Fallout Shelter Fallout Shelter is a free - to - play installment in the " Fallout " series for iOS , Android , Xbox One and Microsoft Windows which was announced at Bethesda ' s E3 2015 press conference on June 14 , 2015 . The game was released on the iOS App Store the same day , after the conference ended . The game allows the player to create their own vault and thereby become an overseer of its inhabitants . At QuakeCon 2015 , it was announced the Android version would be released on August 13 , 2015 . It features new game updates , including the Mister Handy robot as an all new premium reward . Mister Handy can collect resources , be sent into the wasteland to collect loot , and serve as a defender of the vault against creatures and disasters , including all new deathclaw and mole rat infestations . On July 14 , 2016 , the game was made available for PC , and requires the Bethesda . net launcher to play . Later on February 7 , 2017 , the game was made available for Xbox One , as well as cross - platfrom compatibility between Windows 10 and Xbox One . The biggest new feature for the game was the introduction of achievements , which main purpose is to give the player a number of achievements the player can obtain through completing the requirements for the achievement . On March 29 , 2017 , the game was released on Steam with the same achievements as the ones that can be found on the Xbox version . On September 14 , 2017 , Fallout Shelter surpassed 100 million users across phones , tablets , PC and Xbox One . Project history . According to lead developer Todd Howard , several early designs had been pitched and rejected . On November 5 , 2009 John Carmack of Id Software said that , while it was nothing official yet , he had an internal proof of concept made for a " Fallout " iPhone game . Both Carmack and Bethesda ' s Todd Howard are fans of the platform and any iPhone game based on Bethesda ' s IP will likely be made as a joint project between id and Bethesda [ source needed ] . Carmack said that he will likely be personally involved in making the game , although currently he is too overloaded with work on other games . " At the very least I ' m going to be providing code , " he said . The game was a surprise release on June 14 , 2015 , during Bethesda ' s first E3 conference . Gameplay . Fallout Shelter is a simulation game in which the player runs a Vault - Tec vault as the overseer . As the overseer , one controls all of the vault ' s functions including : power , food , water and the number of vault dwellers . To advance through the simulation one needs to increase the size of the vault by adding and upgrading new rooms ; each with their own function and then adding dwellers to run each room . Vault rooms . Fallout Shelter contains 23 buildable rooms that are unlocked by increasing the number of vault dwellers . All rooms can have a limited number of dwellers assigned to it and each production room requires at least one dweller to run it . Each room built begins at tier one and can be upgraded with caps to as far as tier three . Each room requires a specific one of the S . P . E . C . I . A . L skills to run at its max efficiency . With production rooms such as for a power generator it will produce and hold more power when upgraded but will take longer to produce unless more efficient dwellers are assigned there . Rooms can also be merged by placing an identical room next to it . Merged rooms are larger and take longer to produce supplies and cost more to upgrade but are also more efficient . Rooms must also be of the same tier level to merge and will merge automatically when built next to each other . Dwellers . Vault dwellers are an essential part of the game and are required for : operating production rooms , reproducing , protecting the vault from raider and deathclaw attacks and scavenging the wasteland . To increase the vault dweller population , one can wait for them to show up at random , mate two dwellers , get them from lunchboxes , or produce a radio studio . Each dweller will spawn with only a vault jumpsuit and their fists for a weapon . Basic dwellers start at Level 1 and can be upgraded up to Level 50 through working , preventing hazards and scavenging . Whenever a dweller levels up a number of caps are gained equal to their new level . All dwellers have their own individual S . P . E . C . I . A . L . attributes and are most commonly set between 1 and 3 . SPECIAL attributes can also be boosted with SPECIAL rooms such as classroom s or armories . Vault dwellers can also be acquired with additional levels , attributes , outfits and weapons if acquired through lunchboxes or exploring the wasteland . Incest is not allowed as putting two dwellers with the same surname in the living quarters or any of its upgrades will trigger conversation between the characters citing " Nothing like hanging out at home with my family . " Automated surnames of children are of their parent of opposite gender , e . g . female offspring will follow last name of father , male offspring will follow last name of mother . This may not always happen though . First and last names , however , can be reassigned by players , but it will not let dwellers have incest due to background code . Wasteland . One can send up to 25 dwellers to explore the wasteland to obtain extra armor , weapons and caps . Dwellers will come across locations from " Fallout 4 " seen in the explorer ' s update logs . One can direct a dweller through the building to fight , explore and collect items to bring back to the vault . After returning , one can collect all the things discovered by the dweller in the wasteland . One can equip the dweller with stimpaks and radaway from one ' s stock at the start of exploration . Also , a dweller will automatically return to the vault if they have collected 100 items . Lunchboxes . Lunchboxes are awarded upon completion of certain game objectives and are also available for purchase via micropayments . Each lunchbox allows the player to attain 5 cards , each card then allows players to attain either dwellers , weapons , outfits or resources . Though the in - game description states that " Each lunchbox is guaranteed to either have a dweller or a rare item and a guaranteed junk , " + 500 caps is also categorized as a rare item . Players could also obtain Common , Rare and / or Legendary dwellers through lunchboxes . Item crafting . Junks and recipes can be collected from the wasteland or from lunchboxes , which can be used for crafting weapons via a weapon workshop and outfit workshop . By paying caps and junk , one can assemble items in the workshop . The duration of crafting varies . Some weapons and outfits can only be obtained via crafting . Each item will require different pieces of junk of varying rarity . Recipes may also need to be found to make certain items and better equipment requires rarer junk . Mysterious Stranger . Occasionally the " Fallout 4 " version of the Mysterious Stranger jingle will play to signify that the Mysterious Stranger has appeared somewhere in the vault , clicking on him within the short amount of time he is visible for results in a random amount of caps being given , sometimes a very large amount ( possibly up to 4987 ) . The vanishing jingle plays when he leaves . If the sound is turned off but vibrations are left on , a double vibration will indicate his arrival and a single vibration will indicate his departure . Quotes . " I think that the world of " Fallout " is unique enough that it could work on any platform . I think some of the things we do like V . A . T . S . , I think that could translate to any platform , particularly the iPhone . We ' ve looked into those things , we just haven ' t found the thing that supports the brand well . I wouldn ' t be surprised if it does happen one day . The iPhone versions that we ' ve designed and said ' Ehh , we don ' t think we ' re going to do that right now , ' there are . . . there are a lot of them . "