Ag Gamification Resources

Academic articles

• Stimulating awareness of Precision Farming through gamification: The Farming Simulator case

• “But don't think it is a game”: Agricultural videogames and “good farming”

• Gamified research sheds new light on how to balance agriculture and conservation

• Games and fieldwork in agriculture: A systematic review of the 21st century in economics and social science

• The concept of Game-Based Learning

Academic engagement in gamification

• SEGAE: SErious Game to learn AgroEcology, developed by 6 European universities https://www.segae.org/

• Wageningen University Games Hub (serious gamification only)

• Wageningen’s Lighthouse Farms to showcase farms meeting 2050 sustainability goals, including holographic interactive landscapes

• How a game can show that working together is essential in the nitrogen crisis

• University of Nebraska Testing Ag Performance Solutions (a farming contest and a research framework)

Popular Press

• Could play be a game-changer for the world's forests?

• Educational Video Games, Farming, and Agriculture

• How a video game has revolutionized the way farmers are buying tractors

• A video game to inspire the agro-ecological transition 

• How can we train young farmers to future-proof the food system?

• Playing Farmer - can video games work as young farmer recruitment tools

History of Ag-Related Games

• 1971 – Oregon Trail with battle-to-survive elements

• 2002 – NitroGenius serious game launched by university in Netherlands to educate on nitrogen crisis in NL ag

• 2008 – Farming Simulator published by Giants Software (Switzerland), with new releases every 2-3 years, has sold over 100M copies/downloads 2008-2025

• 2009 – Farmville (USA), an ag-simulation social network game developed and published by Zynga

• 2016 - Stardew Valley, a farm life simulation role-playing video game (“cozy game”)

• 2017 – Farmers2050 game (nonprofit) sponsored by Nutrien, 4H Canada and FFA Canada.  Adoption limited due to lack of entertainment incentivizing players to return.

• 2017:  Real Farm (Netherlands) farming simulator game released, with development continuing only thru 2021

• 2018:  Pure Farming (Poland) farming simulator game released, with little further development

• 2018:  Cattle & Crops (Germany) farming simulator game released, with development thru 2021

• 2020: Segae (serious game for agro-ecology) developed by 6 EU universities. https://www.segae.org/  Adoption limited due to lack of entertainment and additional challenges.

• 2020-2022: several video games such as Farm Me developed to promote NFT, using battle-to-survive elements, roleplay and simulation.  Most of these never took off when the NFT hype cooled.

• 2021 – FarmBeats for Students, educational gamification and STEM resource developed by Microsoft and distributed thru FFA

• 2022 – McCain launches Regen Fries game in collaboration with one of the largest metaverse platforms, Roblox, and the first NFT-themed restaurant, Bored & Hungry.  Didn’t get much traction.

• 2022-2025 – FarmCraft (nonprofit) uses Minecraft platform and federal funding to teach agriculture

• 2023 – American Farming video game launches with mixed reviews 

• 2025 – McCain relaunches Regen Fries w/o NFT to teach 6 principles of soil health for potatoes

• 2025 – GrowGarden created by teenager in Roblox logged >20M players in June

• Other ag games:  https://agpocalypse.com/   https://agclassroom.org/ag-games/    http://www.myamericanfarm.org/