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If you feel like The Last of Us seems a little familiar, you’ll want to know if there is source material. Is this series based on a book?

It is hard to find a TV show or movie now that isn’t based on some sort of other material. The Last of Us is the same, although it’s not based on a book. This zombie-like post-apocalyptic drama is based on a videogame.

The game came out in 2013, and it’s taken a long time to get things just right for a TV show adaptation. There are some storylines slightly changed or adapted to work for TV over a videogame story, but a lot of the main characters are still the same.

What is The Last of Us game about?

The game, very much like the show, is set in a world where an infection has taken over most of the human population. The world is overrun by something known as the Clickers. This is the third stage of the infection, and I don’t think we’ve come across this name in the TV show just yet. When you watch the show, you’ll know where the name comes from, though.

Players get to play the role of Joel and then they can play Ellie in the 2013 PlayStation game. Joel is tasked with getting Ellie across the country as she seems to hold the cure for the infection that’s spread. In the game, Joel has a brother called Tommy, but he isn’t a main focus for Joel. Instead, it’s Joel’s love for Tess, who does still die in the game, that pushed Joel forward to get Ellie where she needs to be.

Other characters pop up along the way as they aid (or hinder) Joel and Ellie’s journey. The TV series has given some of these characters bigger backstories to see the world of the apocalypse through other eyes.

There has since been a novelization of the game, but the game is the thing that came first. There is also now a book of the artwork from the game.

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What do you think of the TV series? Did you play the game? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Last of Us* airs Sundays on HBO Max in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada.