This could prove the ultimate fighter against the soon-to-start badger cull in England, intended to curb tuberculosis in cattle. Shelter, a beautiful animation developed by a Swedish games studio, sees the player take the role of a mother badger which must forage for food and protect her cubs from foxes and other dangers of the wild.
Stockholm-based Anders Westin, CEO of Might and Delight, the game’s makers, was unaware of the controversial cull but says: “We’re on the side of the badger.” He says the reason for the unusual choice of hero was that the badger is not overburdened with cultural references.
“A lion is well used by Disney, and with a fox you might think of Robin Hood but you don’t have too many badgers in culture.”