Mr. Prepper - An Excellent Simulation

Mr. Prepper is a single player simulation game made by Rejected Games on Steam that focuses on crafting and survival in a town where not everything is peachy. Your character knows something isn’t right and their best course of action is to prepare for the worst and get out of town as soon as possible.

When playing this game there was a lot of nostalgia that pulled me in the direction of Fallout Shelter, in the aspect of building an underground bunker to avoid an upcoming nuclear attack. But as I went further into the mechanics and story I realized that this game has the potential to snowball into something that Fallout Shelter couldn’t become in my eyes. For me personally, I craved the concept of hiding in a bunker slowly building up my resources in order to achieve a goal, escaping where my character lived, or simply just stocking up on so many resources that I couldn’t die to anything but old age.

Upon seeing playthroughs of this game I decided to download it for myself and experience it firsthand. I wasn’t disappointed. The opening sequence is hilarious and the situation the main character finds themselves in is all too familiar in this current climate. Following the main bulk of cutscenes and dialogue to catch you up to speed, there’s a short tutorial that sends you down a process of building your first room in your dream bunker.

You get to see exactly how the crafting works, however the tutorial doesn’t give away everything. You, the player, are left to explore the area inside and outside of the home, quickly finding out that you can gather different items on your shelves and in the wilderness that provide you with what you need to craft your next upgrade. This gives you an alternative learning method to discovering hidden resources which I really enjoy.

Aside from the looming nuclear danger, the player also has to worry about an agent that makes visits to the home. The agent’s whole job is to make sure that you’re not doing anything suspicious. So...maybe don’t take him on that all inclusive tour in your underground bunker. You’re given an assessment after his visit, which is a bit nerve wracking as your mind runs through all of the things in your main home, hoping you properly hid everything and that your score will be exemplary. I of course got a perfect score right from the get go. Why are you looking at me like that? Okay okay fine, I forgot to hide the planning wall and workbench. Look, the first time the agent shows up you have no choice but to panic! I would have gotten a better score had he shown up when he was supposed to- you know what, forget about my score. On the calendar you have in your home you’ll be able to see a pair of glasses on one of those dates, meaning the Agent is more than likely going to pay you a visit and scrutinize your home for any activity that goes against the town and nation you live in.

The demo version doesn’t go much further past that, leaving a feeling of excitement within me as I imagine what all else the developers are planning on adding. In regards to criticisms or suggestions I only really have one from what I saw and played so far. I feel that the additions of a visual task screen would benefit the player in the sense of giving them an added sense of control and planning in their actions. Being able to see all of the actions I’ve queued up lets me take a more calculated approach to this sort of game. Knowing where my character is going next would also allow me to optimize pathing through the bunker while doing daily chores such as tending to your plants and what else may come in the future. But again these are all suggestions, and I am going to be playing regardless of an action queue system.

Overall I’m very excited to play this game when it comes out fully or any future demos should they be released. I highly recommend you all check this game out, the demo version gave me about 70 minutes of playtime on my stream, and made for a fun time with my viewers while we tried to make the most of the tutorial bunker. I wish for nothing but the best for the Mr. Prepper team, the game is extremely fun so far and I can only see it going up from here.