Pid Developer Reveals a Badger Survival Game

[Fanghawk]

Pid Developer Reveals a Badger Survival Game

Shelter will let you experience the beauty and terror of nature through the eyes of a mama badger.

One of the great things about the indie gaming scene is that you're never quite sure what developers will come up with next. Where triple-A developers usually stick with familiar genres, indies might follow <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/9362-Minecraft-Review>a successful open-world sandbox with <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122918-Mojangs-Scrolls-Charges-Into-Beta-Next-Month>a digital card game. To that end, Pid creator Might and Delight will forgo retro platforming to make a 3D survival game called Shelter. What really makes the game stand out, however, won't be the survival gameplay. Instead, Shelter represents the simplicity of nature itself by putting you into the role of a protective mama badger.

In Shelter's world, the player is forced to leave their comfortable burrow to seek a home in the dangerous environment. It's hard enough to survive in the game's wilderness, but you won't just be looking out for yourself. A helpless litter of badger cubs also need your protection and guidance if they're going to survive for long. Getting the cubs safety promises to be difficult and heart-wrenching as other animals seek to make meals of the entire clan.

"It´s our ambition to create an experience of immersion by making you feel exposed and vulnerable in the sometimes unforgiving hands of the wild," said lead level designer Andreas Wangler. "We are not saying nature is cruel, however what the mother and her cubs will experience is simply a fact of life ... There are no boss fights in this game. No good or evil elements. It´s simply about survival and protecting your offspring."

[gallery=1428]

I'm not entirely sold on the visuals, but the survival twist is unique enough that I'd be curious to see how it plays. Thankfully, we shouldn't have to wait too long. Shelter is due to launch this year for PC and Mac, while <a href=http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=139295005>a new Greelight page may also provide a Steam platform release.

Permalink

 

[Ldude893]

I hate to go for the obvious joke, but it had to be said.

Mushroom, MUSHROOM.

 

[GeneralFungi]

I hate to go for the obvious joke, but it had to be said.

Mushroom, MUSHROOM.

The honest hard working badgers have tried their very best to remove their reputation for drug abuse. And in one fell swoop you bring it all back. A knew a badger who managed to stay clean from the allure of the mysterious bright red mushroom for twenty years. It must be hard to show your face when everyone shames you for your previous addictions.

You should feel ashamed.

On topic:
I'm actually really interested in the premise of this game. I wonder how complex the system will actually be. I'd like it to be more then the kinds of annoying escort missions we are used to. It has potential but I'm cautiously optimistic.. there are a couple of games involving watching over young that really fall flat on their face. The best of luck to the developers.

 

[Bindal]

Well, not my kind of game. Still, interesting.

I hate to go for the obvious joke, but it had to be said.

Mushroom, MUSHROOM.

The honest hard working badgers have tried their very best to remove their reputation for drug abuse. And in one fell swoop you bring it all back. A knew a badger who managed to stay clean from the allure of the mysterious bright red mushroom for twenty years. It must be hard to show your face when everyone shames you for your previous addictions.

You should feel ashamed.

Drug abuse? Those badgers just want to become Super Badger and then find a Fireflower!
...actually, that sounds like the first step of an invasion.

 

[piinyouri]

Not a fan of the aesthetic, but I love the idea.
Playing as possibly the meanest creature on earth?
Who wouldn't want to try that out?
Until you run into a dachshund anyway.

 

[GeneralFungi]

Well, not my kind of game. Still, interesting.

I hate to go for the obvious joke, but it had to be said.

Mushroom, MUSHROOM.

The honest hard working badgers have tried their very best to remove their reputation for drug abuse. And in one fell swoop you bring it all back. A knew a badger who managed to stay clean from the allure of the mysterious bright red mushroom for twenty years. It must be hard to show your face when everyone shames you for your previous addictions.

You should feel ashamed.

Drug abuse? Those badgers just want to become Super Badger and then find a Fireflower!
...actually, that sounds like the first step of an invasion.

That's how people without control of their addictions justify it. I remember meeting two plumbers. They were living in the slums in the depths of a filthy sewer pipe. I asked them why they began to take the mushrooms, and they told me they had to get powered up to save the princess.

Poor souls.

Not a fan of the aesthetic, but I love the idea.
Playing as possibly the meanest creature on earth?
Who wouldn't want to try that out?
Until you run into a dachshund anyway.

Maybe the bleak surroundings was deliberate. Humans are good at seeing contrast in color, but most animals are not quite as capable of discerning colors. The drab colors would also work to reinforce the idea of struggling to survive in an unforgiving world.

It's also likely a product of limited resources because of a small team as well. But limitation breeds innovation, right?

 

[Ldude893]

In all seriousness, it's rare for a game to actually put the player in the POV of a mother taking care of a child, even a nonhuman one. I think this game might just pull this concept off, so long as the AI for the cubs works well. Otherwise, it's going to be one bad escort mission stretching for the entire game.

 

[MetalMagpie]

The Animals of Farthing Wood, the game?

Not my sort of game, but I'm still interested to know what the gameplay is actually like. I.e. Are you just trying to hide the babies in a burrow, go look for food, return to find you've lost one/some/all of them, move to a new burrow, rinse repeat? Can you pick up the babies or do you have to rely on them following you? Etc.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

Badger Trails remake?

HOORAY!

Cookie if you can remember that game and the computer it came on!

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

"A helpless litter of badger"
???

You don`t know anything of Badgers, do you?

They are fierce fighters and unfriendly to the brink in real nature!

 

[lancar]

It's an interesting premise for sure, but the visuals are... well, frankly they're shit. They need to either run with a 2D game or cel-shaded 3D. This playstation1 blockiness won't cut it.

 

[Shinsei-J]

No need, I already have the most badass animal survival game...
TOKYO JUNGLE

Though I may end up checking this out, looks pretty cool.

 

[natster43]

Seems like it could be fun. I'll have to check it out when it comes out.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

Is it thought the eyes of a honey Badger? I ask because I hear they don't give a shit.

 

[LiMaSaRe]

Can't wait to go on a rampage if any of my cubs are so much as looked at. Cool combination of fear for your helpless cubs and utter domination of anything else in the forest when you're around.