For those interested, I recently wrote the first installment of a monthly column for GameSetWatch.com about gaming, religion, spirituality and morality. It’s called Not Beyond Belief – How Religion And Gaming Interact and was recently republished at Gamasutra, a slightly bigger industry-focused web site. The discussion going on there is absolutely fascinating. I suggest you check it out.

Avatar for Richard Clark

Richard Clark

Richard Clark is the Founding Editor of Christ and Pop Culture. He is also the managing editor of Gamechurch and a freelance writer for Unwinnable, Paste, and other outlets. He lives with his wife in Louisville, KY and has a MA in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Twitter Facebook

5 Comments

  1. Probably the best example I can remember of a computer game which dealt with religion was “Ultima IV”. I never had the patience to play the game as it was meant to be played, but I wandered around the game from town to town, castle to castle, and spoke with the characters at length. The game mixed aspects of different religions into what could have, if fleshed out, been followed as an actual (albeit false) religion. Another game that dealt with religion, but not as in depth as “Ultima IV”, was “Below the Root”.

    Reply

  2. Really, the best bet for creating a “Christian” video game would be to create an interactive story with a fully Catholic mythos: churches, priests, relics, icons, prayers to saints, absolutions, oblations, indulgences, crusades, pilgrimages, etc. You could incorporate demons and witches and monsters (because medieval Christians believed in many of these, and many modern-day Christians, both Cahtholic and non-, still do). Some aspects of interactive gaming might seem ridiculous, if not outright blasphemous. Would you have a “faith” meter? How do you work instantaneous healing into the game (healing springs, prayers to saints, visits to shrines, etc.)? Of course, in “Ultima IV”, one earned the eighth by completing various tasks, but one never knew how close a member of the party was to earning to eighth (and earning all eight would turn one into an Avatar).

    Reply

  4. @Luca,

    Thanks for your comment. We here at Christ and Pop Culture certainly believe the way you treat others is extremely important. I am just not sure how that would get you into heaven. How could you be good enough to “guarantee” that you were going there? We all try to be good to others, but we all do it imperfectly. So, we believe the only hope we have is if someone else, who loved perfectly, stood in our place before God. We trust Jesus to get us into heaven, not our own goodness.

    Reply

Comments are now closed for this article.