Moorhuhn

''Crazy Chicken'' (originally released in Germany 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 were followed by an unprecedented surge in popularity, making it Germany's most popular computer game in the early 2000s and enabling ''Crazy Chicken'' to develop into a multi-platform 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-based Art Department advertising agency - known for their advergames - and developed by Dutch Witan Studios as an advertisement for Johnnie Walker whisky in 1998. The concept of using a video game to promote the Johnnie Walker brand was originally thought up by another advertising agency, Hamburg-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 Witan Studios 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It was originally made available in October 1998 to play on laptops in select bars, with promoters dressed up as fowlers.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 Art Department. It became wildly popular in German-speaking Europe, 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).

The development studio and IP owner of the franchise went public in late 1999 at the height of the dot-com bubble and attained a market value of up to one billion Euro.

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 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 and other infractions. Scheer would subsequently leave the video game industry and turn to politics instead, allegedly becoming a puppet master of the far-right AfD party in North Rhine-Westphalia, until founding Bündnis Deutschland in 2022.

Phenomedia AG underwent insolvency 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 main objective of the game usually is to attain a high 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-inspired ''Crazy Chicken Kart'' series, the point-and-click ''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): 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 game Duckling 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 indivudals.
* Moorhuhn Indy: A ''Crazy Chicken'' parody of 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 amount 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 involving his residence (a castle in the Scottish highlands) and extended family, such as his ghost-hunting grandfather, has been established.
* Moorfrog (Moorfrosch in German): Serving as the introduction to the secrets and puzzle mechanics which became a mainstay of the series from ''Crazy Chicken 2'' onwards, this frog 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 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 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 turtle 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 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, a jet pack and a laser gun.
* 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 German 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 German name of the common coot.

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, a comic book series, an animated TV series, several motion picture scripts (although no movie was ever made) and a BMG-produced single (''Gimme more Huhn'' by comedian Wigald Boning).

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), 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 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" 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 of 20 Mark) 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 and Hamburg.

In terms of the original game's purpose as marketing for Johnnie Walker whisky, a 2003 study by the University of Mannheim found that test subjects who had already played the game perceived the Johnnie Walker 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 was far quicker than similar efforts undertaken via traditional mass media.

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, Johnnie Walker had the developers of the game tone its violence down multiple times. The end screen also shows a sad ''Crazy Chicken'' in a cast with crutches 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 heirpredecessors". 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 Mario Kart 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 German Developer Innovation Prize (2006).
* Moorhuhn The Good, The Egg and The Ugly Mobile: 2nd place for "Best Mobile RPG/Adventure Game" at German Developer Innovation Prize (2006).
* Crazy Chicken: Tiger & Chicken: Won "Best Mobile Core Game" at German Developer Innovation Prize (2013).

Legacy

Today, the ''Crazy Chicken'' series is seen as an early example of viral marketing, as well as one of the first video game Internet phenomena in general. The franchise's popularity even caused Germany's authoritative Duden 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 Germany; ahead of ''Pokémon'', ''Tomb Raider'' and '' The Settlers''.

Art Department 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. 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 high scores and fan art (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 of their games by occasionally holding competitions, awarding things like high-end PC's or digital cameras to fans who submitted the best add-ins for certain ''Crazy Chicken'' games; these could be created via official add-in programs distributed by Phenomedia's partners.

In Germany specifically, the games also sparked a debate about workplace culture, as it became a point of discussion whether or not playing video games during work hours and/or breaks could serve as a justification for firing. In 2000, employees playing ''Crazy Chicken 2'' in the workplace alone was estimated to cost German companies about 135 million Mark per year.

High demand for the franchise also made the games a popular target to be used as Trojan horses, 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'', ''Rauchende Colts'', or ''Chicken Blaster'').

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.moorhuhn.com/

Video game franchises introduced in 1998
Shooter video games by series
Video game franchises
Video games about birds
Phenomedia publishing games