The natural beauty of the countryside has always been a source of inspiration for human expression in art. There are countless water colour paintings of the UK’s rolling hills, thatched roofs, and babbling brooks, each one offering up a snapshot of the countryside’s picturesque landscapes. 

Music, movies, and television have also regularly turned to the country for ideas. You only need to look at the daytime TV schedules to see show after show about escaping the rat race and moving to a dream house somewhere more tranquil. 

In fact, England’s own unofficial anthem, Jerusalem, unabatedly fawns over “England’s green and pleasant land”, showing just how much we love the countryside. 

So, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that modern forms of popular culture have also drawn inspiration from the countryside. For instance, there are thousands of TikTok accounts that publish content about the British countryside, showing off the walks available to those in rural areas, getting up close and personal with nature, and even documenting what it’s like to live on a farm. 

Video games have also taken inspiration from the countryside, both here in the UK and elsewhere in the world. Some are very accurate depictions of being out in the sticks while others are complete works of fiction, though the latter category can still be very fun. 

The Birdhouse

Online casinos have become incredibly popular over the last couple of decades. One big reason for this is that these sites and apps have been diversifying their offerings to appeal to a much wider demographic of players. 

The most visible form of this diversification comes in the guise of themed slot games. Leading brands like PokerStars Casino offer hundreds of different titles, including many of their own exclusive games that allow them to stand out from the crowd. 

One of these exclusive games in The Birdhouse, a farm-themed video slot that, as the name suggests, is packed with poultry. Spanning five reels and 20 paylines, players are treated to chickens, roosters, eggs, bird boxes, nests, and other birds as symbols. They’re complemented by a bright backdrop of rolling hills, mountains, flowers, and farmhouses. It’s a little inaccurate, but the visuals are beautiful, so we can let that one slide. 

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley has similar graphics to The Birdhouse slot, with farmhouses surrounded by green fields and mountains. Though that is where the similarities end, as this game is an open-world farming simulator. 

With inspiration clearly taken from Farmville, Zelda, and some of the Tycoon games, Stardew Valley is a unique mix of elements that come together to create a thrilling countryside video game. 

Players have to get to work growing crops, raising animals, foraging, mining, cooking, and fishing, as well as building relationships with their neighbours. While it’s not an entirely accurate depiction of life on a farm, it’s still an interesting window into the world of agriculture. 

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the sequel to Red Dead Redemption, an open-world video game created by Rockstar Games, the company behind Grand Theft Auto. The first title in the franchise was widely praised for being a novel concept, fun, and immersive but the follow-up release took this to a new level. 

Set in rural USA during the early 20th century, there are few similarities between it and modern British country living. After all, you’re just as likely to see vast sandy deserts in the Cotswolds as you are a giant skyscraper, but there are also plenty of things country folk would find familiar. 

Perhaps the most prominent example of this is the fact that players can develop close bonds with the animals in the game. Being set before the era of the car, transport in Red Dead Redemption is almost exclusively horse-based, either on horseback or with a cart. But the developers didn’t just include these animals as a legged version of a car; players are rewarded for building a rapport with their equine friend, just like you would in real life.