Escape From Tarkov: 7 Best Worldbuilding Details (2024)

Escape From Tarkov is often considered the pioneer of the extraction shooter genre, coupling PvPvE combat with a tense and immersive atmosphere. A significant portion of the atmosphere and immersion within Escape From Tarkov comes from the map design and worldbuilding.

Every Escape From Tarkov map is full of detailed worldbuilding that serves to enforce the distinctive tone of the game, immersing players in a post-war Russia that has since been overrun by crime and military skirmishes. These details include loot spawn locations, graffiti, environmental storytelling, and unsettling imagery. It is these elements of detail that set Escape From Tarkov maps apart from other maps or levels in similar games, creating an unparalleled level of immersion.

7 "Welcome To Tarkov" Graffiti

Customs

The Customs map is possibly the most iconic in Escape From Tarkov. For years, it was the map on which many new players had their first experiences with completing tasks, and still now houses many of the early-game tasks. It is fitting, then, that Customs contains one of the most well-known pieces of Escape From Tarkov worldbuilding.

The "Welcome To Tarkov" graffiti, located by the RUAF Roadblock on Customs, is instantly recognizable and encapsulates the tone of Escape From Tarkov. It can be inferred that scavs wrote this message after ambushing a roadblock created by the UN Peacekeepers that were dispatched to the Norvinsk region. It includes a sardonic undertone as the message 'welcomes' players to this unforgiving gaming experience, much in the way the scavs were mockingly welcoming peacekeepers to the lawless land of Tarkov.

6 Resort Marked Room

Shoreline

Marked rooms exist all over Escape From Tarkov. They often require a key to unlock and contain a plethora of cultist iconography. These rooms are said to be cult locations, often containing a sinister circle in their center.

One of the more unique marked rooms is the one located in the resort on Shoreline. This room is different from others as it contains far more harrowing sights. The room has a pig carcass hanging from the ceiling, and a bathtub that contains the corpse of an individual with a pig's head grafted onto the body. This disturbing detail provides insight into how twisted the cult is.

5 Streamer Room

Customs

When Customs got its expansion in patch 12.7, a number of smaller details were added alongside the larger expansion to the top side of the map. One of these details is the streamer room in question, located near the ZB extracts.

This room is interesting as it provides a more mundane visual, still preserved despite the war-torn nature of the world around it. The room is simply a green screen and camera, likely set up pre-conflict, although this is unconfirmed. It's unclear whether this is a nod to the game's massive streamer following, but nonetheless, it remains an interesting artifact of a civilization that has recently collapsed. This furthers the worldbuilding of the game, as such a mundane and common setup looks out of place in the war-torn setting of Escape From Tarkov.

4 Scav Farm

Shoreline

The expansion to Shoreline in patch 14.5 brought a few distinct changes to the map. The landmass became slightly larger, as a previously sectioned off-field became home to the scav farm location. This also introduced a new extraction location nearby.

This location tells a story, albeit not one that is 100% clear. It houses many scav spawns and contains tents full of technical equipment and storage. Towards the back of the farm is a shooting range, providing a potential hint as to the purpose of the location. This shooting range may be active and used by the scavs in the area, explaining their militaristic tendencies and firearms abilities. Details like this being added throughout the lifespan of Escape From Tarkov imply a further militarizing of the scavs. This offers a possible explaination as to how the conflict with peacekeepers ended, and why PMCs were dispatched.

3 CPSU Apartment

Streets of Tarkov

One of the more intriguing elements of Escape From Tarkov is the political backdrop and what happened in the geopolitical landscape that caused the conflict players find themselves a part of. Streets of Tarkov is a vast and highly detailed map, depicting a decrepit city that houses both modern and older features.

One of these older features in question is the site of the task, 'Glory to the CPSU.' This task sees players enter an old Soviet-era apartment building that is in disrepair. The building itself is unsettling, containing what appear to be labeled prison cells. Players then enter the apartment they need and find materials pertaining to the Soviet Union and the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). Details like these immerse players in the post-soviet conflict that Escape From Tarkov centers around, reminding them of the setting and the historical-political landscape of the region.

2 Boiler Room

Factory

Patch 0.15 introduced a rework of the Factory map, the first map in Escape From Tarkov. This change brought about a far more immersive environment, increased graphical fidelity, an outside area and an expanded underground.

The expanded underground of Factory has proved to be a brilliant addition, both for immersion and gameplay, allowing alternate travel routes. This helps keep players from having their fate sealed by the infamous glass hallway spawn. Possibly the best detail regarding worldbuilding in the Factory rework is the boiler room. Situated underground, the boiler room features large oppressive boilers and pipework leading through the corridors. The paths around the area are claustrophobic and industrial, providing an oppressive feeling. This solidifies the nature of Factory and ensures players feel the presence of what once was an operational factory.

1 Crashed Tram

Streets of Tarkov

Streets of Tarkov is the most detailed and intricate Escape From Tarkov map. It takes place in a large portion of a ruined city, clearly suffering disrepair thanks to the recent conflict. Buildings are still burning and bodies litter the streets, be they military or scav. Streets of Tarkov is an immersive environment with too many worldbuilding elements to list.

One of the more prominent details on Streets of Tarkov is the crashed tram. This ruined tram is located near the sewer river extract, and its chassis is positioned in a way that makes it look as though the tram crashed and broke through into the sewer. This adds another level of environmental storytelling. Players can access the sewer extract because of the crashed tram. This makes the map feel alive and furthers the sense of disrepair that Streets of Tarkov is known for. As mentioned above, Streets of Tarkov is full of these details that show players how the city got into the state it's in, but the crashed tram is the most prevalent detail. It also adds an explanation as to how players can access the sewer, showing great attention to detail.

Escape from Tarkov

Shooter

Survival

Platform(s)

PC

Released

July 27, 2017

Developer(s)

Battlestate Games