Rapture (BioShock)

Rapture is a fictional underwater city in the BioShock series. It is the principal setting of BioShock (2007) and BioShock 2 (2010), and later appears in BioShock Infinite (2013) and its downloadable expansion Burial at Sea. Within the series, Rapture was founded by industrialist Andrew Ryan as an isolated society intended to permit unrestricted individual, scientific and economic freedom. By the beginning of the first game, the city has largely collapsed following political conflict, extreme social inequality and widespread genetic modification.

Rapture was designed by the developers of BioShock as an isolated environment from which the player could not easily escape. Its visual design draws heavily on Art Deco, early- and mid-20th-century architecture, advertising and popular culture. The developers used Rapture's ruined spaces, audio recordings, advertisements and environmental details to communicate the city's history without relying primarily on conventional exposition.

The setting has received extensive critical and academic analysis. Writers have discussed Rapture in relation to Objectivism, political extremism, the social contract, propaganda, alternate history, environmental storytelling and the architectural uncanny. Rapture has also frequently been identified by critics as one of the most distinctive fictional cities in video games.