To be clear: Fallout shelter is not a new game. It launched in 2015, and while it initially appeared as a mobile version, it was subsequently ported to PC and consoles. It’s a bit like a city builder, only one that takes place mostly underground. You are the Overseer – a kind of post-apocalyptic mayoral figure – who is tasked not only with managing a vault, but also expanding it. They must keep an eye on resident satisfaction while ensuring a steady supply of food, water and electricity. They dig underground to build new homes and facilities and to ward off attacks from marauders and cockroaches. Finally, you can build things like a radio studio to lure new residents from the surface and embark on quests that play out like very basic dungeon crawler RPGs.
Shelter works because it offers just enough strategy without being overwhelming. I check in regularly to make sure production is running smoothly and am constantly thinking about how I can grow my little community. At the moment I’m looking to set up an outfit workshop so I can make uniforms suitable for any type of job. It’s basically the atmosphere of Stand out – silly humor mixed with post-apocalyptic violence – but in a cute package that looks like a retrofuturistic ant farm. It’s the kind of game you can pop in a few times a day, play for a few minutes, and then be done with.
In a smart move, Bethesda gave the game a small update this week that adds a new questline for you to recruit characters from the series. It doesn’t make much narrative sense that Walton Goggins’ gunslingering ghoul is now part of my crew, but it’s nice for someone like me to be back Shelter just because of the show. Plus, Lucy, Maximus and the others have some pretty awesome stats and gear.
There are problems with the game. It’s plagued with some free-to-play annoyances, including advertisements that you can watch to unlock premium goodies, as well as essentially loot boxes full of special items. I’ve found these to be largely easy to ignore, but your mileage may vary; Sometimes it’s tempting to spend to speed up a quest that can take hours to complete.
And considering I played Shelter A few years ago I already knew that at some point the safe would become massive and unwieldy and that there really wouldn’t be much interesting left to do. It’s inevitable, really – but for now I’m just enjoying soaking up the wasteland vibes. Maybe season 2 will be announced when I’m done with it.