Video Games

Mustelids will occasionally appear in video games. Although these appearances are rare, below is an even more obscure list where they are both part of the primary gameplay and look like their species. This list does not include highly stylised or fictional species like Pokémon, kemonomimi, or most hybrids.

While the exact species for some characters may not be confirmed (usually due to their species being given a generic local name like “badger” or “otter”), most can still be identified by factoring in their distinctive features, location, and country of production.

We could use more wildlife simulation games featuring mustelids

Similar to games like WolfQuest, more down-to-earth wildlife simulators for mustelids are needed. When done properly, such games give people more insight into their ecology and daily struggles, and kids are not the only demographic that would appreciate such a game or have something to learn.

Games by Species

Badgers

Diddy Kong Racing by Rareware
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of badger, but likely based on a European badger.

This racing game for the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS features a badger named Bumper as one of the 10 playable characters. The game is set on Timber’s Island and revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends attempting to defeat a wizard pig antagonist by winning races. There are 5 worlds with 4 racetracks each. Players have the ability to drive a car, hovercraft, or pilot an aeroplane.

Dunkehr by Fábio Fontes
Mustelids that appear: Ratel

The Scale army has occupied the Duchy of Carroten. Many of its people have been taken hostage, including the Duke’s daughter Hop. Dunkehr is an action platformer where you play as a ratel mercenary, exploring 6 levels containing secret areas, and a colourful cast of characters—letting none stand in your way.

Shelter by Might and Delight
Mustelids that appear: Unspecified species of badgers, but likely European badgers.

In Shelter, you experience the wild as a mother badger sheltering her cubs from harm. On their journey they get stalked by a bird of prey, encounter perils of the night, river rapids crossings, big forest fires, and the looming threat of death by starvation. Shelter also includes a separate mode called Nurture. It is a tamagochi-like game that takes you back to the forest of Shelter every day and brings you even closer to your cubs.

Ferrets

Ferret Monogatari: Watashi no Okini Iri by Culture Brain
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

This is a Japanese simulation style game in which you take care of a ferret. At the start you choose one of three different coloured ferrets. The colours are randomly chosen.

The ferret is kept in their cage most of the time. You have to mind their water and food supply, and clean their litter box. You can take your ferret out for walks or to play with, and can also play mini-games. One mini-game is a race, another is putting together a picture and the last is dancing.

This game can be very awkward to play if you are not practised in Japanese, but it is possible to get through. However, if your ferret gets sick, the game will give you a few options for treatment, and if you choose the wrong one your ferret turns into a tombstone!

Ferret Scoundrels by Cryogenic Entertainment
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

If you love ferrets and the open sea, you will most certainly enjoy this game. You are the captain – make trades, fight and explore with your ferret crew.

Though the ferrets in this game could stand to have better proportioned and less canine-looking hind paws, it is great to see modern game developers taking an interest in giving mustelids positive attention.

Henry Super Brain by devNix
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

Winner of the July 2024 PirateSoftware Game Jam, Henry Super Brain is a unique game inspired by the real ferret in PirateSoftware‘s ferret rescue of the same name. The game utilises a modular system of unconventional controls that challenges players to navigate the world in a different way; much like Henry!

Iron Ferret by Necktiedog
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Iron Ferret is a short Windows/MacOS indie game made for GBJAM7, a Game Boy-themed game jam. You play as an unnamed ferret who can pilot a tank, entering the tank for combat and exiting to collect items on foot. It is a simple and breezy five-minute game with a sweet ending.

Leaf’s Odyssey by ludobloom
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Leaf’s Odyssey is a turn-based game where you fight various monsters in order to solve each puzzle. Every move can be predicted and anticipated. Failure is not punished; you can undo and try a different approach as many times as you want.

The Shiren the Wanderer series by Chunsoft
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Shiren the Wanderer is a Mystery Dungeon subseries. The silent protagonist Shiren has a little talking ferret companion named Koppa. Koppa does not do much, but he does appear by his walking sprite in the town sections. He appears to be a stoat in ermine, but it is said in the series that he is a ferret.

Widget Satchel by Noble Robot
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

In Widget Satchel, you are Sprocket, a pet ferret on a space station in the far future. Escape your playpen and make your way to the shuttlebay with the most stuff!

This is a platformer game available for Steam, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One (2020) and PlayStation 4. The gameplay is rather amusing, and is a nice mix of ferret traits with technology at your disposal.

Otters

Party Animals

Party Animals by Recreate Games
Mustelids that appear: Sea otter

This is a physics-based brawler/party video game featuring anthropomorphic animals. There are 20 maps, 3 game modes, and a base pool of 20 characters. Each of the characters has several colour variations and outfits that can be unlocked and there are several additional unlockable characters.

Otta is a sea otter character and is one of the base characters of the game. The description of this character is, “Otta doesn’t know what’s next, for he simply lives in the present.” Outfits that can be unlocked are Diver Otta, Viking Otta, and Mafia Otta. There are also several unlockable colour variations, including Golden, Pink, Yolk, and Milky.

Weasels (excluding ferrets)

Blacksad: Under the Skin by Pendulo Studios
Mustelids that appear: Least weasel

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure game for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is an adaptation of the comic series Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. The game follows the protagonist private investigator John Blacksad as he investigates the suspicious death of a boxing club owner.

Weekly the least-weasel is a newspaper journalist the friend/sidekick of John Blacksad. He appears in several scenes and quests throughout the game.

Rocket Weasel by Freeze Tag, Inc.
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of weasel.

The forest animals send their kids to “Weasel’s School for Hunting Chickens” to learn from Mr. Weasel, an expert chicken hunter. On a midnight field trip, Mr. Weasel and his students sneak into the hen house, but everything goes horribly wrong! The farmer is waiting for them with crafty cages and treacherous traps. Help Mr. Weasel save his students and chomp the chickens!

The gameplay is similar to Angry Birds but still has its own unique features.

Sam Stoat Safebreaker by Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of stoat, but likely a Eurasian stoat.

Sam Stoat Safebreaker is an arcade action game developed in the UK for the ZX-Spectrum 48K. Released in 1985, in this game you play as a stoat who blows up safes to steal diamonds. The goal of this game is to pump the safe, use the match with the pump, run off screen before it explodes, return to collect the diamond, then proceed to the next house. This is not an amazing game by any means, and tends to require near perfect precision to complete, but it does surprisingly feature a stoat.

Weasel Real Estate by Desert Beagle
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of weasel.

In this game you play as weasel real estate agent. You are supposed to be showing new home buyers a nice house, but instead are trying to get rid of pesky moles that keep making holes in the lawn. In order to take care of these pests, you must run about hitting the moles with a large mallet before they reach the bottom of the screen.

Contains Multiple Mustelids

Armello is developed by an Australian independent game studio.
Mustelids that appear: European badger and an unspecified species of otter.

Set in a fantasy world filled with anthropomorphic animals, up to four players assume the role of a hero chosen among their clan to take part in a campaign to become the next king or queen. The game features turn-based board-game mechanics that revolve around the use of dice and cards that are drawn from a deck, with each player’s actions influencing the outcome. – Wikipedia source.

In this game you can play as a European badger named Horace (The Iron Poet), or some type of otter named Sylas (Fisher of Souls). They are both members of the Bandit Clan. This game also has many cards featuring different mustelids in the artwork.

Blackfoot by Dan Fornace
Mustelids that appear: Ferret (though perhaps meant to be a North American polecat, given the name of the game), an unspecified species of marten (though looks more like a species of stoat), and an unspecified species of mink (though looks more like a species of stoat in its ermine coat).

In this game you play as one of several mustelid characters while trying to collect 10 eggs hidden throughout the stage, and killing your prey at the end of the level. It is unclear why they call what looks like a stoat and a stoat in its ermine coat a marten and a mink, but a good game nonetheless that decently captures the moment of these mustelids.

Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb by The Dreamers Guild
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets and an unspecified species of otter.

This point and click adventure game features a world full of talking, humanoid animals, amongst them a fox on his quest to find a stolen orb, a relic of the mythical humans. It is worth noting the otter that appears only plays a minor role.

The Lost Legends of Redwall series by Soma Games
Mustelids that appear: Least weasels and European badgers (simply referred to as “weasels” and “badgers”), ferrets, and unspecified species of stoats and otters (but likely Eurasian stoats and Eurasian otters).

This is an official Redwall video game series that has been released for Steam, XBox, PlayStation, and mobile app marketplaces. The games tell a new story within the Redwall universe set before and during the first book, and features characters and settings from the novel.

While most of the mustelids in this series are not a part of the primary gameplay, so many different mustelid characters appear that we can make an exception. Not to mention, the artists for this game actually cared about the anatomy of the least weasels, ferrets, and stoats—which are usually depicted dreadfully compared to badgers and otters. These three species are also not all typecast as villains, as some are grey characters. A list of all the characters in the series.

Super Animal Royale by Pixile Studios
Mustelids that appear: Ferret, sea otter, pine marten (not sure if a North American marten or Eurasian pine marten), stoat (not sure if a North American stoat or Eurasian stoat) and an unspecified species of otter.

Super Animal Royale is a battle royale style game for Windows and MacOS. In a vibrant, whimsical 2D environment one takes the role of an animal, and as one of 64 players in a gradually shrinking map peppered with weapons, armour, restoratives and hamster exercise balls, you must fight to be the final survivor. Players are rewarded with apparel items, along with experience points and animal DNA to unlock new species of animals.

Tails of Trainspot by Kibi Games and Poly Poly Games
Mustelids that appear: Least weasel, yellow-throated marten, and an unspecified species of ferret-badger.

Tails of Trainspot is a unique puzzle game that takes you on a journey to a mysterious island filled with stories. As a railway builder, you will lay tracks, connect stations, and uncover secrets and myths on the Packan Islands. The main characters are Timo (a least weasel) and Toby (a crab-eating mongoose).

Tooth and Tail by Pocketwatch Games
Mustelids that appear: European badgers and ferrets

Available for Windows, MacOS, Linux and PlayStation 4, Tooth and Tail is a real-time strategy video game set in a society of anthropomorphic animals during a time of severe food shortages, resulting in the uprising of political parties with differing ideologies regarding the acquisition of food.

In this game you can play ferrets (which are members of the Freight Union), and badgers known as Inmates #43B.

Badgers

Diddy Kong Racing by Rareware
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of badger, but likely based on a European badger.

This racing game for the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS features a badger named Bumper as one of the 10 playable characters. The game is set on Timber’s Island and revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends attempting to defeat a wizard pig antagonist by winning races. There are 5 worlds with 4 racetracks each. Players have the ability to drive a car, hovercraft, or pilot an aeroplane.

Dunkehr by Fábio Fontes
Mustelids that appear: Ratel

The Scale army has occupied the Duchy of Carroten. Many of its people have been taken hostage, including the Duke’s daughter Hop. Dunkehr is an action platformer where you play as a ratel mercenary, exploring 6 levels containing secret areas, and a colourful cast of characters—letting none stand in your way.

Shelter by Might and Delight
Mustelids that appear: Unspecified species of badgers, but likely European badgers.

In Shelter, you experience the wild as a mother badger sheltering her cubs from harm. On their journey they get stalked by a bird of prey, encounter perils of the night, river rapids crossings, big forest fires, and the looming threat of death by starvation. Shelter also includes a separate mode called Nurture. It is a tamagochi-like game that takes you back to the forest of Shelter every day and brings you even closer to your cubs.

Ferrets

Ferret Monogatari: Watashi no Okini Iri by Culture Brain
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

This is a Japanese simulation style game in which you take care of a ferret. At the start you choose one of three different coloured ferrets. The colours are randomly chosen.

The ferret is kept in their cage most of the time. You have to mind their water and food supply, and clean their litter box. You can take your ferret out for walks or to play with, and can also play mini-games. One mini-game is a race, another is putting together a picture and the last is dancing.

This game can be very awkward to play if you are not practised in Japanese, but it is possible to get through. However, if your ferret gets sick, the game will give you a few options for treatment, and if you choose the wrong one your ferret turns into a tombstone!

Ferret Scoundrels by Cryogenic Entertainment
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

If you love ferrets and the open sea, you will most certainly enjoy this game. You are the captain – make trades, fight and explore with your ferret crew.

Though the ferrets in this game could stand to have better proportioned and less canine-looking hind paws, it is great to see modern game developers taking an interest in giving mustelids positive attention.

Henry Super Brain by devNix
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets

Winner of the July 2024 PirateSoftware Game Jam, Henry Super Brain is a unique game inspired by the real ferret in PirateSoftware‘s ferret rescue of the same name. The game utilises a modular system of unconventional controls that challenges players to navigate the world in a different way; much like Henry!

Iron Ferret by Necktiedog
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Iron Ferret is a short Windows/MacOS indie game made for GBJAM7, a Game Boy-themed game jam. You play as an unnamed ferret who can pilot a tank, entering the tank for combat and exiting to collect items on foot. It is a simple and breezy five-minute game with a sweet ending.

Leaf’s Odyssey by ludobloom
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Leaf’s Odyssey is a turn-based game where you fight various monsters in order to solve each puzzle. Every move can be predicted and anticipated. Failure is not punished; you can undo and try a different approach as many times as you want.

The Shiren the Wanderer series by Chunsoft
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

Shiren the Wanderer is a Mystery Dungeon subseries. The silent protagonist Shiren has a little talking ferret companion named Koppa. Koppa does not do much, but he does appear by his walking sprite in the town sections. He appears to be a stoat in ermine, but it is said in the series that he is a ferret.

Widget Satchel by Noble Robot
Mustelids that appear: Ferret

In Widget Satchel, you are Sprocket, a pet ferret on a space station in the far future. Escape your playpen and make your way to the shuttlebay with the most stuff!

This is a platformer game available for Steam, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One (2020) and PlayStation 4. The gameplay is rather amusing, and is a nice mix of ferret traits with technology at your disposal.

Otters
Party Animals

Party Animals by Recreate Games
Mustelids that appear: Sea otter

This is a physics-based brawler/party video game featuring anthropomorphic animals. There are 20 maps, 3 game modes, and a base pool of 20 characters. Each of the characters has several colour variations and outfits that can be unlocked and there are several additional unlockable characters.

Otta is a sea otter character and is one of the base characters of the game. The description of this character is, “Otta doesn’t know what’s next, for he simply lives in the present.” Outfits that can be unlocked are Diver Otta, Viking Otta, and Mafia Otta. There are also several unlockable colour variations, including Golden, Pink, Yolk, and Milky.

Weasels (excluding ferrets)

Blacksad: Under the Skin by Pendulo Studios
Mustelids that appear: Least weasel

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure game for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is an adaptation of the comic series Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. The game follows the protagonist private investigator John Blacksad as he investigates the suspicious death of a boxing club owner.

Weekly the least-weasel is a newspaper journalist the friend/sidekick of John Blacksad. He appears in several scenes and quests throughout the game.

Rocket Weasel by Freeze Tag, Inc.
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of weasel.

The forest animals send their kids to “Weasel’s School for Hunting Chickens” to learn from Mr. Weasel, an expert chicken hunter. On a midnight field trip, Mr. Weasel and his students sneak into the hen house, but everything goes horribly wrong! The farmer is waiting for them with crafty cages and treacherous traps. Help Mr. Weasel save his students and chomp the chickens!

The gameplay is similar to Angry Birds but still has its own unique features.

Sam Stoat Safebreaker by Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of stoat, but likely a Eurasian stoat.

Sam Stoat Safebreaker is an arcade action game developed in the UK for the ZX-Spectrum 48K. Released in 1985, in this game you play as a stoat who blows up safes to steal diamonds. The goal of this game is to pump the safe, use the match with the pump, run off screen before it explodes, return to collect the diamond, then proceed to the next house. This is not an amazing game by any means, and tends to require near perfect precision to complete, but it does surprisingly feature a stoat.

Weasel Real Estate by Desert Beagle
Mustelids that appear: An unspecified species of weasel.

In this game you play as weasel real estate agent. You are supposed to be showing new home buyers a nice house, but instead are trying to get rid of pesky moles that keep making holes in the lawn. In order to take care of these pests, you must run about hitting the moles with a large mallet before they reach the bottom of the screen.

Contains Multiple Mustelids

Armello is developed by an Australian independent game studio.
Mustelids that appear: European badger and an unspecified species of otter.

Set in a fantasy world filled with anthropomorphic animals, up to four players assume the role of a hero chosen among their clan to take part in a campaign to become the next king or queen. The game features turn-based board-game mechanics that revolve around the use of dice and cards that are drawn from a deck, with each player’s actions influencing the outcome. – Wikipedia source.

In this game you can play as a European badger named Horace (The Iron Poet), or some type of otter named Sylas (Fisher of Souls). They are both members of the Bandit Clan. This game also has many cards featuring different mustelids in the artwork.

Blackfoot by Dan Fornace
Mustelids that appear: Ferret (though perhaps meant to be a North American polecat, given the name of the game), an unspecified species of marten (though looks more like a species of stoat), and an unspecified species of mink (though looks more like a species of stoat in its ermine coat).

In this game you play as one of several mustelid characters while trying to collect 10 eggs hidden throughout the stage, and killing your prey at the end of the level. It is unclear why they call what looks like a stoat and a stoat in its ermine coat a marten and a mink, but a good game nonetheless that decently captures the moment of these mustelids.

Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb by The Dreamers Guild
Mustelids that appear: Ferrets and an unspecified species of otter.

This point and click adventure game features a world full of talking, humanoid animals, amongst them a fox on his quest to find a stolen orb, a relic of the mythical humans. It is worth noting the otter that appears only plays a minor role.

The Lost Legends of Redwall series by Soma Games
Mustelids that appear: Least weasels and European badgers (simply referred to as “weasels” and “badgers”), ferrets, and unspecified species of stoats and otters (but likely Eurasian stoats and Eurasian otters).

This is an official Redwall video game series that has been released for Steam, XBox, PlayStation, and mobile app marketplaces. The games tell a new story within the Redwall universe set before and during the first book, and features characters and settings from the novel.

While most of the mustelids in this series are not a part of the primary gameplay, so many different mustelid characters appear that we can make an exception. Not to mention, the artists for this game actually cared about the anatomy of the least weasels, ferrets, and stoats—which are usually depicted dreadfully compared to badgers and otters. These three species are also not all typecast as villains, as some are grey characters. A list of all the characters in the series.

Super Animal Royale by Pixile Studios
Mustelids that appear: Ferret, sea otter, pine marten (not sure if a North American marten or Eurasian pine marten), stoat (not sure if a North American stoat or Eurasian stoat) and an unspecified species of otter.

Super Animal Royale is a battle royale style game for Windows and MacOS. In a vibrant, whimsical 2D environment one takes the role of an animal, and as one of 64 players in a gradually shrinking map peppered with weapons, armour, restoratives and hamster exercise balls, you must fight to be the final survivor. Players are rewarded with apparel items, along with experience points and animal DNA to unlock new species of animals.

Tails of Trainspot by Kibi Games and Poly Poly Games
Mustelids that appear: Least weasel, yellow-throated marten, and an unspecified species of ferret-badger.

Tails of Trainspot is a unique puzzle game that takes you on a journey to a mysterious island filled with stories. As a railway builder, you will lay tracks, connect stations, and uncover secrets and myths on the Packan Islands. The main characters are Timo (a least weasel) and Toby (a crab-eating mongoose).

Tooth and Tail by Pocketwatch Games
Mustelids that appear: European badgers and ferrets.

Available for Windows, MacOS, Linux and PlayStation 4, Tooth and Tail is a real-time strategy video game set in a society of anthropomorphic animals during a time of severe food shortages, resulting in the uprising of political parties with differing ideologies regarding the acquisition of food.

In this game you can play ferrets (which are members of the Freight Union), and badgers known as Inmates #43B.

Mustelids in Media