when the hammer falls

In the video game series, “Fallout,” players are confronted with a post-apocalyptic world that has been destroyed by nuclear war. The central goal of these games is to survive in this ruined environment as long as possible. Given the title and description, here’s how you might start your blog post:

“The day was October 23rd, 2077.”

“It was a bright, sunny day in Washington DC.”

The future of the world is always uncertain. But there are some events that can shake us to our core – like when we hear about an attack on one of our allies or countries close to home suffers from a natural disaster. The whole world has been rocked by Brexit and Hurricane Harvey this year. Each event left its own mark in history, but what could these two have in common? They both serve as reminders that often times it’s not physical destruction that wrecks havoc on people’s lives: sometimes fear does more damage than anything else.

In Fallout, players live through various stages where they come across other survivors who all want one thing — safety for themselves and their loved ones. When the country is in danger, it’s up to you and your team to be brave and face whatever challenges come your way.

The Day The Hammer Falls: Fallout Shelter as a Game of Survival

In game-design terms, survival games are defined by their core mechanic of staying alive for as long as possible against environmental hazards (e.g., zombies) or other players (e.g., multiplayer shooters). But what does this genre mean when applied to Fallout Shelter? Is it an accurate description for Bethesda Softworks’ mobile management simulation where players collect resources, build rooms within a vault with different purposes, recruit survivors from across the wasteland into their community–and try not get them killed too soon? Or should we just call it a post-apocalyptic sim?

The Day the Hammer Falls: Fallout Shelter as a Post-Apocalyptic Sim

I was actually surprised at how accurate Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout Shelter is in reflecting the core mechanic of survival games. Staying alive for as long as possible against environmental hazards (e.g., zombies) or other players (e.g., multiplayer shooters). But what does this genre mean when applied to Fallout Shelter? Is it an accurate description for Bethesda Softworks’ mobile management simulation where players collect resources, build rooms within a vault with different purposes, recruit survivors from across the wasteland into their community–and try not get them killed too soon? Or should we just call it a post-apocalyptic sim?

The game’s title itself gives us some insight in how to think about its relation to traditional survival games: “fallout shelter.” The name sets up the game’s focus on the vault as a refuge from the fallout, while also conveying how fragile these refuges can be.

In order to survive in Fallout Shelter, players need to manage resources and protect their little community of survivors with care. The core gameplay loop revolves around “pushing” new residents into developing weapons they can use for scavenging missions outside or building rooms within your shelter which allow them to increase production capacity–thereby increasing available resources that fuel further expansion–or provide other benefits such as power defense against monsters or equipment bonuses during exploration.

So is this really a survival game? Well.. yes and no: it doesn’t feel like you’re truly struggling when playing Fallout Shelter because there are plenty of spare resources to go around, and the monsters that periodically attack your shelter can be easily repelled with some high-level equipment.

The end goal of Fallout Shelter is keeping everyone alive by managing resources wisely: so it’s more like a classic farm game than anything else–a survival sim whose sole difficulty comes from increasing production capacity rather than just surviving in the first place. That doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had here though! You’ll find yourself tinkering away on new room designs or coming up with strategies for scavenging missions based on what you know about upcoming threats, all while listening to some pretty sweet synth music. The framework may not feel entirely “survival” but it does make for one compelling little iOS title nonetheless.

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The end goal of Fallout Shelter is keeping everyone alive by managing resources wisely: so it’s more like a classic farm game than anything else–a survival sim whose sole difficulty comes from increasing production capacity rather than just surviving in the first place. That doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had here though! You’ll find yourself tinkering away on new room designs or coming up with strategies for scavenging missions based on what you know about upcoming threats, all while listening to some pretty sweet synth music. The framework may not feel entirely “survival” but it does make for one compelling little iOS title nonetheless. ​

This app is designed as an offshoot of Bethesda’s popular series of post-apocalyptic games, and it’s a very different experience. It is not set in the wasteland of DC or Los Angeles, but rather begins on day one of an apocalypse that’s seen all civilians exiled outside of major cities across North America. Players take charge of their own settlement with the goal being to keep everyone alive by managing resources wisely: so it’s more like a classic farm game than anything else–a survival sim whose sole difficulty comes from increasing production capacity rather than just surviving in the first place

The framework may not feel entirely “survival” but it does make for one compelling little iOS title nonetheless. ​

After playing Fallout Shelter I was left wondering if Bethesda would ever release another mobile game again, and given how much success it endured I can’t say that’s too surprising. But now with the release of Astroneer, a game developed by System Era and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows PC and Xbox One–that question is answered in the form of an affirmative “yes.”

What makes this title unique among other survival games like Rust or Ark: Survival Evolved? Well unlike those more familiar titles which are open world, Astroneer takes place on a single planet where players take charge of their own settlement at whatever pace they see fit. And while there may not be much immediacy to this approach, as you’re never actively fighting against anything per se (unless your base gets attacked), what it does offer instead is one compelling little iOS experiment of a game that is perfect for those who prefer to take their time and enjoy the journey.

This post continues from Part Three, where we were talking about what makes Astroneer different than other survival games like Rust or Ark: Survival Evolved. The first point is that while it may not be open world like these two titles, there’s still a lot to do in terms of exploring the planet. You can build out small settlements at your own pace–no need to worry if someone else raided you because they could have easily done so when you weren’t looking! And don’t forget all sorts of additional content updates are coming as well (like new planets with unique challenges). So whether you’re just wanting an iOS experiment or a full-fledged survival experience, Astroneer is the game for you! This post continues from Part Three, where we were talking about what makes Astroneer different than other survival games like Rust or Ark: Survival Evolved. The first point is that while it may not be open world like these two titles, there’s still a lot to do in terms of exploring the planet. You can build out small settlements at your own pace–no need to worry if someone else raided you because they could have easily done so when you weren’t looking! And don’t forget all sorts of additional content updates are coming as well (like new planets with unique challenges). So whether you’re just wanting an iOS experiment or a full-