Listen to the Wind
—
Listen to the Wind
Game
Game2016
Sheltered
Developer Unicube, Team 17 Digital Ltd
Sheltered is a post-apocalyptic survival game developed by Unicube. Team17 published it on 17 March 2016, for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. Players control a family that survives a nuclear war by taking refuge in an abandoned underground war shelter that they found. As their supplies run low, the family must scrounge above ground. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
189 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
138 positive · 35 negative
95% range 73–85%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 138 | 35 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
2,215 of 2,882 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
79% recommend · 136 yes, 36 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 172 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (5,149 of 6,299 positive).
Players praise the game's challenging survival mechanics and pixel art style. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize the game for becoming repetitive and lacking depth. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [13]
a game where you learn from your mistakes playing and managing your shelter where you will have to delete saves and learn from it to progress further on later saves. (similar to this war of mine) downvote is because the developers turned to trash upon releasing sheltered 2, pulling shoddy moves, abandoning the game and having atrocious behavior. for that i can't recommend anyone purchase ANY game from these guys. …
- [1]
I love this game so much. I wasn't impressed by the second one, but this one is still one of my favorite games. For anyone struggling with Hardcore mode, the most important thing is getting hinges and motors to make a freezer above all else, and upgrading your workbench really quick. No toilets or showers, water is very scarce. Keep the place clean until all the canned food is gone, after that it no longer matters. …
- [3]
I played this game a long time ago and really loved it, it still holds up to this day, it looks like such a simple game on the surface yet it does not hold your hand for one second, it gives you a very bare bones basic tutorial at the start and everything else is completely up to you, definitely one of the most difficult and enjoyable survival management games I've ever played. If you're thinking about getting this, …
- [2]
Hello Friends, Today I will review the game SHELTERED. This is a post apocalyptic hard core survival game where you must survive as long as possible in a bunker. In this game, you can make and customize a family to start out. After that, you can recruit random people you meet while looking for supplies. Most of this game will be about trying to stay healthy while keeping all the needs of the characters alive. Due to …
- [7]
Not a bad colony survival crafter, especially given the price. If it would've been more expensive, I would've been harsher, because it's not perfect. The gameplay comes in four different formats: base building, exploring, combat, and NPC interactions. Base building is always fun in those type of games and this one isn't an exception. Ressources are scarce and all the little scrap you find is crucial for your base's …
Summarised from 34 of the 184 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Sheltered talk about challenging and rewarding survival gameplay; those who didn't talk about game becomes repetitive after a while. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
At Metacritic, the Windows version has an aggregate score of 62/100, 69/100 on Xbox One, and 70/100 on PlayStation 4. Sam Loveridge Digital Spy cited Sheltered as "Xbox Live Game of the Week" and rated it 5/5 stars, comparing it to This War of Mine. Reviewing the Windows version for Eurogamer, Cassandra Khaw wrote, "Sheltered is an interesting attempt to simulate the life of a post-nuclear family, but it falls short of its potential." Also reviewing the Windows version, Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it a "fun and challenging game" that nevertheless fails to stand out from other survival games.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 189 · most liked firsta game where you learn from your mistakes playing and managing your shelter where you will have to delete saves and learn from it to progress further on later saves. (similar to this war of mine) downvote is because the developers turned to trash upon releasing sheltered 2, pulling shoddy moves, abandoning the game and having atrocious behavior. for that i can't recommend anyone purchase ANY game from these guys. but this game is fairly decent, buy it on sale for MAXIMUM of $1.50 USD and DO…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sorry, but is that it? That's my biggest problem with these type of games, they look interesting, and the first 5 hours are good, however then you suddenly realise the game has nothing else to offer. Which is fine, but annoying when this game is so slow, progression takes long without any reward. You see it all the time with city/base builders, it's so common that Fallout Shelter is a pretty fleshed out one in comparison.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do not play Sheltered 2. Stay here. You'll get the complete package. Despite it's age, this game is still fun to revisit. Very sad to hear that the company got shuttered.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Frankly, I wouldn't recommend that game even if it was free. The game is neither deep nor wide, it's just empty as hell. The early game is RNG-reliant, it's just a question whether you'll get enough food and water to live for roughly two weeks, after which you stabilize and can survive basically indefinitely while losing interest in the run. And the mechanics, oh boy, it just feels so random, unpolished or even straight up unfinished. For example, the devs included quests. They're usually…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →R1 Jeskai Oculus 🏆🏆 Beating Sheltered by Ghosts both games felt great. Never saw an Oculus either game.
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game so much. I wasn't impressed by the second one, but this one is still one of my favorite games. For anyone struggling with Hardcore mode, the most important thing is getting hinges and motors to make a freezer above all else, and upgrading your workbench really quick. No toilets or showers, water is very scarce. Keep the place clean until all the canned food is gone, after that it no longer matters. As long as you have the cat, it'll kill mice for you and put another unit of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: Style over substance - better go for This War of Mine if you want a gritty survival/adventure/base building game. Looks good, didn't work as expected. The devs spent too much time on style and graphics (which looks great and I loved it), but failed to build a good game beneath that cover - too shallow, too many mechanics that don't make sense, too much unnecessary multitasking. Storage is limited in an absurd way - a plastic bag takes as much space as 25 planks or 5 stacked bags of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How do I get independent #TTRPG shops to buy my game so they can sell it? Asking for a friend (me) #Sheltered
neutral · AI labelView post →My wife and I had to walk uphill both ways in freezing weather to deliver the #Sheltered orders to the post office and I have no one to blame but all of you!! Thanks for buying my game and checking out YggdrasiLoot.etsy.com! #ttrpg #rpglatam #fallout #craftsky
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is hard. It's a survival game where you have to survive after a nuclear apocalypse. Biggest tip I can give you.... BEFORE you play survivor mode, you must complete the "surrounded" scenario. This will give you the Defibrillator which you need to revive unconscious members of your family. Nowhere does it tell you to do this and you'll land up losing your game without it eventually. Food, water and materials are all vitally important. Drinking, showering, going to the toilet,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a gorgeous game that the developers have clearly put a lot of time into . . . and I don't think I'm going to return to it beyond this initial foray. The thing is, it lacks the satirical optimism of Fallout Shelter but, much more importantly, the player is supposed to micro-manage every single one of the characters' functions, as if we're playing The Sims with free will disabled and this is extremely tedious. I have enough trouble managing my own body and mind in a postindustrial…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a dull game with a lot of aspects that don't work, this war of mine is far better, similar cost and style
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hello Friends, Today I will review the game SHELTERED. This is a post apocalyptic hard core survival game where you must survive as long as possible in a bunker. In this game, you can make and customize a family to start out. After that, you can recruit random people you meet while looking for supplies. Most of this game will be about trying to stay healthy while keeping all the needs of the characters alive. Due to the difficulty of this game, it is quite high on the hardcore game type scale…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →one of the indie game GOATs imo, too bad the sequel's ass
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So there's only one facet of this game that is causing me to leave a bad review. Members of your party can die instantly, without giving you a notification so you can start the day over. They're just dead, permanently, out on expeditions. This is a design choice that removes fun from the game, I don't know why it's still included in this game. Steer clear unless you want to see hours and hours of time spent developing these characters rendered useless.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super slow game. Played it on easy mode and still spent more Time waiting for Rain than any-thing else.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GIVE US MOD SUPPORT FOR THIS GAME!!!! I loved this game and hate the second game It Sucks @$$
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing Baldur's Gate 3 again, using it shamelessly to brainstorm NPCs for this Dungeon Crawl Twine game thing. So far we got: Snarky Wood Elf Ranger (Female) Drow Sheltered Mage (Male) Human Questing Squire (Female)
neutral · AI labelView post →This should be called repair simulator. That's all your doing, the game destroyed me. To summarise - This game is so Grindy that even the great gamer Grindy Mc-Grinder-son said this was a bit much. Save your cash
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is Sheltered From The Storm a New Upcoming Game... #indiedev #indiegame youtu.be/ztDUV3OBx-M
neutral · AI labelView post →I played this game a long time ago and really loved it, it still holds up to this day, it looks like such a simple game on the surface yet it does not hold your hand for one second, it gives you a very bare bones basic tutorial at the start and everything else is completely up to you, definitely one of the most difficult and enjoyable survival management games I've ever played. If you're thinking about getting this, I would definitely recommend. Peace 🤙
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard game to master with little payoff. Play Fallout Shelter instead. Or even Dustland Delivery. DO NOT RECOMMEND! The graphics make it look better than it is.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The only stat that matters in this game is dexterity which governs who attacks first in combat. Particularly when enemies can one shot your characters with nothing but their bare fists regardless of training or preparation and show up in end game always outnumbering you. The only way to play at that point is to neutralize most enemies before your turn is up and hope the survivors do not provide a lethal counter of their own.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game fills my niche of pixel-style management and survival games well. I really enjoy the premise of it all, especially the crafting and expeditions. That being said, there are many ideas that aren't super fleshed out. Most of the pets are too much of a resource sink on harder difficulties to ever be useful, and the game lacks a true ending or reason to keep grinding (there is something to work toward, but it feels lackluster). I really like playing this. The challenge and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →-{Difficulty}- ☐ I could do it blind ☐ Easy but not too easy ☑ Offers balance between easy and hard ☐ It can feel rather punishing at times ☐ Souls game -{Gameplay}- ☐ The game is as smooth as butter ☐ It feels good to play, no clunky controls or offers full keybinding mapping ☑ It's alright ☐ It could do better, but also could do worse ☐ It's horrendous -{Performance}- ☑ Runs better than Doom ☐ The game is well optimised ☐ There are no crippling stutters or settings you cannot change ☐…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →lots of micromanagement
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There’s a similar game that I’m pretty sure came first called “Sheltered.” Similar premise and pretty fun imo. No micro transactions that I’m aware of.
positive · AI labelView post →A Night Underground: "Game of Thrones" Star Sheltered in the Kyiv Metro #shorts #Ukraine
neutral · AI labelView post →780 megabytes of pure peak. No need for me to say it runs on anything, because of course it does. The game is basically a harder, more in depth version of Fallout Shelter, with weapons, characters stats, recycling system, trading system, etc. etc. all bundled up in a nice 10 dollar (or one dollar if you got it on sale like me) package. Absolutely a must buy on Steam sales.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a bad colony survival crafter, especially given the price. If it would've been more expensive, I would've been harsher, because it's not perfect. The gameplay comes in four different formats: base building, exploring, combat, and NPC interactions. Base building is always fun in those type of games and this one isn't an exception. Ressources are scarce and all the little scrap you find is crucial for your base's growth and prosperity. You have to think before spending ressources at first…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this game back in my teen years, and now in my 20s I picked it up again — and honestly, I still love it! But… It’s kinda sad that this lil pixel survival management gem feels abandoned, with no updates in years. It could’ve had more scenarios, some QoL fixes (those clunky controls and UI, yikes), or even more ways to make me feel invested like the description promised. There’s so much potential that never really got fleshed out, and instead the game ends up getting repetitive fast. At…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Could be way better with small fixes: - so hard to co control suvivors - my dog was starving and i had meat on me, no way to feed it because i have no fridge to store the meat so i had to trow it away.. rly? It is frustrating to play for me, and not because the game difficulty but it because of bad interface and control
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cozy little base building/survival game that won't give me any food when my people need some
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Day 10: Underrated game Bully Grabbed by the Ghoulies The Suffering Brutal Legend Dungeon Defenders Fortix 2 Sheltered
neutral · AI labelView post →I've tried to play this game a couple times now and each time it ends the same. The progression is slow and I get bored with it. After playing for to many hours, I didn't get past much more than making 2 extra rooms. Never sure I even fought anyone... unless something happened after I dosed off. I guess if i was to give advice towards the game play.... After a 2 hour session, help me feel like i got somewhere. Overall, not a game for me i suppose.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To expect a game set in an underground shelter not to be boring and repetitive would be insane, but still Sheltered ended up way below my expectations. Some of the mechanics are quite interesting, some of them I don't think I fully understand, some of the ideas I didn't really like. Plus there were situation that made me give up, f.e. the food supply is depleted, I sent expedition and they radio in to ask if they should search the school I sent them to, even though I told them to search the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Be prepared to rage quit your game when all of your family members die because you didn't fix the air filter in time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't waste your time. This game is not very deep or complex. It's shallow and repetitive.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →✔️ The Good • Addictive Management Loop: Juggling water, oxygen, and radiation filters provides a compelling and constant survival tension. • Family Dynamics: Personalizing your starting family members and managing their individual stress levels adds a welcome emotional weight to the gameplay. • Tense Expeditions: Sending family members out into the wasteland to scavenge for resources feels genuinely risky and unpredictable. • Satisfying Progression: Upgrading your bunker from a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is so hard even on easy mode there is no way to find what you really need. Having to have a fridge or freezer to eat meat is silly....no good tips or tricks and everyone is soo insanely sensitive to everything
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very Fun! Imo easily in the Top 5 Pixel Games EVER made! I wish the developers give us more content here instead of the much worse second game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely love this game. I remember it as a kid when it first came out but never played it until a couple months ago and man does it still hit. I've heard horrible things about the sequel which is such a shame because I love the gameplay and art style. 10/10 so peak dude
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game to play on your laptop when your on the go! Steam workshop would be nice but the Devs flopped hard with the sequel. Fun game but games stale after you survive over 100 days
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →★★★★★☆☆ Really enjoyed this game. Simple in some ways, complicated in others and overall a decent challenge. Does get a bit repetitive after a while though, and once you have a certain setup and you know how the game ticks, you can pretty much never fail. A little bit of a learning 'hump' at the start, but after that you can keep playing and has decent replay value. Scenario maps add a nice change of pace and challenge to spice things up. Overall, very much recommended. Feel free to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →my mc who had the best gear suddenly disappeared mid expedition, this was on a 7.9 hr playthrough
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The main mechanic of the game is the water which you get in 99% of the times from the rain. If there won't be any rain in 10 days (normal difficulty, chance of rain: good) and my people just die because of this than I'd say your game is not though through well enough and I can't recommend it. The other day my people died, because after hours of play I found out that to save a person you'll need a defibrelator which I get if I finish one of the super hard scenarios - in the middle of hours long…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fallout Shelter but good
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not much of an explanation on what to do or what needs to be done. It's quite annoying that you have to make your people fill their needs. It would be nice if they could use the toilet and other items on their own. Glad I only bought this when it was on a big sale. It isn't worth what they charge.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →better than sequel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I might just be very terrible at the game or just have bad RNG luck, but even when having the difficulty set to easy it's still very hard to find resources you need in order to survive. My first couple of playthroughs I could not find any food no matter how much I've tried. Rain was troubling to come by on the easy difficulty as well since water is a VERY needy resource since its used for 90% of things. I decided to watch some videos for tips & tricks, even with tips it's still a struggle to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Night Underground: "Game of Thrones" Star Sheltered in the Kyiv Metro #shorts
neutral · AI labelView post →I've loved this game ever since I got it and find myself coming back to it often. I do wish they would fix a few of the commonly mentioned bugs, though, instead of just abandoning the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the U.I is rough and this just makes the game play loop where the only thing you don't need to tell your characters to do is breath harder to deal with
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm doing Golgari ouroboriod and just having a blast. I just got off a game where I stole a white player's Sheltered by Ghosts and Day of Judgement with bats on back to back turns and just watched them die inside holding onto just plains.
neutral · AI labelView post →Very fun game with nice graphic style. Nice replay value also. Can sometimes feel a bit drawn-out but can easily fixed in game settings when starting a new "run"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The ui is so frustrating to use in such a unique and special way
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my favorite survival games! Cool visuals, deep mechanics...and a huge amount of potential for additions and improvements. I don’t know why the devs decided to abandon this project and focus on the sequel, but they clearly missed an opportunity to create something truly unique, with some almost Fallout-like elements... At least for now
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just cant get into it. it is so rng baced it makes a "reliable" strat null
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sometimes I load into a Brawl game, my opponent is on Ragavan, they swing once and hit my Sheltered By Ghosts and I just gotta leave because that's a game god decided I lose
neutral · AI labelView post →Its one of those games thats easy to play but hard to master. The tempo is very slow, you can speed up but its still rather slow. Great game idea and from what ive played it is a great game. The bored factor may hit you like it did me after only 6 hours of play, its very repetitive and making progress past tier 3 just becomes a chore. Its a heavy micro management game and you will get sick of answering the radio every 10 seconds. It is however a great concept and fun, its well worth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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