Don't Starve vs Shelter 2
Don't Starve
Don't Starve is a pretty dreary and dark survival game set in a rich world filled with plenty of animals/game to hunt, monsters to kill, and resources to gather. With a gothic-like theme, the game's best feature is perhaps the way it hands the reins to its players and let these players decide what sort of survival game they'd want to play and how difficult will the game be. You can literally customize everything in the world you'll be playing in, ranging from the weather, how frequent lightning strikes, how long a season lasts, how much resources are spawned and many more.The game also has a very nice selection of characters that you can gradually unlock as you play the game. Each character will even have their own specialty that you can then make use of when the situation calls for it.
Don't Starve is a survival game that's as punishing as it is vicious. Expect to die a lot in the game and turn all those deaths into useful lessons that you can then build upon. If you fancy surviving with your friends in tow, then you might want to get the multiplayer version of the game, Don't Starve Together, instead.
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.