Run your vault
The game calls to mind SimTower in its management and building style, although you’re building down instead of up. You’ll need to keep track of your resources and protect your vault.
Defend yourself from raiders
Manage your vault in this free Fallout spinoff.
You play the role of the vault supervisor. It’s up to you to set up power, food, and water stations to sustain your vault. Dwellers will approach your door, and you’ll need to assign them jobs to keep them busy and provide resources.
The interface is nice and clean. There’s a great bit of design here, which amounts to a kind of “folding away” system. The information you need is always present on screen, and whatever you don’t need will typically pop away. It keeps the screen clear so you can inspect your rooms and roles without visual interference.
Listen for the piano audio cue! If you hear it, that’s the mysterious stranger. If you find him and click on him in time, you’ll get bonus caps to spend on rooms.
The shortfall of the game is that there isn’t a whole lot to do. It’s made as a sort of inactive game, so you check in every hour or so but are active for only a couple of minutes to collect resources.
Gaining caps to spend is pretty easy, but the game presents microtransactions to boost your amount. This can make the game feel underwhelming, and take away the feeling of achievement when you hold a large sum of caps without paying.
Where can you run this program?
You can get Fallout Shelter on Windows 7 and up. You’ll need a 64-bit OS to run it.
Is there a better alternative?
No. You won’t find anything exactly like Fallout Shelter. If you’re looking for similar games, Oxygen Not Included is a great game to try.
Our take
Fallout Shelter is a good time-waster. It has satisfying mechanics and engaging in-between play. The biggest problem is that most of the game is spent idle, so you’ll only play for short bursts of time.
Should you download it?
Yes. It’s free, so there’s every reason to try it out. The gameplay is solid and the art style is nice.
