WolfQuest

WolfQuest is an immersive 3D wildlife simulation game developed by the Minnesota Zoo and Eduweb game company. The game’s main purpose is to help players learn about wolves and wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

In the multi-player version, players join a wolf pack consisting of up to five friends who explore and hunt together. In the single-player version, players seek to perfect their hunting skills and build their own pack. Players must balance individual and pack needs to increase their collective ability to hunt, defend territory, avoid danger, and protect their young.

The single-player game consists of two episodes based on real topographic maps of Yellowstone National Park. In the first episode – Amethyst Mountain – players explore the wilderness, hunt elk, and encounter stranger wolves in a quest to find a mate. In the second episode – Slough Creek – players find a den, establish a territory, raise pups, and defend them from predators such as coyotes and grizzly bears.

It’s not always 75 degrees and sunny in Yellowstone. WolfQuest 2.5 adds snow, rain, thunder and lightning! Wolves start preparing for pups before the snows have melted, and WolfQuest represents this reality. You’ll start Slough Creek in March, with late winter snows still covering the ground. (The weather effects can slow down some computers, so you can always turn them off. Just go to Options: Game Settings and click on the Weather Effects toggle.)

WolfQuest is a fun, family-friendly game. In the multiplayer version, Phrase Chat limits all chat to canned words and phrases. You can construct sentences by selecting them one after another, then click Send. There are over 100 phrases available for safe, fun chatting for players of all ages. The single player version has a folksy acoustic guitar soundtrack composed by Minnesota music teacher Tim Buzza that makes for nice ambient background music. The WolfQuest soundtrack is available for free download and can be found here.

The WolfQuest experience also goes beyond the game. The WolfQuest website includes a page of classroom activities as well as an active online community of wolf enthusiasts. You can discuss the game with other players, chat with wolf biologists, share personal artwork and stories about wolves, and get updates on wolf news and sightings.

The WolfQuest game is currently available for Mac and Windows computers. An iPad version with new features is in development and will be released in early 2015. An Android/Kindle app will follow. WolfQuest 2.5: Survival of the Pack Deluxe is free to download at http://www.wolfquest.org.