Shelter Footage Reveals the Hardships of Mama Badgers

In Might and Delight’s upcoming survival game, you might lose a few cubs no matter how hard you try.

Last month, Pid developer Might and Delight unveiled Shelter, a survival game about a mama badger protecting her cubs from a hostile environment. It’s an original concept, but the announcement was somewhat light on specifics, save for a teaser trailer and some vague screenshots. Thankfully, Might and Delight has released new footage introducing players to Shelter‘s survival mechanics and specific threats that badgers might encounter. While the video’s content is subject to change, two things are abundantly clear: Those baby badgers are really cute, and you’re probably going to lose a few along the way.

The video opens as the mama badger and her cubs leave one comfortable burrow in search of a more secure shelter. As the pack’s sole caregiver, players are responsible for finding food sources while protecting their offspring from other, immediate threats, such as wolves or utterly massive hawks. Badgers certainly aren’t the biggest or fastest creatures of Shelter, so stealth is a crucial gameplay mechanic. Players will need to make use of cover while stalking prey, or while hiding from predators sizing up your delicious cubs. “Food isn’t everything,” lead game designer Andreas Wangler explains. “We also wanted to show you some of the dangers you’ll encounter where the mother must work to shelter her cubs from the perils of the wild.”

Even in its early stages, Shelter is working hard to get players emotionally invested in the safety of its little badgers. Cubs don’t seem to have their own personalities, but dutifully follow your commands, bark happily at the sight of food, and scream in pain when attacked by predators. After watching the video’s final moments, in which a badger cries helplessly while trapped in a forest fire, I’m starting to suspect players will get a little misty-eyed before Shelter‘s inevitable conclusion. Especially if the ending involves one brave little cub reaching safety against impossible odds.

Shelter will launch for PC and Mac platforms later this year.