With hunting season approaching in Minnesota, researchers are leaning on an unexpected tool to educate the public about chronic wasting disease: a video game.

Thomas Seiler works for the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach. He has spent the last year developing a roleplaying game called Cofactor that aims to teach players about the fatal neurological disease affecting deer in the upper Midwest.

"Chronic wasting disease is a daunting threat and it's a complex topic," Seiler said. "For learning about it, it's great to have the least threatening mode of education possible, which is play."

In " Cofactor ," players take on different roles and move through scenarios built around real-world data. Users begin as a hunter but can eventually unlock other perspectives, including

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