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[Craig Stern]

Interested in the perspective of Kyle "Da G-Man" Goldman on righteous gaming? I think the hilariously over-the-top introduction at the top of the page is what really sells it, though the use of crosses as a rating system helps too.

This is my favorite review so far:

Forgiveness (Breakthrough Gaming, PC)

    Forgiveness is an awesome turn-based RPG series (there are three games, or chapters) where you lead Jimmy, Esther, Clown, and Paul on a quest to change the world using the power of forgiveness. The graphics and gameplay are old school, like old Final Fantasy or Zelda games only without the occult or homosexual influences. Each chapter is inexpensive (only $9.95) and appropriate for all ages. †††††

Yeah, I would have liked Zelda more if it weren't for all those homosexual man-rescues-woman themes.

[ChrisFranklin]

While satirizing religious extremists is hilarious, I do find it at least a little depressing that a lot of Christian-targeted games are trying to do a lot more with the medium in terms of raw expressiveness than most mainstream/secular games.

Sure, their subtext amounts to little more than "Be a good person and pray to Jesus," but earnestly trying to use games in a meaningful way beats "Holy crap you blew that guy's head off, it was AWESOME!" any day of the week.

[team_q]

While satirizing religious extremists is hilarious, I do find it at least a little depressing that a lot of Christian-targeted games are trying to do a lot more with the medium in terms of raw expressiveness than most mainstream/secular games.

Sure, their subtext amounts to little more than "Be a good person and pray to Jesus," but earnestly trying to use games in a meaningful way beats "Holy crap you blew that guy's head off, it was AWESOME!" any day of the week.

See, I found the opposite, most games with some sort of agenda miss the point entirely and ape more mainstream styles, with a basic religious veneer.

[Craig Stern]

See, I found the opposite, most games with some sort of agenda miss the point entirely and ape more mainstream styles, with a basic religious veneer.

See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_forces

[Bree]

"In Zoo Race, secular librarian Hannah, after mocking someone for believing in the Biblical truth of Noah's Ark, has a dream in which her friends are re-shaped into animals just disembarked after the Flood -- only with crazy hats! Noah races the animal friends with God acting as announcer. Noah's sons create obstacles on the racetrack to challenge the gamer, who can use rockets to accelerate their animal. Hannah wakes realizing her foolishness for doubting the Bible and dedicates her soul to Christ. A fast and fun racing game for up to 8 players! (Free 4-player demo available.) ††††"

EDIT: This is gold, too:

"Jimmy is a normal boy...well actually, he's about to experience an abnormal life! As he leaves his home in Joppa Town, he befriends Esther, a witch who is looking for a magical stone! They both fall in the middle of a plot to take over the entire world! Can Jimmy and Esther stop this plot, and will Jimmy tell Esther about Christ? Find out in
Forgiveness: The First Chapter!"

[Michael Buckley]

You guys all know that Objective Ministries is fake, right?

[KennEH!]

I'd put religious games on the same level as educational games, kids only, as I get older I don't want to know I'm learning anything from my games.

[Bree]

You guys all know that Objective Ministries is fake, right?

...Dangit. They got me good. I'm still not convinced about that Forgiveness game, though...

[Moosader]

While satirizing religious extremists is hilarious, I do find it at least a little depressing that a lot of Christian-targeted games are trying to do a lot more with the medium in terms of raw expressiveness than most mainstream/secular games.

I don't know, from the religious-themed games I've experienced, they tend to be made super-poorly (ie. Bibleman: A Fight For Faith!) and they tend to spam crosses and bibles around instead of actually trying to convey a message or teaching.


I did beat Noah's Ark on Bible Adventures for NES.  It was pretty awesome.

[Tanner]

ZOO RACE

[Skofo]

The Christian games I played were all boring and preachy. I think most Christian "game" developers miss the point that games are supposed to be fun.

One game I played was an RPG Maker XP game that takes place in a church and all it consists of is a library with random excerpts from the bible and you were quizzed on them by a priest. I'd take head-splatter games over that any day. Violence (or competition of any kind) makes things fun, it is embedded in mammal nature. How enjoyable would Mario games be if Mario didn't kill all of those turtles?

[wourme]

Sure, their subtext amounts to little more than "Be a good person and pray to Jesus," but earnestly trying to use games in a meaningful way beats "Holy crap you blew that guy's head off, it was AWESOME!" any day of the week.

I don't know how many good examples can be found out there at this point, but I completely agree with this sentiment. I think that video games could really benefit from more philosophical or religious themes--anything that makes you think beyond solving puzzles. (Not that I don't love puzzle-oriented games, of course.)

I appreciated that World of Goo had something to say in its second area. Those two or three levels are a major part of what really catapulted the game into greatness for me, even if the message was pretty simple and possibly a little vague.

If I start listing my favorite games, many of them are the titles that touch on moral issues--Shadow of the Colossus, Planescape: Torment, and Silent Hill 2, for example. I'd love to see more video games that actually try to say something.

[Skofo]

Sure, their subtext amounts to little more than "Be a good person and pray to Jesus," but earnestly trying to use games in a meaningful way beats "Holy crap you blew that guy's head off, it was AWESOME!" any day of the week.

I don't know how many good examples can be found out there at this point, but I completely agree with this sentiment. I think that video games could really benefit from more philosophical or religious themes--anything that makes you think beyond solving puzzles. (Not that I don't love puzzle-oriented games, of course.)

I appreciated that World of Goo had something to say in its second area. Those two or three levels are a major part of what really catapulted the game into greatness for me, even if the message was pretty simple and possibly a little vague.

If I start listing my favorite games, many of them are the titles that touch on moral issues--Shadow of the Colossus, Planescape: Torment, and Silent Hill 2, for example. I'd love to see more video games that actually try to say something.

Sure, games that portray deep messages are always fun. I think the philosophies in Bioshock and the point it made at the end were awesome. But pretty much all Christian or other religious games don't have deep philosophical points, all of the ones I've seen just say "God made you and everything, so you have to love Him or you will burn in Hell". They don't make you "think", like you say. On top of that, they aren't any fun.

Plus, every game has at least a minimal philosophical point, even Mario. Saving princesses is a good thing.

[Gnarf]

Plus, every game has at least a minimal philosophical point, even Mario. Saving princesses is a good thing.

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/massage_my_ass/

[Xion]

I'd love to make a Christian game but
1) I don't like the word Christian (it seems simultaneously too broad and too specific at once. Plus it doesn't sound nice. Lacks bass. Very tinny.),
2) I don't know how I'd pull it off with a subtlety in the message - I mean most "Christian" things tend to, as has been stated, push the message with an off-putting vehemence and obviousness, which tends to, I think, be detrimental to the game and ultimately the message itself, and
3) I suck at finishing things.

So would a "Christian" game created with subtlety in fact be a Christian game, or merely a game that promotes Christian ideals (which can be held by non-Christians). I mean I guess the whole thing about such games is to promote the idea of Jesus as the Son of God and stuff, and said God as the one omnipotent creator, and with such a specific goal you can't really help but blatantly state your intentions.

[increpare]

So would a "Christian" game created with subtlety in fact be a Christian game, or merely a game that promotes Christian ideals (which can be held by non-Christians).

A problem with this would be that, owing to how much christian ideals have been sublimated into western culture, that nobody would notice it as being specifically christian.

While more specifically Catholic than generally Christian, one possible line of investigation that springs to mind is the idea of doing a project based on St Francis of Assisi.  I think that it'd be very easy to explicitly treat a lot of his ideas in a way that many people would sympathise with and be quite well-disposed to.  I'm sure one could do something wonderfully picturesque with the sermon to the birds.  Also possibly a nice miniature related to the story with the wolf, mentioned on the wiki page, I think.

[Türbo Bröther]

Do I smell the next TIGCompo theme coming?

[joshg]

I'd love to make a Christian game too.  I've blogged about faith-crossed-with-games for a couple years, but I ran out of stuff to say (mostly because I burned out on trying to be gracious while writing about how horrible Left Behind: Eternal Forces was) so it's sat for a year or so.

I think it's possible to create games with a substantial Christian message without clubbing you over the head with it.  But the only groups who would fund such a thing don't really understand subtlety, and like Xion I'm not good enough at actually finishing things to make one myself.

There are also some really fundamentally hard things to convey about Christianity in a game.  I mean, the whole point of the faith is that God loves us and he's offering eternal salvation for free.  Ideally (when people don't mess it up by guilting and judging you) this means that you don't have to earn anything as far as salvation is concerned.  But since games are all about achievement and earning and doing things to gain rewards, it's kind of hard to actually make a compelling game that suits the core message of the gospel.  Since, you know, you don't have to do anything.

On the other hand, if you look deeper than the initial "how to accept salvation" bit and instead try to convey more nuanced parts of the faith, you could do some interesting stuff.  Spiritual warfare (done thoughtfully, instead of just a cheap veneer slapped onto standard combat-heavy gameplay), or focusing on morals such as self-sacrificial love, forgiveness, miracles and prophecy from a biblical perspective ... there's really tons to work with if you aim a bit higher than simply trying to make a tract with cliched gameplay.

But I've probably blabbed enough about this stuff here already.

[joshg]

So would a "Christian" game created with subtlety in fact be a Christian game, or merely a game that promotes Christian ideals (which can be held by non-Christians).

A problem with this would be that, owing to how much western ideals have been sublimated into christian culture, that nobody would notice it as being specifically christian.

Fixed.

[increpare]

As I sort of said before, I think that a lot of inspiration could be got from various parables, folktales, and legends in the Christian cosmos.  To have a game somehow emphasize christian values in general is very hard: to emphasize Christian values in general would be quite hard.  If I were to try go in the direction of a Christian game, I'd probably head first to the writings and stories inspired by and created firmly within the Christian tradition and see what I could find.

Fixed.

heh