Christian Games

I'm not sure if I am in a minority or majority with this.

Christian games are terrible. Let me qualify that statement. Edutainment titles that are designed to teach and provide a fun atmosphere while they do so are not the games I am complaining about. Games like "Eternal Forces" or "The YOU Testament" have recieved such lambasting that I am unsure of what kind of things christians can/should do to produce a game that an average gamer would pick up and enjoy.

I don't think that we should compromise what we believe, in terms of content of game, but surely there is something that can be done to maybe produce a game that people might like.

The only thing I can think of is not to make a "christian" game, but to simply be christians and make a game. Not to try and make the Gospel a part of a game, but to use the values of the Gospel to fuel the cannon of the game. For example, an RPG where your character has to conform to the values without hammering people with the Bible might be an interesting one.

Or maybe I'm just rambling.....

JZ

I agree; terrible. All of them.

What do you think should be done?

Yeah, I've not heard wonderful things about those games you mentioned. I agree that if you're going to involve a particular belief system in a game, it's better if it's subtle.

As an example, I don't know if you've played BioShock, but that game got me really interested in reading and discussing Objectivism without ever explicitly being mentioned by the game - in fact the plot of the game itself is pretty much an indictment of Objectivism. If something like that could be done with some advanced Christian concepts, or an honest down-to-earth approach about the trials of being Christian, it might be onto something.

I'm racking my brains trying to think of games that have a more subtle Christian edge to them, but all I can think of are ones which involve angels and demons - nothing that actually deals with God/Jesus/HS themselves.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to put both a Christian message into a game and stop the game from becoming boring, as the message directly imposes upon the gameplay in most of the game genres out there. And I think in order for it to be done successfully it must be in an action-adventure or RPG context in which the language used isn't directly Christian but draws parallels from it, like Narnia. On top of that the story must fully integrate itself with the gameplay experience and not kill the fun but compliment the gameplay and help immerse the player into it. And that is hard to tactfully do without experience at story writing working directly with the gameplay in a game's environment.

David

Hey Cabal,

yes I've played Bio-shock (and intend on getting system shock 1 which is now freeware!!) and I see your point at how they worked it in, which was very well done.

Admittedly, I haven't gotten into objectivism in any way, shape or form (at least, not officially) but what essentially, is it?

JZ

Hey David,

yeah, sounds pretty difficult. The funny thing is that the Final Fantasy series tends to do it fairly well. FF7 Advent Children (as well as the original game) pretty well tried to sell the whole Gaia theory thing. Did it pretty well too. It was fun but not preachy.

Which might be what we need.

JZ

Zugai said:

Hey Cabal,

yes I've played Bio-shock (and intend on getting system shock 1 which is now freeware!!) and I see your point at how they worked it in, which was very well done.

Admittedly, I haven't gotten into objectivism in any way, shape or form (at least, not officially) but what essentially, is it?

JZ

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If you can find a copy online, try and get the CD-version - the free version is the floppy version which has terrible sound and graphics, the CD version has decent soundtrack and voice-acting. Worth it for trying out though, the controls are quite unique and quite hard to get used to, but worth the effort - it's an awesome game. Have you played System Shock 2?

I'd never subscribe to Objectivism myself, but I feel it's fundamentally a better idea than most give it credit for. It holds that there is an objective reality; that there is no "special knowledge", only rationality (so religion is out in their eyes, hence Andrew Ryan's ban on it in Rapture); the ultimate ethical standard is rational self interest (people are most likely to be fulfilled if they strive for excellence and success for themselves foremost, and altruism is not encouraged as it is better for everyone to adhere to this principle - definitely see that a lot in Rapture), and the best society for the above is one based on an unregulated free market economy (DEFINITELY in Rapture).

It's one of those ideas that would be great if human nature wasn't what it is (aside from the whole no religion thing, obviously) - I think it's good that it encourages people to maximise their own potential and to critically think things through, as well as take personal responsibility for their lives - anything that does that these days can only be a good thing. However, it's an incredibly naive view to take as not everyone will have positive gifts, or if they do, will elect not to use them out of sloth.

I think where it falls down for most people is that it was initially largely presented through two novels - aside from the fact that anyone can make a philosophy appear to work if you're embedding it in fiction, it was quite ham-fisted works of fiction with clunky writing and not-wonderful characterisation in places - though I have to say I quite loved "Atlas Shrugged."

In BioShock, they came up with a few good counters to the idea of an Objectivist society - about the notion of holding power (Ryan effectively becoming dictator of what he created) and about how evil operates under Objectivism (think about Fontaine - his skills and potential are more sociopathic than most - and in Rapture, he thrived).

I'm surprised at how terrible most Christian games are -- my guess is the fear of heresy stifles imagination when it comes to Christian games.

Hey Cabal,

sounds like interesting philosophy. I had a friend who was very much into Rand.

The problem with a free market is that you're giving humans free rein to do whatever they like no matter who they exploit. Not a cool situation.

Z

morningstar2651 said:

I'm surprised at how terrible most Christian games are -- my guess is the fear of heresy stifles imagination when it comes to Christian games.

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Not necesssarily a bad fear, though sometimes it's a bit childish.

Z

Zugai said:

Hey Cabal,

sounds like interesting philosophy. I had a friend who was very much into Rand.

The problem with a free market is that you're giving humans free rein to do whatever they like no matter who they exploit. Not a cool situation.

Z

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Sure, exactly - the Fontaines of this world will just use their talents of exploiting, and will make a fortune on it. And Rand was essentially espousing anarcho-capitalism, the only function of a government she really accepted was maintaining national security, so it would just be much worse if her "ideal" system was in place.

It would be wonderful if everyone thought about how to maximise their potential and everyone had the same can-do attitude, but that's never going to be the case. I think applying some aspects of it to your own life as a personal philosophy isn't a bad idea, and one can always encourage others to do the same, but applying it on a national level would be disastrous.

It really is interesting though seeing the headlines of today and comparing it with what happens in Atlas Shrugged (Rand's magnum opus) - incompetent businessmen get bailed out by the government, and anyone who's competent is co-opted by the government to keep the incompetent afloat. Eventually everyone who's competent and/or talented has enough and secludes themselves in a new community until the world crashes and burns and they can return to pick up the pieces.

I just picked up Left Behind at Gamestop with a giftcard I had from Christmas...I remember reading the books, never saw the movies...but I have a feeling it was $4.99 for a reason. Haha. Still, I haven't played it, so I'm curious.

But back to the original post...I totally agree that it's extremely difficult to incorporate a truly Christian concept into entertainment in general without it being boring. However, it IS possible!

I was having this very discussion with another volunteer in a Christian animation project a couple of weeks ago, and we both agreed that the lack of cool, interesting Christian entertainment is exactly why we love our project. It plays out like an epic movie, and it's really fun to watch, and yet it quotes the Bible directly.

I dont know any of these "Christian Games" to be honest...

oh I suddenly remember one of them! but it was the opposite of a religious game,
it was a game with biblical characters fighting eachother lol.

but im more a fan of shooters so...
I guess its real hard making a shooter based on religion / christianity

bye,
Thomas.

Thomas the Atheist said:

I guess its real hard making a shooter based on religion / christianity

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Yeah, like this one old Wolfenstein 3D clone based on fighting demons from Hell that flopped.

Blackguard_ said:

Yeah, like this one old Wolfenstein 3D clone based on fighting demons from Hell that flopped.

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Because as every good Christian knows, the power of Christ's got nothing on a BOOMSTICK

Sapphyre Left Behind game was released back in Nov. 2006 and it was a so, so, stragety game.
They Christian game developers should work on making some more adult orienated games aside from Left Behind game I have never found a Christian video game that was really designed to appeal people over age of 10 or 12. Now I have encounter quite of few that claim they are for adults but once you look into it you realize is geared for kids and no teenager would want play. Also just so we are clear I think it's that they make christian video games for kids but I really wish these developers and these game few fans would stop trying to guilt Christian adult gamers into playing games that aren't made for them.

Yeah they are unfortunately very bad. And the company that produced most of them for the NES, Wisdom Tree, really didn't make a great example. They released unlicensed and unauthorized games.

Christian entertainment, whether film, game, or literature, fails on one major premise: its purpose.

If a game designer is looking to create a game to entertain Christians, then they overdo the Christian and it becomes not fun. I will admit to tirelessly playing a game called Captain Bible back in the MS-DOS days, though more for the puzzling levels rather than the Scriptural content. Is it fully necessary for Christians to have an alternative which has Bible verses thrown out every six seconds? It's like a Star Wars movie which focuses entirely on lightsaber battles and none of the philosophy of the Force or any of the other facets which make that verse interesting (well, to me, lol)

For ministry, they double fail, because they try to focus on ministering and there goes all the fun! Best I can equate this to is Christian film. Fireproof and the Left Behind series, it's all made for whatever reason and lacks any sort of decent storyline and falls flat on its face.

The line needs to be drawn, but where? Something like Bioshock that shows a system of beliefs gone wrong and you attempt to right it enough to survive, teaching the values enough to right it and perhaps raise curiosity in the right way? Whatever it is, it needs to be entertaining first and theological second. Blasphemous? No, just pertaining to the concept of ENTERTAINMENT. Without entertainment, it has no place being called a 'game' and the purpose is lost right there!

i haven't found any good ones someone should make a good one