Sheltered
STORY
"The Sheltered" is a top-down adventure game with an emphasis on exploration and decision making.
Players assume the role of a survivor in a world plagued by a deadly outbreak. The government announces their plans deal with monstrous infected by means of nuclear weapons. The plan: to bomb the area and eradicate everything. Lucky enough, there’s a fallout shelter in the player’s front yard – and enough food and water to last.
Now other survivors want in.
PREMISE
The main story begins once the hero has collected enough supplies to last himself in the shelter.
When other survivors show up, the player can decide who to bring into the shelter and who to leave outside. Survivors range from children to experienced adults that can offer the player help. The player can also bring animals into the shelter. Deciding who to save is the main premise of the game and will ultimately effect the ending.
However, it’s not enough to simply invite another survivor into the shelter. Each survivor requires additional supplies to last their stay. While the player only has enough for himself, he is free to explore the land and search for additional supplies. This is the adventure aspect of the game.
Combining old school graphics and simple gameplay with modern storytelling and a multitude of choices, "The Sheltered" pushes players to sacrifice their characters safety for their character’s morals.
FEATURES
– A captivating non-linear story complete with over seven different endings.
– Difficult decisions and characters that remember your actions and act accordingly.
– A moody, apocalyptic landscape, free to explore and littered with secrets.
– Dozens of challenging puzzles with multiple solutions… and consequences.
– A variety of monsters (among other things) to outgun, outrun or outwit.
– A haunting soundtrack composed and preformed by Max Ablitzer
Game Discussion
Steam User 19
Do not play Sheltered 2. Stay here. You'll get the complete package. Despite it's age, this game is still fun to revisit.
Very sad to hear that the company got shuttered.
Steam User 15
I love this game so much. I wasn't impressed by the second one, but this one is still one of my favorite games. For anyone struggling with Hardcore mode, the most important thing is getting hinges and motors to make a freezer above all else, and upgrading your workbench really quick. No toilets or showers, water is very scarce. Keep the place clean until all the canned food is gone, after that it no longer matters. As long as you have the cat, it'll kill mice for you and put another unit of food in the freezer if you have it. Feed the cat first, always, your humans can survive much longer starving than the cat, and the cat comes in CLUTCH during early game.
Steam User 4
Not a bad colony survival crafter, especially given the price. If it would've been more expensive, I would've been harsher, because it's not perfect.
The gameplay comes in four different formats: base building, exploring, combat, and NPC interactions.
Base building is always fun in those type of games and this one isn't an exception. Ressources are scarce and all the little scrap you find is crucial for your base's growth and prosperity. You have to think before spending ressources at first due to the low amount of items and the uncertainty of what you'll collect later, which is very cool. There's a decent amount of workshops you can have, then you have traps or furniture, appliances, decorations and whatnot.
Exploring is awesome, and the most important aspect of the game when it comes down to your group's survival. You need to plan your travels wisely because a bad plan can turn into a tragedy very quickly. You need to think about who to send, with what items, and what to focus on in terms of collecting. It's a lot of fun.
The combat is okay-ish. It's quite difficult, however, and the fact that it's turn based makes you feel kinda helpless most of the time. You can end up with random, very difficult encounters that you can't even win sometimes, which can be frustrating. Then again, you have to tell yourself that maybe this is what reality would be like if you were just ordinary people in a very hostile, post-apocalyptic world. There are some weapons at your disposal and your characters have strengths and weaknesses you need to remember if you ever want to throw them in a fight.
Finally, there are interactions with non-violent ( or potentially non-violent ) NPCs who populate the surface. Here, it's the characters who are better with words who prevail. Those encounters kinda feel lackluster due to the fact that the people you encounter will very rarely be seen again. I feel like they would have more personality if NPCs were limited and if we could meet them from time to time.
The end game is to find parts for a vehicle to repair in order to escape, which is pretty cool and gives you an incentive to keep going.
It can be very disheartening when your people die. It's a feeling similar to Rimworld, Darkest Dungeon or Battle Brothers when you lose a character you love. Personally, when I lose someone, the feeling sure is horrible, but I also love it because it makes me feel invested in the story, which means the game is doing its job.
One issue I may have with the game is that children are the same as adults. In fact, a child can be more useful than a grown adult, even in combat. I'm not sure why they chose realism in so many aspects of the game and then decided to throw in this very unrealistic variable, but anyway...
One cool thing is that you start with a pet. You really don't want your pet to die. Personally, my main goal is to keep this little creature alive at all costs.
Overall it's a rather difficult game that'll very likely get you killed a bunch of times before you get the hang of it. If you like those games like I do, you'll probably enjoy it. If you enjoy grim, post-apocalyptic survival stuff, you'll love it. If you are not a fan of random events that you have little to no power over, and enjoy seeing a colony thrive ( because your colony will definitely have a hard time doing that ), this may not be the game for you.
Steam User 4
Played this game back in my teen years, and now in my 20s I picked it up again — and honestly, I still love it!
But…
It’s kinda sad that this lil pixel survival management gem feels abandoned, with no updates in years. It could’ve had more scenarios, some QoL fixes (those clunky controls and UI, yikes), or even more ways to make me feel invested like the description promised. There’s so much potential that never really got fleshed out, and instead the game ends up getting repetitive fast. At least I never ran into bugs or anything game-breaking, so that’s a plus.
Game modes:
Survival - Starts off painfully slow (the controls and UI don’t help), but that’s progression I guess. Once you hit endgame though, it’s basically just watching the day counter go up and wondering why you’re even sending people on expeditions anymore. An actual ending or two would’ve been nice. Like, especially with the Briefcase quest; that briefcase could’ve been something, like nuking the world with it or something like that.
Scenarios - These are fun at first, with cool challenges that made me care more about the characters. But after a few runs, it all just feels like another version of endgame Survival.
So yeah… I can’t really recommend it in its current abandoned state, unless you grab it on a big sale. Still, it’s a fun lil management/strategy game with a neat art style if you’re into that vibe.
Steam User 2
Very fun game with nice graphic style. Nice replay value also. Can sometimes feel a bit drawn-out but can easily fixed in game settings when starting a new "run"
Steam User 3
Very Fun! Imo easily in the Top 5 Pixel Games EVER made! I wish the developers give us more content here instead of the much worse second game.
Steam User 1
It's quite a challenging game, I dig it. Going on expeditions and broadcasting for traders are the most important so you can craft and upgrade stuff. I got lucky to recruit someone with Hands-on trait early on to help with all the fixing while both parents are out on expeditions, one kid on broadcasting and the other is building.