For the last few weeks, I have dedicated my life to Meadow. Sleep, food, job and even family became less priority and only water kept me hydrated so I could survive till the final release and tell you a story you may or may not enjoy. Are you ready to spend few minutes of your life, yes? Very well, brave badgers and devious lynxes, buckle your seat belts, because 'Shelter' is going bye bye!

***

So what's this Meadow is all about you may wonder. Let's cut all the 'woo woo' stuff and dive deep into it.

It's not a survival game. You don't have to fight for food and water to keep your kids alive. You don't really have your family around any longer. There are no predators, no real danger. Story? Not a bit of it. End goal? Ain't gonna happen. So, what do you do in Meadow, you may wonder?

Well, you can walk. And walk a lot!


*Walking simulator?

So, are you all alone in the wilderness, with nothing left to do? Not really.

Meadow is an online project, thus you cannot start a single player/offline mode. Not yet anyway. At least some internet connection is required. Being socially oriented, exploration still plays a significant role here. Despite the lack of usual activities, you can lose yourself in the big, open and quite beautiful world where you can find four different seasons collapses, from foggy swamps to snowy mountains, filled with chillaxing (and sometimes terrifying) ambient music and sounds. You can spend some good amount of time just wandering around, filling your eyes and soul with that beautiful scenery. You will have these 'yay!' moments quite often.

Only recently I have come to realize what's 'A forum in games clothing' actually means, the description line you read first on Steam page. Basically, the world of Meadow, that big floating island in the middle of nowhere - a social playground, where your main purpose is to collaborate with other people, be social and have fun. The world itself is so-called interactive 'forum' in gaming disguise, a forum without text/voice chat system, and it's actually very cool! The lack of any modern communication brings the benefits and the core immersion into the wildlife. After all, you're part of the natural habitat. You can use your body language, emoticons, self-awareness and care about other people around you. Primitive yet innovative at the same time. You won't hear shouting, swearing, chat spamming messages - you have a bunch of emoticons and your body to express yourself!


*No survival? No problem.

So, except being super social and stuff, how do you play?

You can pick from a different type of animals. Just a few from the beginning, but you can unlock more while you play. If you're a passionate collector as me, you will be pleased with the amount of things you can gather. Flowers, crystals, and of course, achievements are here to keep you productive :) While unlocking animals, you can also get new skins for them or new emoticons to use, including special 3d and sound ones. There are also black obelisks you can break with the help of other players, so being in the pack may be handy, and it's more fun of course. Oh, and by collecting all the shiny things around you will receive essence, main resource of the game that will determine your place on the leaderboards, in case you want some competition.


*Adopted badger

As of my review is coming to an end, few worthy things to mention:

I felt like a child, to be honest, when I met my first people in Meadow. It was a baby badger and then momma badger appeared nearby so we acted like a complete family (I was a little badgie as well), screaming, jumping around, smiling with emotes and it was as cute as embarrassing, but who really cared. I was very excited! After some time lynx joined the party so we traveled together for a while! It was joy!

Be active and embrace the possibility to meet new people. This is a social playground, so most of the time your level of fun/boredom will depend on what you do and what company you keep. Play around with things, find collectibles together, organize some event like making a pack of badgers, crawling around under strict look of caring momma, do some role-play. You can even have a sleeping party on that big rock (thank you, Sass), all kind of animals invited!

What language do you speak? French, Spanish or perhaps Norwegian? Doesn't really matter, as you will use common emotes to express yourself and communicate with pretty much any person in the world. No more lost in translation.

Meadow already has awesome and friendly little community, and I can say all the people I met on my journey are very very nice. I've made some friends I enjoy chatting and playing with and I'm sure I'm not alone. And you can say the same about developers, Might&Delight. Very nice, responsive and kind people, ready to help and even play with you :) I remember such behavior from my time with Paws when Jens and Co responded to my every single question and made sure I enjoyed my time with the game.

Will you like Meadow depend on your personal preference and what you're looking for. Keep in mind, this is relaxing, slow paced, exploration-socializing type of game experience first and foremost. Yes, there are things to do, like collectibles and achievements, but you will get bored pretty soon, as all the activities depend on the cooperation and communication between players, rather than actual action. If you are a Shelter fan and heavily into survival, killing, hunting things, better keep playin' something else (another Shelter 2 playthrough perhaps?)


I will update my review later on, listing all the pros and cons. Thank you so very much for reading, I appreciate you all!

Also, since I was beta tester I got my copy of the game for free.

For the last few weeks, I have dedicated my life to Meadow. Sleep, food, job and even family became less priority and only water kept me hydrated so I could survive till the final release and tell you a story you may or may not enjoy. Are you ready to spend few minutes of your life, yes? Very well, brave badgers and devious lynxes, buckle your seat belts, because 'Shelter' is going bye bye! *** So what's this Meadow is all about you may wonder. Let's cut all the 'woo woo' stuff and dive deep into it. It's not a survival game. You don't have to fight for food and water to keep your kids alive. You don't really have your family around any longer. There are no predators, no real danger. Story? Not a bit of it. End goal? Ain't gonna happen. So, what do you do in Meadow, you may wonder? Well, you can walk. And walk a lot! [b]*Walking simulator?[/b] So, are you all alone in the wilderness, with nothing left to do? Not really. Meadow is an online project, thus you cannot start a single player/offline mode. Not yet anyway. At least some internet connection is required. Being socially oriented, exploration still plays a significant role here. Despite the lack of usual activities, you can lose yourself in the big, open and quite beautiful world where you can find four different seasons collapses, from foggy swamps to snowy mountains, filled with chillaxing (and sometimes terrifying) ambient music and sounds. You can spend some good amount of time just wandering around, filling your eyes and soul with that beautiful scenery. You will have these 'yay!' moments quite often. Only recently I have come to realize what's 'A forum in games clothing' actually means, the description line you read first on Steam page. Basically, the world of Meadow, that big floating island in the middle of nowhere - a social playground, where your main purpose is to collaborate with other people, be social and have fun. The world itself is so-called interactive 'forum' in gaming disguise, a forum without text/voice chat system, and it's actually very cool! The lack of any modern communication brings the benefits and the core immersion into the wildlife. After all, you're part of the natural habitat. You can use your body language, emoticons, self-awareness and care about other people around you. Primitive yet innovative at the same time. You won't hear shouting, swearing, chat spamming messages - you have a bunch of emoticons and your body to express yourself! [b]*No survival? No problem.[/b] So, except being super social and stuff, how do you play? You can pick from a different type of animals. Just a few from the beginning, but you can unlock more while you play. If you're a passionate collector as me, you will be pleased with the amount of things you can gather. Flowers, crystals, and of course, achievements are here to keep you productive :) While unlocking animals, you can also get new skins for them or new emoticons to use, including special 3d and sound ones. There are also black obelisks you can break with the help of other players, so being in the pack may be handy, and it's more fun of course. Oh, and by collecting all the shiny things around you will receive essence, main resource of the game that will determine your place on the leaderboards, in case you want some competition. [b]*Adopted badger[/b] As of my review is coming to an end, few worthy things to mention: I felt like a child, to be honest, when I met my first people in Meadow. It was a baby badger and then momma badger appeared nearby so we acted like a complete family (I was a little badgie as well), screaming, jumping around, smiling with emotes and it was as cute as embarrassing, but who really cared. I was very excited! After some time lynx joined the party so we traveled together for a while! It was joy! Be active and embrace the possibility to meet new people. This is a social playground, so most of the time your level of fun/boredom will depend on what you do and what company you keep. Play around with things, find collectibles together, organize some event like making a pack of badgers, crawling around under strict look of caring momma, do some role-play. You can even have a sleeping party on that big rock (thank you, Sass), all kind of animals invited! What language do you speak? French, Spanish or perhaps Norwegian? Doesn't really matter, as you will use common emotes to express yourself and communicate with pretty much any person in the world. No more lost in translation. Meadow already has awesome and friendly little community, and I can say all the people I met on my journey are very very nice. I've made some friends I enjoy chatting and playing with and I'm sure I'm not alone. And you can say the same about developers, Might&Delight. Very nice, responsive and kind people, ready to help and even play with you :) I remember such behavior from my time with Paws when Jens and Co responded to my every single question and made sure I enjoyed my time with the game. Will you like Meadow depend on your personal preference and what you're looking for. Keep in mind, this is relaxing, slow paced, exploration-socializing type of game experience first and foremost. Yes, there are things to do, like collectibles and achievements, but you will get bored pretty soon, as all the activities depend on the cooperation and communication between players, rather than actual action. If you are a Shelter fan and heavily into survival, killing, hunting things, better keep playin' something else (another Shelter 2 playthrough perhaps?) I will update my review later on, listing all the pros and cons. Thank you so very much for reading, I appreciate you all! Also, since I was beta tester I got my copy of the game for free.