The Zombie games have proven to be a popular, un-wavering genre that has not lost any steam over the years. Shelter Free is one such game that takes on the undead in card game style. You won't find much arcade action where you run around the screen shooting up everything Zombie in sight. Instead, the game offers more of a strategic approach to exterminating the walking dead.
The Windows Phone game is one of this month's AdDuplex HERO Apps, which is a promotional campaign for Windows Phone and Windows developers on the AdDuplex network. The promotion partners AdDuplex with myAppFree, AppDeals, PluralSight and Windows Central to deliver a host of benefits to the top apps and games each month.
As we have in the past, our role with the HERO Apps program is to spotlight these Windows and Windows Phone titles. And today Shelter Free from Survivalist Games takes center stage today.
The storyline behind Shelter Free has you working your way through a city, battling zombies, to reach your girlfriend. The main menu for Shelter Free has options to view the gaming map, check out the cards in your deck and view any allies you have made during game play. You also have a hamburger menu that offers up options to access the game's settings and a few display options for your map pins that reflect your mission.
Settings cover your standard music/sound adjustments, an option to reset the game, set your scroll speeds and turn on/off a fast forward option. While you can tap the transition screens during game play to speed through them quicker, the fast forward option will do this automatically.
When you first launch the game, Shelter Free will walk you through an extensive tutorial on game play. While there are a lot of aspects to the card battles, the tutorial does a good job of walking you through things. Shelter Free has you working your way through a city map and defeat the zombies through a series of missions that are plotted out on the map. There are five campaign levels and a free roaming level.
Battles with Zombies is played out in card game style where your defenses and weapons are illustrated on playing cards. Your Zombie opponents are also presented in card fashion. You will use a series of weapon cards to take out the Zombies and the game results are solely dependent on the cards attack strengths and defenses. Moves limited per turn by action points, with each card requiring a specific number of action points to use. For example, at a certain level you are afforded 6 action points and the shotgun card requires 3 action points to use then you can only use it twice. The game's mechanics are not overly difficult but may take you a game or two before you get the hang of things.
Speaking of cards, you begin the game with a modest collection of cards that includes a series of weapons, defenses and action (reload your weapon, improve barricades, etc.) cards. The game includes over 100 cards to collect and as you progress through the missions, you will earn additional weapons, defenses and action cards. You will also have opportunities to form alliances with other Non-Player Characters in the game.
Game play is a little on the casual side and is more strategy oriented than action based. The illustrations for the playing cards and the transition screens are drawn-up in graphic novel fashion and look great. Shelter Free is an entertaining game to pass the time with and while easy to learn, it is difficult to master. If you are a Zombie Slayer at heart, Shelter Free should be on your Windows Phone.
Shelter Free is an ad-supported free game with the option to remove the ads through a $1.99 in-app purchase.
Download Shelter Free for Windows Phone (Free)
AdDuplex HERO Promotion
AdDuplex is a fantastic resource for the cross-promotion of Windows Phone and Windows apps. AdDuplex has launched a new program designed to help developers promote their apps even further with free access to various tools and resources from AdDuplex.
The HERO Apps promotion partners AdDuplex with Windows Central, myAppFree, AppDeals and PluralSight to provide additional benefits to the top apps every month that include:
- Vouchers to advertise on AdDuplex
- One month subscription to Pluralsight Plus
- A featured campaign with myAppFree
- A featured campaign with AppDeals
- A review here on Windows Central
If you are a Windows or Windows Phone developer, you can sign up for the HERO Apps program here at AdDuplex's website. To participate in the program, you will need to apply within thirty days after your app or game has launched on the AdDuplex network.
Windows Central is already partnered with the myAppFree campaign and is proud to be partnering up with AdDuplex with the HERO Apps program. It is another excellent opportunity to help promote both the Windows Phone and Windows platform.