Bethesda Launches Surprise New Mobile Game
Out of nowhere, the latest game in the Elder Scrolls franchise has been shadow-dropped. Now, of course, this isn’t the much anticipated Elder Scrolls VI or even anything that anyone could have predicted. Instead, The Elder Scrolls: Castles is a Fallout Shelter inspired strategy game where you build your fort, control your people and solve realm-shifting issues with a tap of your fingers.
Image by Bethesda
The game was dropped on September 28th for Android devices(no word on iOS just yet). With no announcement hype or leadup to the game being dropped, hardly anyone knew it existed until it was inevitably spread around the internet. Just like the surprise hit ‘Fallout Shelter’, Castles places you in control of several kings and queens who have to ensure their subjects remain happy while keeping food sources sufficient and expanding their domain. You have the option of a bunch of different rooms- all of which have different purposes within your castle walls. However, with the ability to easily add floors and layers to these rooms, there is more freedom offered here when compared to Fallout Shelter.
Image by Bethesda
Another surprisingly interesting feature is the ability for you to make decisions for your people. For example, this could include a servant finding a rock when sweeping the floor and asking to keep it. You can allow them to keep it to increase citizen happiness or take it for yourself to build new rooms and expand. Its a cool little addition that is a nice expansion to the gameplay system first created and fleshed out in Fallout Shelter. There is also the ability to send your people out on different missions across the world which, of course, take real life minutes or hours to complete. It wouldn’t be a true mobile game without some idle time.
Image by Bethesda
At the moment, the game is still technically in early access- which explains the lack of microtransactions. Considering how surprisingly great Fallout: Shelter turned out to be, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new fanbase form around this mobile game- one which is in time to start the hype train towards the Elder Scrolls VI. However, it’s important to note that the next real entry in the franchise is still years away- with 2028 being the current best bet for fans of the series. Still, with ‘Castles’, fans can get a little more Elder Scrolls while waiting for what may be the most anticipated game of all time.
