Hidden away somewhere on Steam Sheltered has been awaiting me. Sheltered is an 8-bit apocalyptic survival game based around the management and gathering of resources. You and your family dive into the shelter and your only goal is to survive. There’s no cure to develop or evil corporation to take down just a family to keep alive.
In Sheltered a family consists of 2 parents, 2 children and a pet which can be customized reasonably within the confines of an 8-bit game. It’s even brave enough to treat you like an adult and be one of the few games that allow same sex couples acknowledging that gay people actually exist – shocking stuff I know but still surprisingly out of bounds for video games. There are definitely enough options to allow you to get attached to your characters and of course you can change their names too for that extra personal touch. Although I really advise you don’t name your pet something sentimental.
It’s intentionally difficult to keep four people and a pet alive in the shelter. There will be barely enough water and food to go around, apart from space to sleep. Water is also needed to go out to the surface and find more items and food so if you run out of water there’s often no chance for recovery. Waiting for rain to fill your supplies can seem to take an eternity and will see you frantically running around showering and drinking to make the most of the rain when it comes. You never know how long it will be until it next rains.
After the first few fails you might start to think how much easier it would be if only there were less people to feed and water. As such Sheltered is not afraid to throw some huge dilemmas at you. When the father dies and everyone is in the middle of grieving and generally having emotional breakdowns what do you do? Use valuable resources to build a grave and go out and respectfully deal with the body. Or ‘harvest’ it and see your food supplies go up. Oh yes you can eat your own survivors up to and including your pet. It must be noted it doesn’t go down well when you feed the kids their own father. Some people are so difficult to please. Their father really is putting food on the table.
There is a lack of goal to Sheltered that some will relish and some will find frustrating. You know from the start you can’t win but merely fend off defeat. To me that pretty much sums up an apocalyptic event. It’s just raw, simple, survival. The endless nature of Sheltered creates a pleasing survival environment. It’s harsh and unforgiving atmosphere sets the tone just right.
A detailed and fully featured crafting system provides a sense of progression as does fixing up the broken RV that teasingly sits atop your shelter. It’s these goals with your own sense of survival that keep Sheltered interesting hour after hour. It’s not often a survival game is so pure as this and even less common that it allows you to keep going for as long as you can. Much more desirable than ‘well done you win!’ now we’ll take your characters and upgrades off you so you can start again.
There are few secrets, mysteries or even goals to find in Sheltered. Rather than try to weave an unnecessary plot around fixed characters it allows for you to customize your own family and create your own emergent stories. Remember the time we sat down and ate the dog? I do. Or when little Timmy died. Ah memories.
True there isn’t all that much to do in Sheltered but what there is makes for a true survival experience. There may be a lack of direction for anyone expecting something more but if you want to experience survival there isn’t much better than Sheltered. Sheltered is currently in early access on Steam and I will be keenly watching to see how it develops.
