Dragon Shelter is the debut title from developer Wild Forest Studio, Dragon Shelter is a strange combination of farming simulator and cosy game. You take control of a young man who recently discovers he has inherited his grandfather’s farm, arriving at the farm you discover it is in a state of disrepair and must set about renovating the dilapidated farmhouse and restoring the farm to its former glory all with the help of several cute dragons that you meet along the way. There is a neighbouring town which has also fallen into disrepair, and you must assist the depressed townsfolk with repairs and restore their connection and trust to the friendly dragons that has been lost.
Farming with helpful dragon friends.
This game has the potential to be a really fun and relaxing cosy game however at the moment it just feels unfinished which is a real shame, essentially, you will spend all your time trying to keep miserable villagers happy by making them food orders from your farm’s kitchen. You must clear the ground, plant particular seeds and grow different crops which you can use in numerous recipes you learn along the way however this becomes such a chore as your energy levels are so low just watering your crops depletes you to such an extent you either have to constantly eat or send your character to bed by 2pm to regain energy to tackle other tasks.
The cooking part itself sadly is rather tedious however amusingly your dragons help you out in the kitchen so you can assist them with cutting vegetables up or milling flour, the different dragon types also have unique ways to help for example the water dragon fills the pot with water or the fire dragon will light the oven for you it’s quite charming however once the novelty of this wore off I found myself using my dragon friends as a draconic work force sending them to slave in my kitchen preparing the ever increasing orders for the ungrateful townsfolk.
Someone get the mayor some chocolate!
Speaking of the towns people they are all rather bland and uninteresting, you have to gain their trust by completing food orders that increases your standing with them a tiny amount. So, by far the most time you will spend is going back and forth baking these misery’s fruit pies or bread until you finally gain a trust level and it will unlock a new recipe for food or furniture for your farm. You must also rebuild the town as it’s in a state of ruin, which is also annoying as your own farmhouse is also ruined and even after 14 hours of gameplay, I still wasn’t allowed to start repairing it. There is fishing in the game however there is nowhere to fish? it’s all very odd.
This game needs several quality-of-life improvements, the quests are sometimes very unclear on what you are to do in some cases locked behind needing certain items with no explanation of what the item is or how to even get it. When you look at the merchants in town, they will craft you items but again the icons for what is required are tiny and you have no idea what these are half the time or who will unlock what is needed. This in itself is frustrating however the fact everything takes real time to craft is awful it feels like a pay to win mobile game without the option to decrease the time, for example the game has all four seasons Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The crops you grow are tied to certain seasons so if you are trying to complete food orders during wintertime nothing will grow so you have to wait for winter to pass which takes 30 minutes before being able to do things in the game.
Has potential but falls short.
Dragon Shelter has the potential to be a great little game; the graphics look great and the seasons themselves all bring changes to the landscape and actually feel like winter or spring for example. The dragons themselves are delightful, and you can tell genuine care, and love went into creating them as they all have lovely personalities and vary between the types of dragons you find watching them cook and tend to plants is also fun. The music is lovely too and varies between your farm and the town however it really adds to the miserable atmosphere of the town as you wander around looking at down cast towns people while the sorrowful music is playing in the background.
At the moment sadly I couldn’t recommend Dragon Shelter in its current state, it needs several quality-of-life improvements and updates however it does have the potential so I will check back in as there are parts that are enjoyable which is a shame as these are overshadowed by the negatives. If you want to try Dragon Shelter for yourself you can find the game here.
