Fallout Shelter goes critical with new enemies and robot helper

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New stuff for one of our favorite iOS games.
New stuff for one of our favorite iOS games.
Photo: Bethesda

Bethesda’s runaway hit game Fallout Shelter is getting a well-needed dose of new stuff today, including several balance fixes, some new threats to your vault, and a handy robot assistant who can help you collect resources and scour the wasteland for you.

Out for Android devices now, as well, Fallout Shelter is a fantastically addictive game that started out as a promotional app for Bethesda’s upcoming triple-A console title, Fallout 4, but has become a mega-hit in the process, bringing the development studio $5.1 million in the first two weeks after launch.

Fallout Shelter puts you in charge of a vault in a post-nuclear world, tasking you with building and populating the perfectly balanced Vault from various power, water, food, and residential rooms. You can earn and buy lunch boxes to gain more resources and special equipment and Dwellers as in-app purchases.

Today’s update brings Mr. Handy, a super useful robot assistant that can be purchased for $0.99 in the in-app store (or $3.99 for a five pack). You can use him to “collect resources inside your Vault, send him into the wasteland to collect caps, or defend your Vault from creatures and disasters, including new Deathclaw invasions and Molerat infestations,” says Bethesda in a press release.

The update also provides several new bug fixes and improvements, hilariously detailed in the What’s New section of the App Store entry:

•Overseers should be on the lookout for new threats to their Vault Dwellers. Some Vaults have reported attacks by burrowing Mole Rats and enraged Deathclaws – likely attracted by the sound of new construction.
•Vault-Tec has partnered with General Atomics International in order to offer Overseers their very own robot butler – the Mister Handy! Now you lazier Overseers have a friendly, entertaining alternative to tapping and collecting resources. (Crumpets not included.)
• Our engineers clearly underestimated the, *ahem*, usefulness of living quarters to stimulate Vault growth, resulting in gross overpopulation and decreased Vault efficiency. Rest assured, the simulation has been adjusted, and Vaults of all shapes and sizes should now run more smoothly.
• Not content with stealing your Vault’s resources, some rather enterprising Raiders have now resorted to stealing Caps as well. (If you haven’t armed your Vault Dwellers yet, now’s the time!)
• As Vault-Tec does not approve of the use of unsanctioned levitation technology, all Vault Dwellers that were found floating through the air have been grounded. Permanently.
• Some of the more difficult daily objective requirements have been adjusted to more obtainable levels. You’re welcome.
• Continued general maintenance to the Vault simulation. Because an efficient machine is a happy machine!

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