The original Shelter was a very special little thing. Guiding a litter of defenceless badger cubs through the dangers of a harsh uncaring wilderness was a unique change of pace, but more importantly it encouraged us to feel some strong, unexpected and conflicting emotions towards our fragile charges. Instead of unconditional love, we frequently felt annoyed by their inability to fend for themselves, resented them for holding us back, yet desperately tried to save as many as possible from predators, fires and starvation. Being a parent isn't easy.

Nearly two years on, Shelter 2 promises great things. Instead of a beleaguered badger, we're now much nearer the top of the food chain as an agile lynx, tasked with caring for and training her litter until they grow big and strong enough to move on. The linear structure gives way to an open world of sorts, linked by a hub zone, ostensibly increasing the sense of scale and opening up new avenues for exploration. I must admit to being very excited about the idea. But, unfortunately, Shelter 2 ends up being a markedly inferior experience. The very things that make it different, and better on paper, actually make it worse.

After our lynx mother finds herself in a safe den with her offspring, it's up to you to keep them fed and safe. You'll strike out from your hole into a frankly gorgeous wilderness; a patchwork watercolour world that's purposefully abstracted to feel like a very alien place. Much more vibrant and contrasting than its predecessor, full of exciting textured materials and gorgeous vistas, it's like looking at the world through very different eyes.

The day-to-day reality boils down to hunting. Your cubs need to be fed and learn how to hunt for themselves, meaning that you'll head out in search of rabbits, frogs and other small creatures (plus some larger and more challenging prey) to share with your litter and scoff yourself. Once again, you'll need to ensure that everyone gets their fill, mother included, leading to some tough choices and a bit of triage on occasion. The more you hunt, the stronger and more capable your cubs become, eventually giving you a warm feeling of satisfaction as they bring down prey independently. They grow up so fast!

As a 'Lynx Simulator,' Shelter 2 does a remarkable job. Like any cat, you're capable of marshalling a limited yet powerful burst of straight-line speed, but can have trouble course-correcting if your prey moves erratically at the last second. Much like my moggy embarrassingly exhibits every time I dangle a piece of string in front of him. You'll therefore have to pick your moments and pounce at the perfect time to take down your speedy quarry, while rabbits can often blend into the busy backgrounds, taking advantage of real natural camouflage.

So you'll set out into the world, hunt and train. Your cubs will grow big and strong, perhaps you'll lose a couple if you're careless or uncaring, but eventually they'll blossom into adulthood and leave for pastures new, leaving you with both loss and pride as you slink back to your den to end the game after a handful of hours, after which you can optionally play as the cubs you nurtured as a new generation begins. But then you'll feel something else. Hell, you'll probably say something else. "That's it?"

See, Shelter 2 is less effective than its predecessor in a number of ways, all of which are unavoidable considering the new premise. First of all, being nearer the top of the food chain robs the game of much of its threat. There's simply not much that can kill you or even endanger you beyond some roving wolves -- which you may not even run into whatsoever unless you go out looking for trouble -- making the experience significantly less interesting and satisfying. Our badger mother had to contend with fires, winter, floods, birds and more, but the lynx has it easy, meaning that getting your litter to adulthood becomes that much less rewarding.

A far larger problem, however, is the shift to an open world. Yes, you can explore at your own pace, ferreting out collectibles dotted around the furthest corners of the maps, but there's no real incentive to do so. Hell, you can easily beat the game just by staying fairly close to your starting area. The original Shelter may have been very linear, but its linearity was a strength as it pushed you into danger and conflict, threw you into making unavoidable tough decisions, forced you forward and thus made you feel like you'd triumphed over impossible odds. But Shelter 2 has none of that, feeling diffuse, diluted and vaguely inconsequential as a result.

Shelter 2 is still worth a look if you fancy something different, and there's no doubt that you'll enjoy the first couple of playthroughs as far as they go. It's just a shame that they don't go far enough

cool game hack:
1. start the game
2. play the first 20 minutes
3. close out of the game
4. NEVER PLAY AGAIN SO YOUR BEAUTIFUL LYNX BABIES WILL NEVER DIE

I love all games animal related, unfortunately I am usually disappointed by these types of games. However, Shelter 2 exceeded my expectations. The graphics are so beautifully unique. The developers went above and beyond to ensure that animal lovers everywhere would enjoy this game. From the family tree feature down to the details put towards the movement of the actual cat itself, this game is arguably one of the best animal survival type games I've ever played. Highly recommend :)

> i cried for an hour after one of my babies died
> im no longer emotionally stable
> 10/10 would do it again

This game is beautiful, you will feel the feels. THe art and the music, and the story of.. the story of life, and it's all just so right together, I am sad now..but it's a happy sadness because.... well.. i wouldn't spoil anything about this game, I'd say just play it for yourself..

https://youtu.be/69tkmmGUJv4
+ The gameplay is enjoyable. You play as a Lynx, give birth to a litter of cubs, and hunt for prey to feed them. You then roam around the map, avoiding wolves, and finding new areas. Eventually your cubs grow up and start to hunt with you.
+ The map or landscape is HUGE you will be crossing various terrain in the artic / tundra regions with loads to explore
+ A Unique Experience. I really have not seen too many games like this where you get to play as an animal in a pretty realistic setting. It's pretty eye opening, and a bit sad at the same time. Working so hard to keep your cubs alive, only to see one die by lack of food, or get killed off by a wolf.
+ Shelter 2 has a very interesting art style, The ground has like patches of intersecting textures. The leaves and bushes are like blobs swaying in the wind. The environments tend to change colors with the seasons. It's a bit abstract, but at the same time very beautiful with very large draw distances.
+ Very realistic, I mean this is basically a "Lynx Simulator", there really isn't much narration or story. You are basically on your own in the very large open world the entire time.
+ The Lynx and her cubs are very cute

- Frustrating Bugs / Glitches... For example, at one point I was trying to cross a bridge (a fallen log) to get to the other side of a stream. Unfortunetely, 1 of my cubs could not make it across for some unknown reason which halted my progress...and I eventually just left him. Another bug, where I jumped into the air, and got "stuck" where the game would not allow me to move causing me to revert to the last save. (the game does save frequently though). Another time, I tried to tackle a deer, and after doing so my Lynx fell through the map, and then I teleported to a random location almost losing the prey I tried so hard to catch.
- Extremely Vague at what you are supposed to be doing or where you need to go. You don't have any sense of time either. You are supposed to explore, and eventually your cubs will grow up. But you don't know how long it will take, I really felt like the game should have had more UI elements to help the player see how far along the cubs were to growing up, or perhaps a hunger meter to show when they needed food. Unfortunetely you just don't know. Also, since nothing is explained you have no idea if you are "supposed" to go over there and find something or just stay put. I had thought there would be more story elements, but I ended up just roaming in circles.
- The game is a bit overly drawn out. It takes quite a long time to grow your cubs, and it ends up getting a bit reptitive.
- The Wolves.... You would think you would be able to kill them after your cubs grow, but no. In one area there's a huge wolf pack that will randomly rush you, eat one of your cubs, run away and then despawn. It's kind of stupid.
- You can collect random items that seem to spawn in various places on the map. It never tells you why you should collect them or what they are for. They just seem like random collectibles.

Overall it was a great new experience which I found myself enjoying, but at the same time felt lost and frustrated.

Sat in my room alone, been a good lynx/wolf/whater the ♥♥♥♥ mother, Feeding my children when all of a sudden it turns night it doesnt phase me because last time it was night nothing bad happend,Hear a wolf Think to myself ♥♥♥♥ what would a good mother do . See a deer kill the deer babys stop to eat the deer NO YOU LITTLE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ THERES A ♥♥♥♥ING WOLF,Pick up my favourite and run away.Thought all my lil babys got away in the morning see one child is missing, ITS THE WHITE ONE , Scream no at the top of my lungs as if it were a real wolf.Mum comes up and shouts a lot for waking her.I just got more depressed and angry at the death of a cub than i have with anyone else.


Also nice art style.

Interesting game concept, but just not enough depth to survival to justify the cost, maybe on a sale. Game becomes extremely repetitive.

My heart was not ready for this, I cannot play this again.

10/10

A nice world to visit for a couple hours. I was a fan of the first one, and this is more of the same great art style and charm. Gameplay is simple, so don't go in expecting any deep mechanics, but if you just want to chill and feed your babies, this is the game to do it in.

Great game, very engaging and makes you want more except by more, I wasn't expecting to just replay the game all over again. The game is repetitive unfortunately but you will definitely enjoy it. One playthrough took a little under two hours so it's a short game. I'd recommend you buy it only if it's on sale cheaper than half-price ( Considering people are complaining about No Man's Sky being $60 , try something like 75% off; it's really short). I pinned it down in a Humble Bundle at $5 USD.