Aground vs Shelter 2
Aground
Aground is a 2D, side-scrolling, survival-themed adventure game where you'll be digging out the bowels of the earth for precious ores to turn into tools, weapons, and armor or to sell to gain coins. Similar to games like Kingdom: Classic or its sequel, Kingdom: New Lands, the game will have you venture out to explore new islands to discover more about the story behind the land, to meet new characters and to obtain better resources to craft superior items.The storyline in this game is pretty intriguing as well. It features a Bermuda Triangle-like area where people often get shipwrecked and are washed up to one of the shores of the small archipelago. The islands are filled with weird creatures and is rich with minerals and resources. As survivors starting from scratch, they do not have access to the technologies they used to enjoy that is until apparently a mysterious tribe, called the Mirrows, helped to set stuff up.
Aground offers players the sort of freedom that Minecraft is able to provide and yet, is not fully a sandbox game nor does it have a procedurally generated map. Of course, this game has a great storyline, along with quests to help drive those plot points forward, and that alone makes it a really fun game to play.
Shelter 2
Shelter 2 is a simulation/RPG where you play as a lynx, an animal that lives out on the cold tundra and is somewhere in the middle of the food chain. In this game, you start as a pregnant lynx who's looking for a safe space to give birth and rear your cubs. You'll get to experience parenthood from the perspective of an animal and the experience can be pretty immersive thanks to the many maternal and hunting features available, including calling the cubs to move closer to you and smelling the air for any prey nearby. The game is a lot richer in terms of its diversity than the original game as well, and you'll get access to a lot more movements and jumps, giving you the range of movements you'd come to expect for a graceful animal like the lynx.Although the graphics here may be an acquired taste, Shelter 2 is still a masterpiece of a game and is definitely the sort of game you'll want to play if you love playing animal games where you're placed in the paws of said animal.