So, what's the current status of Christian games?

[Chosen Raven]

Are they...good? Can they compare with secular games? I ask this because the thing I remember most about Christian games was their sheer awfulness. Except for Exodus on the NES. That was fun.

The newest Christian game, The Bible Game for the PS2, hasn't given me much hope that things have improved....

[skynes]

There are a few good Christian games out there.

Walls of Jericho is an ok puzzle game. You can actually buy it off the likes of GameHouse and Shockwave.

http://www.heaventhegame.com looked good but I haven't heard anything of that in aaages.

http://www.twoguyssoftware.ca/ Eternal War, I have played and I liked it, but my monitor couldnt show it right :'( It's got Doom graphics, and lots of demon smiting.

[Tommy]

I`d like to see a game based on Biblical wars such as the isrealites vs. the assyrians. My parents said I could get if it came out and if they decided to give it their own rating, the would give it an M which wouldn`t come close to what that war would really be like.

I think a Christian RPG would be cool if they made like a medevil story with Bibical references. I don`t want to see a turnbased game with Noah collected animals on the ark.

I still have Exodus on the GB. Great game.

[Yojimbo]

Yeah the Israelites journey journey through the desert to the Promised Land would be make a great strategy game akin to the Total War games or something.

[Tommy]

Irealites Vs. Assyrians would make a good game with a Dynasty Warrior style.

[TheMelodyMaker]

Are they...good? Can they compare with secular games?

I hope so...I'm doing the best I can from my end, anyway.

[Fireproof]

I think a game based on the book of Judges could make it. 3rd person hack-n-slash, bu no blood and gore. Hmm... Dynasty Warriors type action, but Biblically based. If it were in good enough disguise, it could make it in the mainstream market.

[LorentzForce]

I'm working on one. And so are many Christians around, I'm sure.

[Fireproof]

You know what would work very well? A secular game infused with Christian values, morals, and viewpoints, but it'd be merketed as a normal game. And it'd be subtle, so it wouldn't turn people away immediately.

[Bobtheduck]

That's about what I was saying, Fireproof! In fact, my big spiel is on here somewhere... I don't know where, though... It will be in my big book of me called That One Guy which will be in stores julyuary 45th, the year of the apocalypse... Or when I get done and if I decide to sell it at all, whichever... Otherwise I'll just upload a PDF somewhere... Anyhow...

However, a game based on Judges with no blood and gore? Excuse me while I read the account of Ehud and laugh myself to sleep. Yeah, actually, I don't believe in making games based on biblical stories, because the outcome is essentially set in stone... I would make a fantasy or quasi-realistic (or ENTIRELY realistic) or spiritual sort of game that would be alegorical or "infused with Christian Values" I would like to make either an RPG or an interactive movie. It really takes a lot of "decheesing" and a very insightful editing team to be able to have a serious Christian game...

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

No, Christian games aren't up to par with secular games but that would have to do partly with a lack of funding to develop ideas they have.
Eternal War and Ominous Horizons are the only decent Christian games I've played, but they are FPS and that lack of ingenuity is boring for me after a couple games. Gameplay is what counts.

[MasterDias]

See, here's the whole problem.
Christian developers will probably either:

A. Make a game steeped in Christian values but the rest of the Christian populace views it as "too violent."

or

B. Make a game so terribly inoffensive that Christian parents and organizations seem to love it, but the gameplay is so terrible that no one will play it.

or even

C. Make a game where you run around collecting crosses, answering Bible questions a 4-yr old could answer, and shooting "Bible blasts" at people to "convert" them while variations of the Hallelujah Chorus play in the background.
Then sell it online for too much money and claim that no one likes "Christian" games when it doesn't sell...

Until some sort of a compromise is reached, Christian games are not going to be very successful...

[skynes]

I would go for number A. Mainly cause I couldn't care less what the rest of the Christian populace says, most of what they say is trash anyway. Ooo Christian Rock is EVIL it'll corrupt your mind and make you a satanist.... please.

Make a game and aim it at a particular rating. If you're aiming teenage, then make it teenage standard. If parents complain it's not child friendly, tough. It wasn't meant to be.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I agree Skynes. A is the best option but I can see B and C being the ones that would be made or are being made. Sadly.

[Chosen Raven]

You know what would work very well? A secular game infused with Christian values, morals, and viewpoints, but it'd be merketed as a normal game. And it'd be subtle, so it wouldn't turn people away immediately.

That is exactly what we need. How can we expect a game that starts out as a sermon to hold the attention to those who aren't Christians? Games like that might as well have a lable on them that reads "By Christians, for Christians". We need to be "wise as serpents", we need to be sneaky.

Yeah, actually, I don't believe in making games based on biblical stories, because the outcome is essentially set in stone... I would make a fantasy or quasi-realistic (or ENTIRELY realistic) or spiritual sort of game that would be alegorical or "infused with Christian Values" I would like to make either an RPG or an interactive movie. It really takes a lot of "decheesing" and a very insightful editing team to be able to have a serious Christian game...

Yeah, Christians need to be more creative than to constantly take their ideas from Bible stories. We need Christian fantasy/sci-fi/horror games. Makers of these games also need to realize that gamers like violence. Now, by violence I don't mean gory hack n' slash stuff(though I think those are fine too....DMC3 is teh awesomeness), I mean minor violence like punching and kicking, and blowing stuff up. A majority of gamers are over the age of 18. They don't need to be dealt with as if they were kids.

No, Christian games aren't up to par with secular games but that would have to do partly with a lack of funding to develop ideas they have.

Another obstacle to the development of high-quality Christian-made games. There are plenty of big Christian organizations out there that could fund the making of a game, but would refuse if it wasn't in-your-face Christian, or if it had even the smallest amount of violence.

The current crop of Christian developed games(the ones sold in stores) have done nothing but make Christians look like Ned Flanders, thus making us a laughingstock and pushing people further away.

Sadly, I think our only hope is for the current generation of Christian gamers to infiltrate the industry. I don't really see that happening for at least 5-10 years, though. But I think it will happen....eventually.

[uc pseudonym]

As others have said... no. Not really. There isn't anyone with funding to come close to the cutting edge in secular entertainment, and I'm afraid I am currently not impressed by most of the design. I do see a number of people making efforts to the contrary, but as of yet nothing has been produced.

Actually, I feel that MasterDias' conundrum is one that is inescapable: any compromise will still be hated by many (even for ordinary games). Instead of trying to make everyone happy, I think we should focus upon what our objective truly is. Are we trying to make games for the Christian mainstream to play, or Christian games for secular gamers? I suspect answers would differ...

Personally, I think that most genres have no hope for "Christian games." What exactly is a Christian platformer? Unless it is one of those that tries for a plot, there is essentially no philosophy whatsoever. What is there to be "Christian?" On the other hand, I feel the rpg genre is an excellant path to explore. Almost all rpgs have some underlying philosophies (even if the creators do not have an agenda to push them), and Christians could easily create their own rpgs with an intentionally Christian worldview. However, I do feel it requires some intellectual effort to make a good rpg with said qualities.

[Tommy]

I feel that Lord Of the Rings has those values, but it was a book, then a movie, then a videogame.

Fireproof beat me to it. I was about to say the same thing with the Dynasty Warriors post but I figured you guys would come out and tell me there were already videogames with those morals so I kept my mouth shut.

[skynes]

I want to get into the Computer game industry and I want to make games with Christian messages. My general outlook is this:

You cannot make a game chock full of Christianity, otherwise it becomes a sermon, not a game.
However if you took just one concept, say for example that hatred corrupts and consumes you and eventually kills you, and that forgiving others is a much better solution. Focus a game on just that single concept. If you make a cracker game, ppl will buy MORE of your games, which will have new messages and new concepts.

The game alone cannot save anyone. The game used as a tool by God and by Christians, that stands a much better chance of helping someone to Christ.


In my experience, the Christians who take a no-violence, no-gore, soft cushy game attitude are the ones who want Christians to completely 100% separate themselves from Unbelievers, only coming into contact long enough to preach the Gospel then race off back to their cardboard box surrounded by traditional hymns playing.



I think that Eternal War is good. In it, demons gibb. I.e. you shoot them, they blow up into Quake style pieces. It isn't the most graphically impressive game, but I think it's a very good first step toward games that will actually make a difference!

[Tommy]

Explain Eternal War.

I have to say Spiritual Warfare for the GBA was a good game.

[Shia Kyosuka]

If I were to make an Isreal Online game... would I have any helpers?

The idea just popped into my mind and I already have many ideas for it.

[Bobtheduck]

Oh, another concept I don't really want to see in Christian games: Angels and Demons. There are like 100 games out there like that... Most of them FPS... Yay I killed a demon... Wait, I can do the same thing in this game, and they look more interesting and I get to use magic and there's that sexy babe I have to rescue from the lord of darkness and that corrupt priest... Hmm... Our games need to be more interesting, not less... (though I'm not suggesting we lure people with "sexy babes" I'm just saying...)

Yeah, actually the angel and demon thing COULD work provided you took it out of the realm of traditional thought (which is probably not all that accurate anyhow) But I think it would be better to have something more like "Angels and humans and demons" where someone can view what's taking place spiritually, and his or her actions are what decide the outcomes... I just think the angels shouldn't be the white winged male supermodels or body builders, and the demons shouldn't be the batwinged sort of rough skinned (or scaled) humans... As spirits, I think that in most situations, they wouldn't be anthropomorphic at all... I think if one were to see them in most cases as something they recognize, it would be VERY unhuman... The description that was in Isaiah, I think, didn't really suggest a human form, people just assumed it because they TOOK human forms at certain times. That is actually a foundation for a book I'm writing (I'm writing several books at once, since I got stuck on my primary book, The Diamond Spearhead. A friend suggested this tactic to me)

Oh, and spiritual warfare was sorta fun... It was a Zelda knockoff, and Zelda was MORE fun, but it was fun, particularly since I wasn't allowed to play Zelda growing up...

[Tommy]

Anyone ever heard of the Archangel comic book series? Great series, with Christian values and plenty of action. it would make a FANTASTIC video game and/or movie.

[Fireproof]

What we really need is video games with better values. Specifically Christian games almost never fare well, but a secular game with good values could be powerful, yet subtle tool.

[Tommy]

Didn`t you already say that?

I already mentioned how I was going to say that and you beat me to it.

[Fireproof]

Eh. I tweakz0red it a little.

[uc pseudonym]

Anyone ever heard of the Archangel comic book series? Great series, with Christian values and plenty of action. it would make a FANTASTIC video game and/or movie.

I have read the series, and I am a passing fan of it, but I think it would make a much better movie than video game. It could be made into such, but I don't particularly think it lends itself to the medium. However, I do think that its content would make for a good movie.

Having said that, I would like to point out that my post is straying off topic, and remind everyone else that we shouldn't stray further.

[Tommy]

It`s not really that off topic UC, saying a comic with Christian values would make a good movie or video game but your a mod, I`m not so I guess it`s off topic.

[Myoti]

I plan on getting into the game design industry in the future, and a few of my ideas will have some Christian basis to them.

One is to be an FPS, but a very different kind. In thinking of FPSs, I tend to lean towards the Metrois style than most any other kind, as I find it much more unique.
Anyways, in it, the main character is gifted with the ability to see and "exorcise" demons from a host (human and sometime animal), which he can then destroy. Yeah, I had to get that in somewhere and I realize that it'll probably end up all controversial and stuff. Oh, well.
In it, though, the character does have some "inner conflictions" with things he's done in the past, and so he wonders about his trust in God and the such, but in a way that avoids being too "preachy".

I also have an RPG idea based in a Fantasy setting, but ties in many Revelation bits.

Lastly, I have an idea on the book of Joshua. It'd be a sort of hack-n-slasher taking place immediately after the walls of Jericho fall up until the battle of Hazor. Some liberties would have to be taken to make things interesting, but not so much that it goes against the Word.

[Tommy]

I always thought a Spirtual Warfare remake for the PS2 and a detailed storyline would rock.

[Fireproof]

My other idea for a Christian game is a squad-based combat game. Here's the story: A genetic experiment goes awry and creates horribly mutated creatures which soon become inhabited by authentic demons. The posessed creatures try to lay waste to human kind, but hope is not lost. A squad of combat experts must track down the abominations and have their resident priest excorcize the evil spirits in them. The rest of the group and stun and disable them with conventional weapons, but only the priest can truly destory them. Adding to the depth, innocent civilians can only see the demons and flee if they believe they exist, adding preaching to the mix.