Last year, game developer Might and Delight released one of the most emotionally conflicting games I’ve ever played. Shelter was an adorable little game about raising a little badger family and escorting your cubs through the wilderness. But Shelter also dealt with just how unforgiving and cruel Mother Nature is for cute little animals. I lost one cub in the darkness of the night, never to find it again; I accidently let one cub starve to death as I lost track of which cubs were eating enough; and I watched the rest of them get washed away in a flash flood. I was a horrible badger mother.
Hopefully I’ll be a slightly better Lynx mother. Earlier in the week, Might and Delight announced that Shelter 2 will start players off as a pregnant Lynx, working to prepare a den for her incoming babies. One of the biggest differences between the first and second games is that Shelter 2 won’t be a linear experience, like its predecessor was. Instead, players will be able to venture out from the den and explore the nearby areas, returning to the den at anytime they wish to. A stamina system is also being added into Shelter 2, perhaps necessitating timely returns to the den after a set amount of time out exploring.
Last year, game developer Might and Delight released one of the most emotionally conflicting games I’ve ever played. Shelter was an adorable little game about raising a little badger family and escorting your cubs through the wilderness. But Shelter also dealt with just how unforgiving and cruel Mother Nature is for cute little animals. I lost one cub in the darkness of the night, never to find it again; I accidently let one cub starve to death as I lost track of which cubs were eating enough; and I watched the rest of them get washed away in a flash flood. I was a horrible badger mother.
Hopefully I’ll be a slightly better Lynx mother. Earlier in the week, Might and Delight announced that Shelter 2 will start players off as a pregnant Lynx, working to prepare a den for her incoming babies. One of the biggest differences between the first and second games is that Shelter 2 won’t be a linear experience, like its predecessor was. Instead, players will be able to venture out from the den and explore the nearby areas, returning to the den at anytime they wish to. A stamina system is also being added into Shelter 2, perhaps necessitating timely returns to the den after a set amount of time out exploring.
The switch from Badger to Lynx (which is a type of wild cat, if you are unfamiliar), comes with a good few notches higher up in the food chain. Playing as a Lynx will allow the player to hunt animals like deer, rabbits, fish, and more. However, Might and Delight teases that the leap up the food chain should not cause players to let their guard down.
“The beauty of nature goes hand in hand with its unforgiving rawness,” Might and Delight said on the Shelter 2 website. “That is central in Shelter 2, and one of the reasons we chose to make a game about a Lynx. They are in middle of the food chain, and there are far more vicious things out on the cold tundra…”
Shelter 2 is expected to release this Fall.
