Shelter (2024)

Shelter takes a straightforward construction concept and gives it an unusual wartime purpose. Developed and published by 9900Studio, the game places players in situations where civilians need protection from air raids, turning shelter construction into the heart of the experience. Instead of fighting enemies directly, the challenge is to prepare for danger before it arrives. This creates a different kind of tension, where thoughtful construction and understanding how the available objects behave are more important than reflexes or combat skill. The basic gameplay revolves around constructing shelters from mechanisms and facilities that come in different shapes and sizes. Each stage presents an objective, and players must figure out how to arrange the available pieces into something functional. This gives the game the character of a building puzzle rather than a traditional base-management simulator. Simply placing everything somewhere is rarely the point. The satisfaction comes from studying the situation, assembling a possible solution, and seeing whether the finished structure actually performs as intended. Physics plays an important role in making these construction challenges…

This is a simple puzzle game where you save people from bombing attacks by placing different objects around them. Each stage gives you only a few objects, which have to be dropped in a specific order, so you cannot choose which one to use next. The bombing begins once the final object is dropped, and if everyone survives, you move on to the next stage. The puzzles are generally quite easy and can be completed quickly. The main objects are boxes and planks, with a few new ones introduced later in the game. These include flares that lure people to a specific spot, bombs that move objects that have already been placed, and barrels that tilt planks. The barrels can be a little frustrating, since it often takes several attempts to figure out the right height from which to drop them. The bombs that push objects are less convincing from a physics perspective, as the objects always fly exactly where they are supposed to.