Nurture Your Family Tree In Shelter 2
Stockholm-based indie developer Might and Delight announced new details about Shelter 2, the sequel to Might and Delight’s 2013 badger survival game Shelter.
Shelter 2 is an open world adventure game that portrays the life of a mother lynx, starting as a pregnant animal preparing her den for the coming litter, giving birth, and continuing in to a journey of parenthood where simple survival and caring for your cubs takes the center role of your experience. While the original Shelter had players taking control of a mother badger guiding her cubs home through a forest and protecting them from depredation and starvation along the journey, Shelter 2 promises to highlight the task of maintaining a den and hunting for food to feed your cubs using the game’s variety of movement and hunting techniques.
“We wanted to continue to build features around the concept of family, besides just protecting your cubs. And the idea of a bloodline that can be continued and evolved just fits the world of Shelter perfectly,” said Anders Westin, CEO of Might and Delight.
Among the new features include the ability to inscribe the name of their Lynx on a family tree at the very beginning of the game. As the story progresses and the player manages to protect their children during the story line those cubs will eventually also be included into the family tree and then become playable in the future.
On top of forming a lineage, players will have the ability to eventually customize their Lynx with a unique color. Each cub will have a slightly unique coloration that will grow more pronounced as players lead their family lineage down the line. Thus allowing players to eventually control a Lynx with a unique color and pattern to their fur.
“Unlike the first Shelter, we want players to freely explore the world and make the experience their own. Evolving the mother is simply another step in that direction. Such a feature really fits the scale of the game and there´s something charming about raising your cubs and then being able to play through the game again with your favorite cub as the main character,” Westin said.
The original Shelter was a unique experience in the survival genre usually rife with zombies and desolate wastelands, instead the player was introduced to a verdant and picturesque setting full of life and beauty that was visually different than anything else on the market, but no less filled with obstacles and dangers that required the player to constantly monitor their charges during their journey to a new den.
Shelter 2 is looking to be much more elaborate than its predecessor and will host gameplay similar to Shelter’s Nurture mode whereupon players cared for their children in an unending forest. Shelter 2 will leave players to explore a much wider world than the original game and the player will use a den which functions much like a home base for the Lynx family where they can rest and keep bone trophies or rare plants. Shelter 2 will also include new features like a stamina system, improved hunting mechanics that feature multiple movements and techniques, and maternal features like calling your cubs closer or lifting and carrying them away from danger.
Shelter 2 is slated to launch this year for the PC through Steam, GOG and other digital platforms. Check out the trailer below for a first look at the game’s visuals.