Grantee: Scottish Ecological Design Association

Duration: 7 months (June 2026 – January 2027)

 

This interactive video game, set in the Scottish Highlands, aims to promote a holistic understanding of land management following ecological principles.

Background

The landscapes of the Highlands and Islands face systemic barriers to achieving ecological restoration. Skewed patterns of land ownership, increasing trends of depopulation, and ecologically-damaging forms of land use are complex problems requiring both local and national solutions. Sadly, the local and political discourse surrounding key issues such as rewilding and deer management remains largely divisive and polarising, preventing overall progress in these areas.

While continuing efforts to build common ground and improve policy and regulatory frameworks, it is also important to focus on educating and upskilling future generations. For many young people growing up in the Highlands and Islands, there are few opportunities to learn about the complex ecological relationships underpinning different local land uses. Improving this understanding will provide future land stewards with holistic perspectives and lead to better outcomes for local communities and nature.

The Project

‘Stone and Veil’ is an exciting, fun-to-play interactive game, in which players must combat monsters and survive natural disasters. It promotes ecological ways of thinking about, and understanding of, the ways that land in rural Scottish communities could be better used.

Set in a fictitious rural Highland town, and with an emphasis on the ecology of the Highland landscape, it draws on Pictish mythology, with gamers using enchanted standing stones to combat mythical figures, such as the Cailleach and Kelpie.

The game has been developed by the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) in collaboration in collaboration with the James Hutton Institute, Scotland’s Rural College and SEFARI Gateway.

Once the final production release version of ‘Stone & Veil’ is complete it will be available to all, downloadable for free from one of the popular video game digital distribution platforms for both PC and Android, such as Steam and itch.io, as well as from the SEDA website. SEDA are planning to distribute the game widely to Scottish communities and educational establishments.