Not
Short
Shelter is a very short game and won’t last you more than a couple of hours. While the brevity of the game might be thought of as an allegory for the brief and brutal life of most wild animals that doesn’t do much to mitigate the fact that you don’t get all that much ‘bang for your buck’, even with the small price tag.
Not Much to Do
There’s very little really active gameplay in Shelter, mostly just grabbing vegetables and smaller animals to feed the cubs, dodging the attention of birds of prey and running from the dangers of the environment. This lack of activity isn’t as much of a bad thing as it sounds, with the game’s true merits being the grounding in the game-world and interacting with the cubs. That said, it does limit replayability and I can imagine that it would quickly bore a lot of people more used to games with a lot of action.
VERDICT
The score reflects how much of a specialty this game is. Shelter isn’t a game for everyone so if you’re after a game with plenty of action, then you shouldn’t buy this exceptionally niche title. If however you’re interested in the concept of a game which explores protectiveness and the dual brutality & beauty of nature then it’s likely going to be worth the $10 (or equivalent) entry fee to you, and I hope you enjoy the experience of stepping into the paws of a mother badger as much as I did.
[Editor’s Note: Shelter was reviewed on the PC. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
