Category: Mobile Gaming

How The Elder Scrolls: Castles Builds on Fallout Shelter to Create a Fascinatingly Authentic Elder Scrolls Spin-Off

Joe Skrebels, Xbox Wire Editor-in-Chief

Almost a decade ago, Fallout Shelter transformed the Wasteland we knew into a mobile management game, turning players into Overseers for their very own vault. It was a worldwide smash, taking what we loved about Fallout and transmuting it into something brand new – and now Bethesda Game Studios is taking that idea further, with a whole new franchise, in The Elder Scrolls: Castles.

Available now for iOS and Android, Castles builds on what Fallout Shelter began, allowing you to control rulers and their subjects as you build a thriving castle in the world of Tamriel. As Bethesda Game Studios’ Director of Mobile Games, Craig Lafferty puts it:

“Castles is the spiritual successor to Fallout Shelter. In Castles, you’ll take on the role of the right hand of the king or queen and manage your kingdom from the ground up. You’ll build the castle of your dreams, rule over your subjects, and make critical decisions about your kingdom’s future as you build your dynasty.

“Every day in our world is a year in the game. Time passes, subjects live and die, and rulers change as you build your dynasty. Eventually you will need to find new resources and items to keep your castle growing. Craft and equip outfits and weapons to your subjects and send them on epic quests to battle classic Elder Scrolls creatures and enjoy the rewards.”

Key to the team’s work has been taking what players loved about Fallout Shelter and (often quite literally) building on it, while capturing the vibe of a whole new world. “Our goal has been to build on everything players loved about Fallout Shelter, but with a ton more content, features and things to do in-game. We know that players loved building their vault in Shelter but wanted more ways to customize and make it their own. Because of that, in Castles, you can fully customize a built castle at any time, and these changes impact not only how your castle looks like ‘visually’, but it can also affect gameplay to some extent.”

That means your castle isn’t just a growing series of rooms, but dynamically reacts to what you do – build a new wing and zoom out and you’ll notice that your changes have resulted in new turrets and offshoots of the wider building. Add to that the ability to decorate your castle (with added benefits for each decoration you choose), and you have a place that feels distinctly yours. “We’ve aimed to provide players with as much castle-building flexibility as possible” adds Lafferty. “We look forward to seeing all the fun TES castles that fans will create!”

Customization goes deeper than you might imagine – every new subject you attract to your castle or birth as a baby has a distinct personality that can affect their roles. Some characters may be better suited to crafting tasks like working at a mill, or in the forge, while others may be perfect for heading out on combat-heavy quests to earn rare materials. Some of these traits can be very odd – a personal favorite was my Haunted subject, who’d periodically be chased by a ghost… who could also do their work for them.

And atop them all is your ruler – you can choose your king or queen, and their heir, which can affect things wildly. “The ruler’s traits affect everyone in the Castle,” says Lafferty, “whether it’s through their rulings or general influence over the subjects. For example, a ruler’s personality trait could make subjects more productive, but less happy at the same time. So, paying attention to your ruler’s traits/personalities can affect the overall happiness and productivity of your subjects roaming within Castles’ walls.”

Your ruler has more to do than simply sit on a throne, however. Castles introduces a rulings system – you’ll periodically be presented with choices that can affect everyone from individual subjects to the fate of the kingdom around you.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the rulings system, making sure it was fun and easy to make rulings, at the same time, ensuring that decisions have a noticeable impact on the subjects in your Castle,” explains Lafferty. “Sometimes you’ll see an immediate impact on a subject’s happiness, or a material benefit from a ruling. But others take more time to become more obvious. And rulings can lead to immediate assassination of your ruler or a subject if you’re not careful with your decisions. So, how you rule over your dynasty has a real impact on your subjects and how long your ruler stays in power.”

There’s a lot more to this than you might expect from a mobile game – and it’s been designed to evolve over time, always offering something new for you to rule over. With each in-game year taking a real-life day to pass, Castles is designed to offer something new for you constantly. “This is where the growing a dynasty and building a lasting legacy really comes into play,” says Lafferty. “The passage of time means the player needs to always have a proper succession plan in place for the heir to the throne.

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“We did a lot of work in the game design to ensure that subject relationships and how long a ruler reigns are elements that players can work towards improving. Players also need to continue to improve their gear type and level to progress through the quests. It’s an important mechanic within the game. We have a Dynasty Level system, with rewards that continues on endlessly. Our goal is to update the game regularly with new dynasty levels, quests, events, and challenges.”

On top of this, Castles is designed to be a treasure trove for Elder Scrolls fans, and the more you play, the more you’ll see how the game ties into the wider world. “We’ve worked particularly hard to make sure that Castles feels as authentic as possible to the Elder Scrolls Universe,” explains Lafferty. “And die-hard fans will be able to pick up on this when playing the game.”

From the game’s score, to the sheer number of classic Elder Scrolls races included as subjects (who form their own distinct factions within your castle) to even the smallest pieces of dialogue (“dialogue bubbles often have direct and indirect references to The Elder Scrolls universe, lore and locations – including some references only the hardcore fan will recognize”), there’s a lot to discover here.

You can even pick up unique subjects who’ve appeared in other Elder Scrolls games. “For example, [Skyrim‘s] Ulfric is a legendary subject, and so is the Adoring Fan,” teases Lafferty. “These legendary subjects have various unique traits that player can take advantage of to elevate their Castles experience… From assigning them to stations for more effective output, to making babies and carrying those traits further.”

Both the game itself and its connections to The Elder Scrolls will only get deeper over time. Castles may only just have arrived, but the team has a lot of plans in place for how it can grow. “We have tons of ideas for more content – we really had to force ourselves to stop adding new features and focus on releasing the game! All to say that we have so many great ideas that will be coming into the game. From simple elements, like new decorations, to whole new ways to play the game and interact with friends.”

Right now, the game’s seeing a Redguard-themed event (including the ability to transform the look of your castle entirely), but we’ll see Castles take on multiple Elder Scrolls locations over time. The team is also planning on expanding the game’s quests, and has some still-secret plans for how to celebrate real-life holidays in your virtual kingdom.

It may have begun as a successor to Fallout Shelter but, Castles is already evolving into something truly new – pick your rulers wisely, and see how far this goes.