We Love It's Guide to…
Roam a stylized wilderness as an animal, gather collectibles, and use emotes to explore with others and unlock new options.
Released 26 Oct 2016
Communicate Without Words
Open Obelisks Together
Collect for Unlocks
Meadow is an online open-world experience where you play as an animal in a large natural landscape. Wander on your own or encounter other players exploring as animals too; the game is not built around survival or combat.
Explore forests, fields, waterways, caves, and other parts of the map while finding plants, mushrooms, fragments, and landmarks. Players can gather around obelisks to open them together, while exploring alone is also possible.
Collectibles contribute to unlocking animals, skins, and emotes. Players communicate through animal sounds, symbols, and expressions rather than text or voice chat. The animal you choose affects how you move, and owning other Shelter products can unlock additional in-game content.
Developed by Might and Delight · Published by Might and Delight
Players who enjoy Meadow often describe it as a calming place to explore, with a distinctive world and a gentle social experience built around communicating through emotes and animal sounds. Collecting items and meeting other animals give some players reasons to keep wandering, though many reviews lament that there are now few people online to share the experience with.
Heaven is a place called Meadow! Vast, teeming with life, and a unique social experience. Frolic freely in the lush fields of Meadow – a unique multiplayer sandbox.
Unlike traditional titles from the Shelter game series, in Meadow – A Shelter Game, the more time spent embracing the gameplay features in the world, the more you receive. Owning any previous Shelter related title(s) or products will also unlock in-game content. The open landscape also provides ample room for exploration.
Band together with other animals, form alliances or choose to explore the world alone. Whatever you decide, the open world is one you will want to immerse yourself in.
Main features:
Play as any combination of animals on land, water or air in the largest expanse of land ever created for a Shelter game.
Communicate with other animals via specially created emotes, symbols and sounds.
Use your senses to discover, track and band together with other animals or choose to discover the world alone.
Visit the den to choose from up to 9 different animals. Modify your chosen animal with over 60 skins to create the animal you want to be.
Explore over 90 expressions and symbols to unlock.
New original music from Retro Family.
The more Shelter titles and products you own, the more bonuses you unlock.
Shelter products in Meadow
Owning any Shelter game will unlock the ability to play as that animal in Meadow (e.g. owning Shelter 2 unlocks the lynx, etc.).
Owning all games (no soundtracks or books included) will give you the possibility to play as the adorable bear cub from Paws – A Shelter Game.
Gain unique sound abilities if you own any combination of soundtracks from the Shelter-games.
Owning the interactive books from the Shelter-series will unlock unique 3-dimensional emotes.
For the collector and owner of the entire Shelter catalogue, you will unlock the ability to play as a bird.
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 137 |
| Age ratings |
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| Players | 1–50 |
| Play modes |
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| Other modes |
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| Multiplayer | Meadow is an online-only multiplayer sandbox focused on exploration and nonverbal social interaction. Players can explore alone or with others, cooperate to open obelisks and collect unlocks, and communicate only through emotes, symbols, sounds, and movement. Official features list MMO and Online Co-op; the provided information does not indicate PvP, local multiplayer, splitscreen, or LAN play. |
| Multiplayer & mods | No clear evidence of gameplay mods affecting multiplayer is provided. Reviews mention ongoing updates and use the word "mods" in the sense of moderators or maintainers, not user-made multiplayer modifications. |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 12 listed on Steam |
| Content notices |
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| Website | Official website |
