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Where Facts and Fiction Meet: Happy Cows Are the Key to Success in New Innovative Farm Survival Game

Date: 2022.09.02

Contact: farm-animals@nordgen.org

Fact and fiction meet in the game application Nordic Cows, which is based on information from folk tales, historical sources and pedigrees. The game is produced by the cross-disciplinary project 3MC – Nordic Mountain Cattle, which is led by NordGen. The game application is currently available on Android and can now be downloaded for free on Google Play.

The idea for the game application was born when Mervi Honkatukia, Section Leader for NordGen Farm Animals, was looking for a creative way to share the research results of the 3MC project.

Mervi Honkatukia, NordGen Farm Animals Section Leader

“Unfortunately, research results are often published with a very small audience in mind. I wanted a concrete and fun way to use our results. With the help of the game application, we can engage more people in our topic,” said Honkatukia.

The educational institute AhlmanEdu is a partner in the 3MC project and is responsible for developing the game. Project manager Riitta Niiranen has together with the game developers planned how to make the game as engaging and fun as possible.

Riitta Niiranen, Project Manager, AhlmanEdu

“The result is a game application, where the player creates a future for the cows on the farm. At first, the player begins the game as a settler whose job is to convert forest into farmland. Enough feed must be provided for the cattle to ensure their survival over a harsh winter,” said Niiranen.

Happy cattle

The player must also avoid inbreeding by nurturing the animals’ genetic diversity and the software program EVA was used to create mating schemes in the game. It was first developed by NordGen to monitor inbreeding risks and share breeding recommendations.

Image: Laura Karppinen, AhlmanEdu

NordGen Farm Animals Senior Scientist and genetic researcher Maria Kjetså has been testing the game for the past few days. She says that she has a clear advantage due to her professional competence. The Nordic Cows game will not be won by breeding the largest and most productive cows. Instead, the cows must be kept happy, and the player does this by avoiding inbreeding.

Maria Kjetså, NordGen Farm Animals Senior Scientist

“Compared to other farming games, this is something completely different. The player does not need to be a scientist to achieve success,” Kjetså said with a smile and went on to say that the game can be played in many ways. The player can, for example, make their own choices regarding the size, appearance and shape of the farm.

Fact and fiction

The game events are based on the results of the cross-disciplinary project and are taken from, among other things, folktales and historical events. The animals’ names come from actual pedigrees and the game contains a total of 6491 different names from Sweden, Finland and Norway.

“Fact is combined with fiction in an interesting way and it is up to the player to create a future for the cows on the farm,” said Niiranen.

Attract the youth

The Nordic Cows game application is – very likely – the first game that focuses specifically on the history, cultural history and genetics of cattle. It can be used for educational purposes but is created so that everyone can play it.

Honkatukia believes that the game application can be particularly important in attracting the youth to take part in the history of landrace animals:

“If the younger generations are not interested in taking care of our native breeds, then who will care for them in the future?”

DOWNLOAD THE GAME

The project is funded with a grant from Interreg Nord and Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten 2019-2022 and has 5 Nordic partners. NordGen is the coordinator for the project as well as responsible for investigating pedigree and population kinship, dissemination of results and implementation of applications. NordGen will also be responsible for establishing the network of preservers.