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Have you played… Shelter?Nature is brutal
Nature is brutal
With all the Sad Dad™ games that have cropped up in recent years, many have rightfully been asking: “Where are all the video game mums at?”. Well, what if I told you that Swedish indie studio Might and Delight have been putting mums at the centre of their games since 2013? Yup, elephant mums inShelter 3, Lynx mums inShelter 2, and the OG badass badger mum inShelter 1. Sure it’s kinda terrible that the only major rep mums are getting in video games is in the form of Might and Delight’s animal tales, but I’ll honestly take any story about motherhood I can get my paws on.
As much as I love Shelter 2 (less so Shelter 3, unfortunately), Shelter 1 holds a special place in my heart, mostly because no other animal-focused survival game has come even remotely close to claiming the coveted title of “most brutal animal sim that made me ugly cry.”
Shelter - Announce TrailerWatch on YouTube
Shelter - Announce Trailer
This is how Shelter gets its claws in you. Being thrust into a paternal role where you care about something other than your own survival in a world that’s full of danger makes you feel incredibly vulnerable, and it’s not something I’ve encountered in other games (so far, anyway). If one of your kits does die, there’s no time to stop and grieve, you need to press on for the sake of the others. Yes, essentially it’s one giant escort mission, but the difference here is that this time you actually care about what you’re protecting, and in the wilderness shit can get bad real fast. Make sure your mascara is waterproof for this one, folks.
