The Quill #7: Video Games #1

Okay, hear me out. Every time I mention this game to someone, I always get told, “Oh, I played that when I was a kid!” WolfQuest may or may not have been part of your childhood, but the game has evolved over the years and has become one of the best games for me to get mindlessly hyper-fixated on and play for hours on end. In 2019, WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition was released, and it was the perfect update that the old 2007 version desperately needed.

WolfQuest is all about the life of a wolf (shocking, right?). The game is an incredibly detailed simulation of their lives, taking place in Yellowstone National Park. You start your journey as a lone two-year-old dispersal wolf, freshly taking on your first adventure away from your pack. The main goal as this youngster is to hunt and find a mate, which eventually leads you to raising your own pack of pups. The developers of the game focus on being as realistic as possible, which adds so much depth and complexity to the experience. You need to find a suitable den, mark your territory, fend off predators and other packs, and try to eat enough food so that you can feed your pups. If you can keep them alive, you move them into the rendezvous site, and your journey ends — or at least, that’s how it was before the addition of the saga, or “the rest of the game” as the developers like to call it

With the saga update being released last year, we are now able to advance in the game while keeping the pups from your previous litters. Before this, there was no way to continue. If you wanted to raise new pups, you needed to start your journey completely over. In the saga, you can continue the journey and watch your pups grow into yearlings. After two years, they mature into adult wolves and can either stay with you and help with current pups or disperse and start their own packs! It’s a deeply immersive addition, and I adore having my yearlings from previous litters run out on hunts with me or stay at the den to care for current pups. It really pulls on the “family dynamic” heartstrings.

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition is a super fun and educational experience that I think any animal lover should try out if they have a PC. I can’t wait to expand my pack to be bigger than ever this summer!