Shelter 2 vs The Endless Forest
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.
The Endless Forest
The Endless Forest isn't exactly a game but more of a playable screensaver. When your computer goes to sleep, this program will run and your deer character will then appear in a seemingly endless forest. There's no objective or quests for you to complete here. Instead, you are given total freedom to explore the forest and if you're lucky, you may discover something special along the way.However, this is about to change because the developer behind this screensaver program decided to turn it into a full-blown MMO, allowing players from all over the world interact and play together as deers. There's no chat box in the game and instead, you'll need to learn to communicate as deers do, that is through sound and body movement. There will also be more places for you to explore, besides the endless forest, as well as fun and relaxing activities to do.
You can still download the screensaver version of The Endless Forest is you want to get an idea of what the game would be about - It's completely free, after all, but if you want to play the actual game, you might need to wait a bit since the game's still under development.