Jackson, Wyoming: Tommy’s Frontier Town

Nestled in the shadow of the Teton Range, Jackson, Wyoming, is where Tommy Miller carved out a fragile hope for the future. After the Cordyceps outbreak, he transformed this remote mountain town into a self-sufficient settlement, balancing on the edge of survival and rebellion. Today, visitors can hike the same pine-scented trails Tommy patrolled, imagining the weight of his brother’s legacy on his shoulders. A lesser-known fact: The game’s designers modeled Jackson’s fortified perimeter after the real town’s historic elk antler arches—repurposed here as watchtowers and barricades.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Lab That Changed Everything

The University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center, with its crumbling Art Deco facades, stands as a silent monument to humanity’s desperation. Here, the Fireflies’ last-ditch effort to create a cure unfolded, a mission that would ultimately define Tommy’s role in Joel and Ellie’s journey. Walking through the university’s overgrown courtyards, I felt the weight of the ethical void the characters faced. Fun fact: The game’s lab was partially inspired by Pittsburgh’s actual bioethics research institutions, though the fictional version traded lab coats for bloodstained scrubs.

Seattle, Washington: Ruins of Redemption

Seattle’s skeletal skyline looms as Tommy’s final stage. Tasked with tracking the Fireflies’ remnants in The Last of Us Part II, he navigates a city fractured by war and memory. The real Seattle’s abandoned gas works park mirrors the game’s overgrown industrial zones, where vines reclaim concrete like nature’s slow rebellion. A hidden detail: The game’s “NorCal” graffiti tags reference Northern California’s real-world punk scene, a nod to the anarchic spirit of the Cordyceps-ravaged zones.

Santa Barbara, California: Sanctuary of Strangers

Beneath the sun-bleached hills near the Pacific Coast Highway lies the inspiration for Santa Barbara’s WLF military base—a sprawling compound where Tommy and Ellie sought uneasy allies. The real Santa Barbara’s historic adobe buildings, with their terracotta roofs, were digitally repurposed as the WLF’s fortified safehouse. Travel tip: Visit during sunset to glimpse the same golden light that bathed Tommy’s uneasy truce with the WLF commanders. Did you know? The game’s base layout mirrors the real-world Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, a location Naughty Dog designers scouted for authenticity.

Lincoln, New Mexico: Joel’s Ghosts, Tommy’s Burden

The dusty plains of Lincoln, New Mexico, hold no direct in-game counterpart, but this frontier town echoes Tommy’s existential crossroads. While Joel clung to his past in Lincoln’s fictionalized ruins, Tommy’s journey—his struggle to honor his brother’s choices while carving his own path—mirrors the tension between the town’s storied heritage and the harshness of survival. The game’s designers cited the American Southwest as a key influence, blending Lincoln’s historic adobe structures with the bleak beauty of the Zuni Mountains.

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to walk in Tommy’s boots—to weigh loyalty against morality in a fractured world—ask him yourself. On HoloDream, he’ll tell you which scars still ache and what he’d change if the world gave him a second chance.