Fallout Shelter is a unique entry in the long-running Fallout franchise, as it foregoes the usual action-adventure RPG approach and opts for a charming community management and survival experience. Launched back in 2015, a few months before Fallout 4, Fallout Shelter offers a special way to experience the post-apocalyptic world.
In Fallout Shelter, players get to have control of their own Vault, with the main objective to keep one’s community alive and happy, which is easier said than done. Fallout Shelter shines in the simulation genre, and the prospect of a full-blown sequel doesn’t seem too far out of the realm of possibility. While nothing has been confirmed about such a follow-up, the knowledge gained from Fallout 4‘s settlement-building mechanics offers a natural progression for Fallout Shelter to follow.
Related
Fallout Shelter: Best Vault Numbers
While vault numbers don’t seemingly affect gameplay in Fallout Shelter, there are a few cool vault numbers that are simply fun to use.
A Fallout Shelter Sequel Should Take Note of Fallout 4’s Settlement Building
Building Beyond the Vault
In Fallout Shelter, the primary focus of the gameplay is kept to the underground Vault communities. Since many of the other Fallout chapters don’t really spend a lot of time in the Vaults, Fallout Shelter‘s focus on the underground, post-nuclear communities is what makes it so compelling. However, also taking community building to the surface would be a fun way to evolve the spin-off while offering players more options.
The underground nature of Fallout Shelter‘s Vaults can make survival tricky. Players can only keep a certain number of Vault Dwellers within the community, meaning evictions are sometimes necessary. A sequel offering an above-ground settlement option could make population management easier while balancing it with the difficult and horrific threats that exist outdoors.
In
Fallout Shelter
, Vaults can hold a maximum of 200 people. When reaching this limit, pregnant Vault Dwellers will stop giving birth and no new arrivals can enter.
Fallout 4’s Settlement Building Showcased in a New Light
Previous Fallout chapters were great in their own right, but one of the strongest upgrades given to Fallout 4 was its emphasis on settlement building. Not only do these settlements provide shelter, but they also bring a deeper level of immersion to the game while players try to survive The Commonwealth and its surrounding wasteland. It’s a shining feature in the franchise’s fourth mainline title, and a fresh version of Fallout Shelter would likely only benefit from including a similar option.
Fallout Shelter Demonstrating the Different Dangers of the Franchise
On the surface, the Vaults of Fallout seem safer, but that is hardly the case. Both the Vaults and the wastelands in Fallout‘s lore hold their own unique sets of threats, and a sequel featuring both settings would be able to showcase the contrasting dangers. Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter will sometimes have to venture out into the wasteland for supplies, but there has yet to be any way to make proper shelter outside the Vaults. Ultimately, offering the option to manage both Vaults and settlements could bring players an even more balanced experience.
Of course, there has yet to be any word on an official Fallout Shelter sequel, but it’s not impossible. Thanks to the success of Amazon Prime’s Fallout series, the franchise has seen a huge boom this year, and even games like Fallout Shelter that are nearly a decade old are getting a new lease on life. A sequel may never happen, but if Bethesda decides to take that leap, providing players with a variety of wasteland biomes on top of Vault management could be the most effective way for a follow-up to top a survival game that is already a lot of fun.
- Released
- June 14, 2015
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Engine
- Unity
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes, Alcohol Reference
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair