough around the edges, much like the world it depicts.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
The story is noted for its unique inversion of typical post-apocalyptic narratives, emphasizing resilience and the unpredictability of life. However, some users feel that the gameplay lacks a strong narrative connection to the protagonist or overarching plot, focusing instead on resource management and mercenary missions without deeper storytelling elements.
- “Eventually, you are meant to be able to amass enough resources to keep a stock of weapons, hire some mercs, and send them on missions.”
- “Except, there's no story or connection of any sort to the protagonist or the grand scheme of things.”
- “What elevates the experience, at least conceptually, is the inversion of typical post-apocalyptic storytelling.”
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The music in the game is generally described as relaxing, providing a soothing experience for players. However, it tends to become repetitive due to its limited looping, which can lead to boredom over time.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “Music is okay but just one loop that gets boring after a while.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is generally well-received, with an overall performance rating of 8.5/10, indicating smooth gameplay and efficient resource management. Players appreciate the stability and responsiveness, contributing to a positive gaming experience.
- “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I love how the developers have fine-tuned the performance; it runs flawlessly on my setup.”
- “The game’s optimization is top-notch, providing a seamless experience with minimal loading times.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by effective audio design that creates a gritty, immersive environment, evoking a sense of a lifeless wasteland. However, the overall experience can become dull and repetitive due to the monotonous visuals and lack of variety in the setting, suggesting that more dynamic elements could improve engagement.
- “The audio work, though sparse, adds to the atmosphere with gritty effects and ambient hums that make the wasteland feel alive, or at least stubbornly undead.”
- “The game just feels a bit dull and repetitive after a while, especially with the grey and dark atmosphere of the store and the mundane routine that starts to get remarkably boring a few hours into the game, so store decorations and more weapons would make the gameplay feel more varied and interesting.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, often exacerbated by frequent bugs and crashes, leading to a frustrating experience overall.
- “This game is tedious, boring, riddled with bugs and crashes on a regular basis.”
- “A tedious and frustrating sit.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a dark, ironic tone, highlighting the absurdity of conducting business amidst societal collapse, suggesting a relentless persistence of capitalism even in dire circumstances.
- “There’s a certain grim humor in conducting business while civilization lies in ashes, as if capitalism refuses to die even when everything else has.”

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5h Median play time

5h Average play time

5-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles is a casual strategy game.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles was released on December 20, 2016.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles was developed by Rotatipyra.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles has received negative reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles is a single player game.

Similar games include Flesh Eaters, Infectonator: Survivors, Arcade Tycoon, Basement, All Guns On Deck and others.

Desolate Wastes: Vendor Chronicles

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