Sheltered

Lore & Background

Sheltered was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign that surpassed its goal of £15,000, after which Team17 announced they would publish the game. It was released on 15 March 2016 and last updated on 16 July 2019. The game features permadeath for characters; the game ends when all family members die, and the save file is deleted. Each family member starts with two traits—one positive chosen during character creation and one negative assigned at game start. Negative traits can be changed to positive ones if certain conditions are met, such as changing 'unhygienic' to 'hygienic' by contracting food poisoning. Players also choose a pet that provides advantages; if the pet dies, each family member suffers severe trauma. Expeditions above ground use a randomly generated map, and locations contain unique loot. On the surface, survivors with procedurally generated appearance, stats, and traits can be killed, traded with, or recruited, though psychopathic survivors may murder family members if their loyalty is low. The penultimate quest, 'Extended Family', involves fixing a camper van and scanning radio frequencies to find a new shelter with a procedurally generated new family member. Four factions appear over time: the Scalpers (weakest, no armor), the Matriarchs (women with stronger weapons but little armor), the Marauders (biker-clothed with powerful melee weapons), and the Corps (military remnants, most dangerous, often armored and armed with firearms).

Reader's Guide

Sheltered attempts to simulate the life of a post-nuclear family, drawing comparisons to This War of Mine. Reception was mixed: the Windows version holds a Metacritic score of 62/100, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions scored 69/100 and 70/100 respectively. Sam Loveridge of Digital Spy named it 'Xbox Live Game of the Week' with a 5/5 star rating. Cassandra Khaw of Eurogamer wrote that the game 'is an interesting attempt to simulate the life of a post-nuclear family, but it falls short of its potential.' Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer rated it 3.5/5 stars, calling it a 'fun and challenging game' that fails to stand out from other survival games. A direct sequel, Sheltered 2, was scheduled to release on PC in 2021.

Did You Know?

• The game was funded via Kickstarter, surpassing its £15,000 goal.
• Each family member starts with one positive and one negative trait; negative traits can be changed by meeting certain conditions.
• If the family's pet dies, every family member suffers severe trauma.
• The Corps faction consists of military remnants and is the most dangerous group in the game.

The Core Survival Loop

Sheltered places players in the role of a family that has fled a nuclear catastrophe into an abandoned underground war shelter. The immediate challenge is keeping everyone alive against starvation, radiation poisoning, and dehydration while supplies dwindle. Players must expand the shelter, construct hygiene facilities like toilets and showers to manage stress, and organize storage for food, water, and crafting materials. Every upgrade to the living space directly affects the family's well-being. Character design adds a layer of moral tension. Each family member begins with one positive trait selected during creation and one negative trait assigned at the start of the game. Under specific circumstances, a flaw can be transformed into a strength—for instance, an unhygienic character might become hygienic after contracting food poisoning. The game enforces permadeath, meaning any lost character is gone forever. A chosen pet provides ongoing benefits, but its death inflicts severe trauma on every surviving family member. The stakes are absolute: the moment the last colour-coded red family member perishes, the save file is deleted and the run ends, regardless of how many recruited survivors remain.

Surface Expeditions & the Factions

Once the shelter's stores run dry, family members must venture above ground on expeditions across a randomly generated map where each location yields unique loot. Out in the wasteland, they encounter survivors whose appearances, stats, and traits are procedurally generated. Players can kill these NPCs for their gear, trade with them, or recruit them—but recruitment carries risk. A psychopathic survivor may attempt to murder shelter inhabitants before fleeing, unless loyalty has been fully raised, making them reliable expedition companions. As days pass, encounters grow more dangerous, with survivors appearing in larger groups and wielding heavier weapons. Four named factions eventually emerge, none recruitable. The Scalpers, dressed like native cannibals, are the weakest and earliest to appear, rarely equipped with armor or powerful weapons. The Matriarchs, women who pride themselves on being tough, carry slightly better arms but still lack body armor. The Marauders wear biker gear or butcher's aprons with assorted masks and favor powerful melee weapons like axes alongside occasional firearms. The Corps, military remnants, are the deadliest and latest to appear, commonly wearing body armor and armed with firearms.

Development & Multiplatform Release

Sheltered was developed by Unicube and published by Team17, who came on board after the project successfully surpassed its £15,000 Kickstarter funding goal. The game launched on 17 March 2016 and was made available across a remarkably wide range of platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. This broad distribution meant the title could reach players on virtually any major gaming device, from home consoles to mobile phones. Despite the wide release, the game's post-launch support window was relatively short. The final update shipped on 16 July 2019, roughly three and a half years after launch, after which no further patches or content additions were issued. The fact that Unicube managed to deliver a complete survival experience across eight distinct platforms under Team17's publishing banner speaks to the project's scope and the publisher's commitment to the title. The game's official website remains the primary hub for players seeking community resources and updates.

Critical Reception & the Road to Sheltered 2

Sheltered received mixed-to-positive reviews across platforms. On Metacritic, the Windows version holds an aggregate score of 62 out of 100, while the Xbox One edition sits at 69 and the PlayStation 4 version at 70. The reception was notably more enthusiastic on certain outlets. Sam Loveridge of Digital Spy named the title Xbox Live Game of the Week and awarded it a perfect five-star rating, drawing a direct comparison to This War of Mine. Not every critic was as generous. Cassandra Khaw of Eurogamer, reviewing the Windows build, called it an interesting attempt to simulate post-nuclear family life but felt it ultimately fell short of its potential. Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer gave it 3.5 out of 5, describing it as a fun and challenging experience that nonetheless struggled to distinguish itself from the broader survival genre. Despite the mixed critical consensus, the original game's core concept retained enough interest to warrant a follow-up: a direct sequel, Sheltered 2, was scheduled for a 2021 release on PC.