// PC GAMER — GAMING
14 days in Dragon Shelter: A play by play of my first season in the Stardew-style farm sim where dragons help bake pies
I'm trying out the new farm sim with dragon-assisted cooking to see if it could be my next obsession.
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My favorite farm sims have memorable characters and a whole lot of property customization. I'm usually skeptical of the 3D ones because they often feel pretty clunky. But Dragon Shelter's colorful art style has piqued my curiosity. That, and the emphasis on cooking (and dragons, duh) are what I'm hoping can sell me on this one within its first season.
I arrive at my grandpa's overgrown old cottage alone. Where's he run off to? Apparently I don't know. There's only enough time on day one to read several tutorial popups telling me what to do next (oh dear, that ta-dah noise is going to get on my nerves fast), cut a few trees with my axe so I can use wood to fix my bed, and go to sleep.
Today I get to walk into town and oh, jeez, everyone here is Eeyore-level sad, heads facing navels and all. Even the music is depressing. The mayor tells me the town's in shambles and everyone's gone away and maybe I could help the couple folks who are left.
Well then, it's time to roll up my farm simming sleeves. The merchant wants berries which I can pick a ton of growing wild on my farm. The carpenter wants me to fix a cart by chopping wood. The gardener wants me to try growing wheat on my farm. Done, done, and done!
In the midst of doing all that though, I'm surprised by which things Dragon Shelter considers worthy of popup explainers versus what goes completely unexplained without even an indicator in the interface. Basic things like navigating my backpack are very fiddly and there's a "tips" button to find out which season seeds grow in before I buy them—important information that's available as a tooltip if you use keyboard and mouse but requires the unmentioned button press if you use a game pad, which Dragon Shelter recommends.
The tool animations and movement aren't clunky though, so that's one for the pros and one for the cons column on my normal gripes with 3D farm sims.
By about 8 pm I've acquired a shovel, watering can, pickaxe, wheat seeds, and a blueprint for an outdoor kitchen. I don't have the time or enough energy meter left to clear a spot on my property for it, so off to bed I go.
I spend all morning clear cutting a large section of my yard to plop my outdoor kitchen onto. It comes pre-equipped with an oven, cauldron, matches, and a couple other basics so I can make some berry jam for the mayor.