''Crazy Chicken'' (originally released in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as ''Moorhuhn''), sometimes known as ''Chicken Hunter'' or ''Moorhen'', is a shooting gallery video game franchise. While originally intended to merely serve as a small-scale advertising game, the first game's unintended online release and subsequent distribution as

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...

were followed by an unprecedented surge in popularity, making it Germany's most popular

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

in the early 2000s and enabling ''Crazy Chicken'' to develop into a

multi-platform Within computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform softw ...

franchise with a variety of spin-offs and merchandise.

History

The original ''Crazy Chicken'' game (now distributed as ''The Original Crazy Chicken Hunt'') was commissioned by

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

-based

Art Department Art is a diverse range of culture, cultural activity centered around works of art, ''works'' utilizing Creativity, creative or imagination, imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an express ...

advertising agency - known for their

advergame An advergame (portmanteau of "advertisement" and "video game") is a form of advertising in video games, in which the video game is developed by or in close collaboration with a corporate entity for purposes of advertising a brand-name product. Whil ...

s - and developed by

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Witan Studios The witan () was the king's council in the Anglo-Saxon government of England from before the 7th century until the 11th century. It comprised important noblemen, including ealdormen, thegns, and bishops. Meetings of the witan were sometimes ca ...

as an advertisement for

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

whisky in 1998. The concept of using a video game to promote the

brand was originally thought up by another advertising agency,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-based Vorwerk & Buchholz, in 1997. A prototype of the game that would later be turned into ''The Original Crazy Chicken Hunt'' was shown off by

at the ''Bizarre 98'' demo party in summer of 1998 as ''KippenSchieten''. It was originally made available in October 1998 to play on laptops in select bars, with promoters dressed up as fowlers. While never intended for sale or further distribution, it seems to have been illicitly copied, and became widely available for download on private websites. The publisher's initial irritation at this subsided after the game received favorable mentions in popular media and demand for it grew. From the beginning of 1999 onwards, the game was officially made available for download by

. It became wildly popular in

German-speaking Europe This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the Germanosphere () in Europe, German-speaking minority languag ...

, to the point of being described by various media outlets as a threat to the bottom line of businesses, on account of the number of hours wasted by employees playing the game due its ease of accessibility and shareability (the original game only had a file size of approximately 2 MB, meaning it could be sent via

email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

). The development studio and IP owner of the franchise went public in late 1999 at the height of the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

and attained a

market value Market value or OMV (open market valuation) is the price at which an asset would trade in a competitive auction setting. Market value is often used interchangeably with ''open market value'', ''fair value'' or '' fair market value'', although t ...

of up to one billion

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. In 2002, their stock value rapidly collapsed after it became known that the company's leaders were under investigation for falsifying balance sheets. Chairman of the

Vorstand In German corporate governance, a ''Vorstand'' is the executive board of a corporation (public limited company). It is hierarchically subordinate to the supervisory board (''Aufsichtsrat''), as German company law imposes a two-tier board of d ...

Markus Scheer and CFO Björn Denhard, who confessed to the falsifications, were fired. In 2009, they were sentenced by a German court to 46 and 36 months' imprisonment, respectively, for

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information. Scheer would subsequently leave the video game industry and turn to politics instead, allegedly becoming a puppet master of the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

party in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, until founding

Bündnis Deutschland ''Bündnis Deutschland'' (BD, ) is a minor German political party founded in November 2022. It is led by Steffen Grosse, the former leader of the Free Voters of Saxony and a former Christian Democratic Union member. It describes itself as politic ...

in 2022. Phenomedia AG underwent

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

proceedings. Its assets, including the ''Crazy Chicken'' series, were bought by a successor company, Phenomedia publishing GmbH, which continued to develop and publish games until its dissolution in 2017, from whereon out the company's assets - including the rights to the ''Crazy Chicken'' franchise - became property of its long-time publishing partner, ak tronic Software & Services GmbH.

Gameplay

Within the mainline series, the concept of which is derived from the

Glorious Twelfth The Glorious Twelfth is the twelfth day of August, signifying the start of the Driven grouse shooting, shooting season for red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') in United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the Rock ptarmigan, p ...

, the main objective of the game usually is to attain a

high score In video games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score ...

by shooting the titular ''Crazy Chickens'' within the framework of the single-screen shooting gallery genre. Players usually have 90 seconds and infinite ammunition to do so. Starting with ''Crazy Chicken 2'', each game also contained a variety of puzzles and hidden secrets activated by shooting certain objects on screen in a particular order and/or with certain timing (netting a far higher score than the regular ''Crazy Chickens''), which encouraged more competition and discussion concerning the games. Later entries would also go on to add elements such as a wider variety of enemies, bonus games after a successful round, multiple levels, etc... Prominent spin-off series include the ''

Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games based on the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up item (game terminology), items. It features Characters in ...

''-inspired ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' series, the

point-and-click Point and click are one of the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse or other pointing device (''click''). An example of point and click is in hypermedi ...

''Crazy Chicken Adventure'' series, the 2D-platforming ''Crazy Chicken Jump'n Run'' series, the ''Crazy Chicken Sports'' series, as well as several genre outliers making use of the franchise's settings and characters.

Characters

The franchise features a variety of fictional returning characters: * Crazy Chicken (Moorhuhn in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

): The titular species of the series. Originally designed by Ingo Mesche (with the redesign used from ''Crazy Chicken X'' onwards created by 3D graphic artist Ernst Weber) for the cancelled

Commodore Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-bit or 16/32-bit processo ...

game

Duckling Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ta ...

in 1992, these chickens would go on to be considered "Germany's most popular video game character". Throughout their appearances, they have displayed signs of intelligence, such as making use of objects, interacting with each other like an organized society, as well as wearing costumes and showing different character traits between individuals. * Moorhuhn Indy: A ''Crazy Chicken'' parody of

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

. Serving as the main character of the ''Crazy Chicken Adventure'' and ''Crazy Chicken Jump'n Run'' subseries, as well as making minor appearances in various other games in the franchise, ''Moorhuhn Indy'' has received a noticeable number of characterisation. This includes traits such as a mix of adventurousness and childish naiveté, paired with a general clumsiness expressed both in his dialogue and actions. Furthermore, a comprehensive

backstory A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...

involving his residence (a castle in the

Scottish highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

) and extended family, such as his ghost-hunting grandfather, has been established. * Moorfrog (Moorfrosch in

): Serving as the introduction to the secrets and puzzle mechanics which became a mainstay of the series from ''Crazy Chicken 2'' onwards, this

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

was supposed to attract players' attention by either sitting in plain sight and croaking, but dodging bullets unless certain other conditions are met, or serving as the gateway to other puzzles. He went on to make several appearances in the ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' series, appear as a

mount Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

in ''Crazy Chicken Tales'', as well as receiving his own video game. In a press release, he was officially characterised as "the small green nuisance from ''Crazy Chicken 2'' and the online game for the second championship". * Hank: A

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

introduced in ''Crazy Chicken Winter Edition''. While his original purpose was to serve as a tutorial character to the player, later games had him become more involved in regular gameplay, such as in ''Crazy Chicken Wanted'', where ''Hank'' has to be lured out in order to shoot the key to the next stage out from his hands. Aside from his appearances in the ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' series, he would later become playable in his own game, where his mission was to steal treasure from the ''Uru'', a fictional race of earth spirits. * Kroet (Kröt in German): This

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

made his first appearance in ''Crazy Chicken 3'' under the name of "Marzipan", guarding the same baby turtles which would eventually become the main focus of his own game, where alien

octopuses An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed Mollusca, mollusc of the order (biology), order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...

have taken over several bays, abducting and freezing ''Kroet's'' fellow sea creatures in the process. Whereas previous appearances, such as the ones in the ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' series, depicted him without many distinguishing features, his own spin-off equipped him with

goggles Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...

, a

jet pack A jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack or flight pack is a device worn as a backpack which uses jets to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and the first working experimental d ...

and a

laser gun A laser weapon is a type of directed-energy weapon that uses lasers to inflict damage. Whether they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons remains to be seen. One of the major issues with laser weapons is atmospheric ...

. * Lesshuhn: A close relative of the ''Crazy Chicken'' introduced in ''Crazy Chicken 3.'' They are described as a dim-witted species, whose stupidity has brought them to the brink of extinction, providing an in-universe explanation as to why shooting them is usually penalised by deducting points from the player's score. Their name is a pun based on the fact that the " Moor" in the original

name of the ''Crazy Chicken'' (''Moorhuhn'') sounds similar to the English word "more", to which "less" would be the natural opposite. In addition, their name is similar to "Blässhuhn", the

name of the

common coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

List of video games

Mainline series

Spin-Offs

Kart series

Adventure series

Jump'n Run series

Sports series

Online gambling

Non-Chicken Spin-Offs

Others

Collections and bundles

A variety of collections and bundles containing the franchise's games have been released over the years. The following tables signify a full game's inclusion with a green checkmark, the inclusion of a demo version of a game with a yellow checkmark and a game not being included with a red cross.

Other media

The game's success spawned a great deal of

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

, a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series, an animated TV series, several motion picture scripts (although no movie was ever made) and a BMG-produced

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

(''Gimme more Huhn'' by comedian

Wigald Boning Wigald Boning (born 20 January 1967) is a German comedian, television presenter, actor, and author. Boning has appeared in different TV and film productions in Germany. He became famous as an actor in the television comedy programme '' RTL Sam ...

Game soundtrack

Nils Fritze was the composer of all ''Crazy Chicken'' games since ''Crazy Chicken Winter Edition'' (2001) until mid-2006. Georg Heckermann and Gunther Glöckner were responsible for the soundtrack of ''Crazy Chicken Jump'n Run - Heart Of Tibet'', Henrik Jacoby for ''Crazy Chicken - The Winged Pharaoh'' and Kai Walter ( Snap Dragon Games) for the sequel ''Crazy Chicken Atlantis''. ''Crazy Chicken Kart 3'', ''Thunder'' as well as ''Director's Cut'' were scored by Haiko Ruttmann. The soundtrack for the game ''Crazy Chicken: Tiger & Chicken'' was composed by Jan Klose/Tilman Sillescu (

Dynamedion Dynamedion GbR is a German music composition and production company based in Mainz. Founded in 2000 by composers Pierre Langer and Tilman Sillescu, Dynamedion specialises in composing music for video games. The group has won several industry aw ...

), Helge Borgarts contributed some tracks. The soundtrack was played by the Staatskapelle Halle.

Short films

In 2001, a total of 26 one-minute animated shorts were produced, which were shown in commercial breaks of German TV stations. In these shorts, the ''Crazy Chicken'' character was voiced by Santiago Ziesmer, though it only made chicken noises.

Movie

In September 2011, the production of a ''Moorhuhn'' feature film was announced by Phenomedia. The film was to be produced by Douglas Welbat and Nova Entertainment Cinema. A year later, the script was funded with a grant of 45,000 euros from the public Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), at the time the highest funding of the Screenplay Commission. Nothing more came of the project.

Reception

Commercial performance

Despite mass interest in the franchise originally being caused by the distribution of its early titles as

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

via the internet, it managed to retain some relevancy even after the so-called "Moorhuhn-Boom" period in the early 2000s. For example, as of 2013, paid video games using the "

Moorhuhn ''Crazy Chicken'' (originally released in Germany as ''Moorhuhn''), sometimes known as ''Chicken Hunter'' or ''Moorhen'', is a Shooting gallery game, shooting gallery video game franchise. While originally intended to merely serve as a small-sca ...

" branding have accumulated over 15 million sold copies, while free demo versions have been downloaded approximately 80 million times from official sources alone. At the same time, the series has struggled with proper monetisation of its games since its inception. For example, while the official PC release of ''Crazy Chicken 2'' (retailing at a

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

of 20

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

) has sold over 300,000 copies, on launch day, a free version was reportedly downloaded 180,000 times per hour; a rate high enough to completely crash some of Germany's main IXPs in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

. In terms of the original game's purpose as marketing for

whisky, a 2003 study by the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...

found that test subjects who had already played the game perceived the

brand as more modern and trendy. Despite coming to the conclusion that the game had no significant impact on general awareness of the brand or customer's purchasing intent, the study noted that the establishment of the ''Crazy Chicken'' as a new

brand image A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

was far quicker than similar efforts undertaken via traditional

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

Animal welfare concerns

In early 2000, a Deutscher Tierschutzbund (lit.: German Animal Protection Union) representative claimed that the premise of the ''Original Crazy Chicken Hunt'' was emblematic of a general lack of respect towards animals, supposedly encouraging the killing of birds by desensitising players. Anticipating this,

had the developers of the game tone its violence down multiple times. The end screen also shows a sad ''Crazy Chicken'' in a

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

with

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the human leg, legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. Hi ...

es to both imply that the chickens are not killed as well as showing the consequences of violence.

Reviews

Shortly after its inception, critics have generally regarded the franchise's mainline games as positive experiences, with later entries slowly faring progressively worse. Several media outlets have complimented ''Crazy Chicken'''s accessibility, both in gameplay and hardware requirements, while retaining its graphical appeal. However, the quantity of games, especially during the 2000s, has led to some review outlets expressing concerns regarding the franchise's "monotony", citing even minor changes such as the introduction of motion controls as making certain entries "a lot more fun than

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

predecessors". While the games have been described as "simple but charming", some retail releases have also drawn criticism for their perceived lack of content considering their price. The ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' spin-offs mostly received negative scores, with critics often unfavourably comparing them to the similar ''

'' games in terms of scope, graphics and controls. ''Crazy Chicken: Tiger & Chicken'' saw more critical success than most other spin-offs, receiving praise for its story, graphics and gameplay.

Awards

Several entries in the series have won or been nominated for video game-related awards: * KippenSchieten: 3rd place for "PC Demo" at Bizarre (1998). * The Original Crazy Chicken Hunt (PC): Won "Platinum Award for at least 200.000 copies sold" by VUD (2000). * The Original Crazy Chicken Hunt (GBC): Won "Gold Award for at least 100.000 copies sold" by VUD (2001). * Crazy Chicken 2 (PC): Won "Platinum Award for at least 200.000 copies sold" by VUD (2001). * Crazy Chicken Kart (PC): Won "Gold Award for at least 100.000 copies sold" by VUD (2004). * Crazy Chicken X (PC): Won "Gold Award for at least 100.000 copies sold" by VUD (2004). * Crazy Chicken Jump'n Run - Heart of Tibet: 3rd place for "Best German Casual Game" at

Deutscher Entwicklerpreis The Deutscher Entwicklerpreis () is a prize for video game development studios from German speaking countries, organized by Aruba Events GmbH. Description The Deutscher Entwicklerpreis was first awarded on 12 November 2004 in Essen. Between 20 ...

(2006). * Moorhuhn The Good, The Egg and The Ugly Mobile: 2nd place for "Best Mobile RPG/Adventure Game" at

(2006). * Crazy Chicken: Tiger & Chicken: Won "Best Mobile Core Game" at

(2013).

Legacy

Today, the ''Crazy Chicken'' series is seen as an early example of

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way th ...

, as well as one of the first video game Internet phenomena in general. The franchise's popularity even caused Germany's authoritative

Duden The Duden () is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH, which was merged into Cornelsen Verlag in 2022. The Duden is updated regularly with ...

dictionary to include the word "Moorhuhnjagd". By the early 2000s, ''Crazy Chicken'' was found to be the most popular video game franchise with children in

; ahead of ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'', ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...

'' and ''

The Settlers ''The Settlers'' () is a City-building game, city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich in 1993. The The Settlers (1993 video game), original game was released on the Amiga, with subsequent games released p ...

''.

and its successor company Phenomedia were also notable for being one of the earliest publishers to embrace the internet as a means of encouraging fan interaction and

fan labor Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fan (person), fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and revie ...

. Examples of this include the purchase and continuation of the ''Moorhuhn World'' forums in 2001 by Phenomedia, as well using the franchise's official website for the collection and publication of

s and

fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by Fan (person), fans of a work of fiction or celebrity depicting events, Character (arts), character, or other aspect of the work. As fan labor, fan art refers to artworks that are not created, commissione ...

(for which there would also be contests with giveaways). The company would also ask players to submit ideas for new games in the franchise. Furthermore, Phenomedia encouraged

modding Modding (from "modifying") is the act of modifying hardware, software, or anything else to perform a function not originally intended by the designer, or to achieve bespoke specification or appearance. The term is often used in reference to vid ...

of their games by occasionally holding competitions, awarding things like high-end PC's or

digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

s to fans who submitted the best

add-in In computing, a plug-in (also spelled plugin) or add-in (also addin, add-on, or addon) is a software component that extends the functionality of an existing software system without requiring the system to be re-built. A plug-in feature is one ...

s for certain ''Crazy Chicken'' games; these could be created via official add-in programs distributed by Phenomedia's partners. In

specifically, the games also sparked a debate about

workplace culture A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...

, as it became a point of discussion whether or not playing

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s during work hours and/or

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

could serve as a justification for

firing Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method ...

. In 2000, employees playing ''Crazy Chicken 2'' in the workplace alone was estimated to cost

companies about 135 million

per year. High demand for the franchise also made the games a popular target to be used as

Trojan horses In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending befor ...

, most notably for the CIH virus, being one of the first video games distributed via the internet to do so. Several developers attempted to leech off the franchise's success by creating video games adopting either part of the ''Moorhuhn'' naming conventions (such as ''Die Rache der Moorhühner'', ''Die Rache der Sumpfhühner'' or ''Digitale Hühnerjagd'') or recreating its chicken-based shooting gallery gameplay (such as ''

Chicken Shoot ''Chicken Shoot'' is a video game developed by Toontraxx. It first released online in 2000 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released for Nintendo DS, Wii, and Game Boy Advance. The Windows version received positive reviews, while reviews ...

'', ''Rauchende Colts'', or ''Chicken Blaster'').

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.moorhuhn.com/ Video game franchises introduced in 1998 Video game franchises Video games about birds Phenomedia publishing games Lists of video games by franchise Shooter games