Sheltered 2 is a different beast from the original title. The systems are more complex, there are new systems and mechanics to worry about, and the world is even more dangerous than before. This guide covers a few essential tips and tricks to get you started in the game.

Follow the tutorial

The tutorial in Sheltered 2 is quick and straightforward, but it explains a lot of the basic information to help you progress later in your journey. It’s handy to learn about meeting the basic needs of your survivors, creating an expedition, and building new items for your shelter. This covers all of that, but there’s still so much more to learn afterward.

Repair regularly

Everything in your shelter needs to be repaired at some point. If you don’t keep on top of the condition of your furniture or equipment, you won’t realize things are in a poor state until they break. So keep your survivors busy by having them repair everything in between bouts of crafting and gardening on the surface. Not only will this make your furniture last longer, but it’ll also help you avoid a catastrophe later on.

Clean every day

Your shelter might not look dirty, but it gets pretty grimy after a day or so. The dirt that builds up will increase the likelihood of your survivors contracting food poisoning and infections. Cleaning helps reduce that likelihood and makes for a much easier playthrough in the long term. Again, this is a great activity to keep your survivors occupied while you’ve got an expedition on the go.

Build a shower as soon as possible

The tutorial doesn’t teach you anything about building a shower, and your shelter isn’t equipped with one from the start. However, showering is incredibly important for your survivors since it helps keep them healthy and clean. Build one as soon as possible and set your survivors to take them automatically so that they’re never too unclean. This should keep infections down and increase the mood of your survivors too.

Always have an expedition running

You can send survivors out on expeditions easily using the radio. Once your survivors return from the last expedition, send someone else out straight away. Expeditions are a great way to keep a constant supply of new resources coming into your shelter. You’ll also meet new strangers to trade with and factions that might help you moving forward. While it’s important to work on your shelter, you need to work on the world around you as well.