What Meadow is
Meadow is an online fable set in a large open landscape where you play as a wild animal. It sits apart from the rest of the Shelter series: instead of a set story, you spend time in the world and the more you use its features, the more you get out of it. The land is meant for wandering, with fields, water and air all open to explore at your own pace. There is no pressure to rush anywhere.
Playing together with friends
Meadow is built as a shared space. You can band together with other animals, form alliances, or head off on your own — the choice is yours. Communication happens through specially made emotes, symbols and sounds rather than text, so you and your group can signal each other while moving through the world. Your senses let you discover and track other animals, which makes it easy to find your friends in the wide landscape. Everyone can pick from up to 9 animals at the den, so a group can mix land, water and air creatures and cover the map in different ways.
Before you start
Visit the den first to choose your animal and browse the 60-plus skins available to modify it. Over 90 expressions and symbols are there to unlock as you play. If you already own other Shelter titles or products, those carry over: each Shelter game unlocks its matching animal, all games together unlock the bear cub from Paws, soundtracks grant unique sound abilities, and the interactive books unlock 3-dimensional emotes. The full Shelter catalogue unlocks the bird. The game runs on new original music from Retro Family, which sets the tone for the whole outing.