New Fallout Shelter update adds pets, winter wonderland

A new update has been released for Fallout Shelter, Bethesda's surprise hit mobile game set in the Fallout universe.

The new update introduces a bunch of new features, but the most notable is the arrival of pets. As of today, both dogs and cats can be brought into your vault, adding happiness and productivity. Upon downloading the update, you'll be given a pet for free that can provide a random boost to the dweller you assign it to; pets are assigned to a dweller the same way you equip them with weapons and outfits. Rarer pets will provide better bonus effects.

The update also adds more pickup lines to impress dwellers of the opposite sex (and make babies); a new sell all option to easily clear out excess inventory; dweller management improvements; and new objectives to keep your vault running smoothly.

The update brings more improvements and optimizations because, as Bethesda says, "you can never have enough improvements and optimizations."

And finally, while there was no mention of this in the patch notes, it looks like the update brought a winter wonderland to the game. The wasteland is covered in snow and the Cafeteria is decorated with snowflakes, garland, and Christmas trees. There's also some holiday-themed gear you can find, such as the Santa Suit seen below.

The latest update should download automatically for those who already have Fallout Shelter. If not, you can get the free-to-play game from the App Store or Google Play.