Bethesda's deep dive into Fallout 4 wasn't the only news about the franchise the company brought to E3. The team also made the surprise announcement of Fallout Shelter, a mobile vault-building simulation set in the post-apocalyptic universe. You can read our official review, but among the rest of the staff, feelings are mixed. Some of us love it, and others deleted it just minutes after installing. Game Informer's Joe Juba (a Fallout Shelter fan) and Tim Turi (a skeptic) had a chat about what clicks and what doesn't in this interesting experiment for the Fallout franchise.
Joe: Tim, how long was Fallout Shelter installed on your phone?
Tim: Funny thing is, it’s still installed on my phone, Joe. I haven’t deleted it yet, partially out of laziness and partially out of hope that something might click and I’ll understand why everyone is still playing it. How long have you had it on your phone?
Joe: I actually downloaded it on camera during our post-show rundown of the Bethesda press conference, though I didn’t really get a chance to play until after E3. I’ve been checking in pretty regularly since then, though. It grabbed me immediately. Not you, though?
Tim: I actually did try to play a little of Fallout Shelter during E3, mostly before bed, in the morning, and during the occasional wait in a line. Turns out that trying to play a game all about persistent micromanagement while covering the busiest show of the year isn’t ideal. I gave up halfway through the week because I felt stressed out. My vault dwellers were constantly hungry, thirsty, sad, and hurt from being attacked by radroaches. I've tried getting back into it since and it's just not happening.
Joe: Yeah, that’s definitely a problem in the early phases of the game. But to me, this seems like just the opposite of a game that should stress you out. It’s a fairly simple experience that doesn’t require a ton of upkeep. Kind of like NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower (which I played sporadically for a long, long time).
Tim: I played a lot of the inferior Tiny Death Star, which was my first experience with a game about persistent upkeep and expansion of a personalized structure. I enjoyed my time experimenting with building new shops for a time, but games like Tiny Tower don’t punish you for neglecting your people or progress. Things just slow down. Whenever I step away from Fallout Shelter for too long I feel like slight sense of dread since I know resources are being depleted and things are gradually falling apart. But you find it relaxing?
Joe: Yeah, I do. Resources don’t continuously deplete when you’re away from the game – they just go down for a few minutes. Unless you have a really bad balance of production versus consumption, stepping away from the game shouldn’t leave you in a bad spot. However, I will concede that the game could do a better job explaining some of these things more clearly, but after a little experimentation (and two restarts), I got a good handle on things. After getting that squared away, I’ve been really enjoying checking in my vault. A couple minutes lets you upgrade dwellers, equip some new gear, send someone out into the wasteland, and optimize your production. And you make slow, steady progress, which is something I always find satisfying.
Tim: You mentioned a couple restarts, which is something I’ve always had trouble getting used to in games. I get that you can take your learnings through to a clean slate and manage/build your shelter more efficiently from the beginning. Ultimately, what’s the point? That’s the other issue I have with the game. What becomes of all the frequent check ins, warding off raider invasions, and exploring the wasteland? I’m not expecting some grand story payoff or anything, but is Fallout Shelter simply about seeing how long you can keep a vault going after the bombs drop?