Shelter - Game Review

During the Cold War a civil war breaks out in K, a small country in eastern Europe. In order to gain control of the people and clear any opposition the government increases monitoring of the populace and enacts strict laws on contraband and behavior. Now during the war you are known as Watcher 083, before all this madness began you were but a humble landlord overseeing a modest apartment building. Now you have no choice but to also act as a watcher, making sure to report violations of the law by your tenants and to report any contraband.

Of course with any position of power also comes corruption and you are no exception. You can use your position of authority to threaten and manipulate your tenants into bending to your will. There are a few months remaining in the civil war before everyone can go back to living a normal life, until then you must fulfill your duties as a watcher. Not everything is serious and sad however, you will surely find time for some hot sex along the way. Managing your tenants is a big part of Shelter. Good tenants will pay you 10P a day but broke tenants will cost you 5P a day. Tenants without money can be handled in many different ways including eviction, selling them to a factory, or you can keep them around and use their bad situation to your advantage for sex. Evicted tenants can be easily replaced with new tenants who are always waiting outside.

Story:

The story is pretty straightforward, you are a landlord and must oversee the tenants in your building and make sure they pay. Also as a watcher you must be on the lookout for contraband and violations of the law. Whether or not you report any violations is up to you, You have the option of using your knowledge of a violation to threaten or manipulate a tenant into doing what you desire. This includes some hot sex acts including but not limited to; sex, nude photo sessions, homemade porno shoots and more.

You can use the threaten action provided to scare tenants into pleasing you. By using the investigate action you can see what a tenant has in their inventory and also plant illegal contraband on them in order to be able to threaten them. This action can lead to very fun scenarios but can also be dangerous, if a tenant is armed with a weapon they will kill you if threatened. Throughout the game there a lot of random surprises. Out of the blue one of my tenants decided to get undressed in the laundry room and I had the option to either take a peek at her hot naked body or take some hot pictures of her titties. Of course everything is dependent on your own inventory, for example if you do not have film you cannot take pictures. There is a simple button to switch between inside and outside your apartment building. Outside you will always find a steady stream of people looking for a place to live. You can be strategic in selecting new tenants based on their info. Also outside you will encounter several other people including a street vendor who deals in items both legal and illegal.

You have a memo pad where you can find jobs and military orders you must complete on a varying schedule. Whether it is finding a radio for a tenant who wants to monitor the war because her husband is on the front lines, or a military officer who demands his daughter have a place to stay, you must fulfill the tasks for rewards or to avoid game failure within the allotted days.

As your inventory and amount of resources grows you can trigger increasingly hot sexual situations with your tenants. Obtaining video tapes, film, and other items will expand your sex choices in the game. The more leverage you have and depending on the situation you will have a more satisfying sex encounter.

Writing:

The writing here is pretty solid. The story seems to have some interesting concepts and you are provided with a context for events to come right off the bat. Other than the grammatical errors (due to the translation process to English) the story flows nicely. Many times your character will talk to himself in a usually depressing manner to kind of bring the feeling back to the reality of war and totalitarianism. Finding a good balance between a captivating story while also fulfilling the promise of being an adult sex game can be difficult but Shelter manages to almost do this perfectly. I would have loved to see some more in depth character development with your tenants. At times other than a few named tenants, your tenants are just there and have no name or story which seemed like a missed opportunity. The writing all in all is very solid and does what it needs to do.

Art and graphics:

While the majority of the in game 2D graphics are simple they are also very well done for what it is trying to be. With only two areas, inside and outside, the visuals can become a bit repetitive. Where the artwork and visuals really come into play are the well done Hentai style females that appear in dialogue moments and of course during and after sexual encounters. The nude artwork here is just plain hot, perfect titties, cream pies, tight Hentai pussy, and cute faces. The simplicity of the main art and graphics almost lends to the pop factor when you get some good images of hot naked sluts.

Sound:

This game has one song and one song only. Now if your only going to have one song it better be good. The song that plays in this game is a masterpiece. It truly encapsulates the war time depression laden feeling that is being presented. The song consists of violins and other string instruments that give off a concentration camp vibe. Other than the sound track we have the various in game sound effects which consist of simple beeps when clicking things and the occasional door knock or phone ringing. The sound effects themselves are done well but seem sparse. This game could have used more sound effects and varying types of beeps for action and clicks because the one beep it does have can get very repetitive after playing for a while, especially with headphones on.

Conclusion:

Shelter is a very well done sex game with a mainstream game feel. The story can be very depressing at times but you instantly smile when a hot naked chick pops up. I found myself getting lost for several hours in this game in a good way. The music is hypnotizing and has an almost sedating effect to it. The close up artwork is very well done with bright colors and well drawn models. The nude scenes are hot and rewarding. This game leaves you wanting in a good way, it has just enough routine story and task content to make the occasional hot big titty or wet pussy on a naked Hentai girl feel more rewarding than it would be if the sex was everywhere all the time. If you enjoy an interesting story and the joy of landlord strategy mixed with hot random sexual encounters this game is for you. This is no casual game, strategy is key here and the more manipulative and sneaky you can be the more hot sex you will get to have. Anyone who enjoys more in depth sex games with substance should play this game at least once.

You can download Shelter from DLsite.com

PROS:

Good story
Engaging tasks
Good artwork
Sexy Hentai
Beautiful music
Opportunity for strategy

CONS:
Generic repetitive sound effects
Limited back story for most tenants
Bad grammar

Game Screenshots: