Cactus Game Design Message Boards
Open Forum => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Daniel on September 20, 2018, 03:18:05 PM
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I ask all who are interested in the future of biblical gaming to answer this survey! Please reply with your answers of whether you agree or disagree with the following statements. Absolutely feel free to elaborate on the reasons you agree/disagree. Also feel free to skip any questions you don’t care to answer. (also, this is NOT about Redemption).
1. A biblical card game should only contain cards that are explicitly from the Bible.
2. A biblical card game should always be family friendly (meaning no cards that deal with sex/hardcore violence/partial nudity/blasphemy)
3. A biblical card game should use bible verses on all or most cards.
4. A biblical card game would be more fun if it was collectible (rather than a base card game that is bought at once with no randomness).
5. A biblical card game should seek to not offend Jews, Christians, or Muslims (and be tailored towards all three of these religions).
6. A biblical card game should be a ministry tool first, and a game second.
7. A biblical card game should adhere to a conservative/mainline interpretation of scripture.
8. A biblical card game should include demons, witchcraft, and any other magical subject found in the Bible.
9. A biblical card game should separate its Old Testament and New Testament cards so that Jews can play without Christian cards.
10. I would rather play an online BCG than a physical BCG.
11. I would rather see realistic artwork than cartoonish artwork in a BCG.
12. I would have a problem with artistic liberties being taken with biblical subject matter.
Thanks all for your input!
Daniel
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I am not terribly interested in the future of biblical gaming, per se, but as a once-avid consumer of Redemption (a biblical game), I shall answer as best as I can with reasons.
1. Disagree, unless the game is tailored explicitly to be so. Branching out to other extra-biblical times may yield some worthwhile fruit, and staying near the biblical times or near after (Romans in Redemption) has the same result and adds some historical bonuses.
2. This depends on the target audience of your 'biblical game'. But since it is a biblical game, naturally it will skew towards Christian markets, primarily dominated by families. So yes, I agree. R-rated content should be avoided as it has no place in a game marketed toward people who are typically vocally opposed to such things.
3. This depends on the answer to #6. But I disagree.
4. This depends on the person queried, but one of the draws to Redemption to me (especially when I was just starting to play) is the collectible aspect. However, if you're going for a more rigid, strategy-type game geared toward older players, I say avoid this and go the other route.
5. Disagree. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I don't know how you'd tailor a biblical game to Christians and Muslims. They're just fundamentally different. I see offending one or the other inevitable at some point if you try to appease both. I wouldn't really worry about the Jewish side as those that would care likely wouldn't seek out and play such a game. Conjecture, of course.
6. Disagree. A game should be a game first. If I wanted to bring someone to Christ, I would recommend the bible, not a game. This game may be a means of warming someone up to the idea of Christianity, so to speak, but at the end of the day nothing can replace the bible as a ministry tool. If the game is fun to play and designed with gameplay first, you'll have a better chance of hooking people not already in the "Christian" demographic.
7. As that is the generally accepted viewpoint, I would agree. Anything too radical would likely alienate too many people.
8. I wouldn't say it absolutely must, but I don't think it should disclude such things outright, either. This (and #2) is where discretion comes into play.
9. Disagree. If you're looking for a biblical game, I would think it would be all of the bible, not just half.
10. Disagree. I would rather play a physical anything than an online version most of the time (See: Redemption).
11. This depends heavily on the target audience. I would agree both can have merits if done well, but I lean toward a mix of the two (See: CoW Moses art for what I consider a good blend of realism/cartoon). If you're going less toward kids, I would steer away from cartoons as anything too childish will be panned. Can't go wrong with the artful (albeit expensive) comic-book style.
12. I disagree and agree. You would have to provide an example of what you have in mind. If it's something extra-biblical involving biblical characters, like Samson, Joshua, and David's mighty men being resurrected to fight demons in a present-day age, I think that would be awesome! If it's something that's supposed to be strictly bible-based, then it would need to be done really well and also not mislead or give any wrong ideas about the bible. The Noah movie is a good example of how to fail at this. I'll put it another way- I can enjoy the music of JC: Superstar and can appreciate the ideas of The Last Temptation of Christ while at the same time disagreeing with much that is portrayed by both depictions.
Take all that for what it's worth. I'm aware I probably represent a small minority of players here. :2cents:
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1. A biblical card game should only contain cards that are explicitly from the Bible.
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on the intent of the game. If #6 is true then I AGREE with this statement.
2. A biblical card game should always be family friendly (meaning no cards that deal with sex/hardcore violence/partial nudity/blasphemy)
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on the target audience of the game.
3. A biblical card game should use bible verses on all or most cards.
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on the intent of the game. If #6 is true then I AGREE with this statement.
4. A biblical card game would be more fun if it was collectible (rather than a base card game that is bought at once with no randomness).
/ BOTH are fun.
5. A biblical card game should seek to not offend Jews, Christians, or Muslims (and be tailored towards all three of these religions).
/ AGREE if you are going to make an OT only game. DISAGREE if you are going to make an OT & NT game.
6. A biblical card game should be a ministry tool first, and a game second.
/ AGREE if that is the purpose of the game. This is the way I approach Redemption in our local setting.
7. A biblical card game should adhere to a conservative/mainline interpretation of scripture.
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on your target audience. Making a game palatable for your audience is a must.
8. A biblical card game should include demons, witchcraft, and any other magical subject found in the Bible.
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on your target audience.
9. A biblical card game should separate its Old Testament and New Testament cards so that Jews can play without Christian cards.
/ AGREE or DISAGREE depending on your answer to #5.
10. I would rather play an online BCG than a physical BCG.
/ BOTH are fun.
11. I would rather see realistic artwork than cartoonish artwork in a BCG.
/ BOTH are good and depend heavily on your target audience.
12. I would have a problem with artistic liberties being taken with biblical subject matter.
/ AGREE if the point is to portray the Bible accurately. DISAGREE if the point is something else.
I feel like I gave the politically correct answers here but this is truly how I feel. If I was the one making the game it would probably look a lot like Redemption with fewer artistic liberties (i.e. Angel Wars tie in) as well as only including Characters explicitly mentioned in the Bible (i.e. Angel Wars and other extra biblical figures in the game like St. Patrick). I guess mostly I just don't like Angel Wars. I would also make it something playable online as well as in person which means I would probably do a lot more keywording of cards and make abilities more simplistic in nature. That's it.
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Send me a message to remind me to write out answers to this if I don't in a day or two. I'd love to think through these questions.
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Send me a message to remind me to write out answers to this if I don't in a day or two. I'd love to think through these questions.
Will do! Thanks!
And thanks for the responses so far! As a side note, I want to emphasize that this survey is less about a theoretical audience and more about what YOUR personal preferences would be if you were to play a new BCG
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Send me a message to remind me to write out answers to this if I don't in a day or two. I'd love to think through these questions.
Will do! Thanks!
And thanks for the responses so far! As a side note, I want to emphasize that this survey is less about a theoretical audience and more about what YOUR personal preferences would be if you were to play a new BCG
This is why I summarized my thoughts at the bottom on my response. I saw all of the AGREE and DISAGREE answers in my individual response and got a little annoyed with myself.
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1. A biblical card game should only contain cards that are explicitly from the Bible.
Neutral
2. A biblical card game should always be family friendly (meaning no cards that deal with sex/hardcore violence/partial nudity/blasphemy)
Disagree
3. A biblical card game should use bible verses on all or most cards.
Neutral
4. A biblical card game would be more fun if it was collectible (rather than a base card game that is bought at once with no randomness).
Agree
5. A biblical card game should seek to not offend Jews, Christians, or Muslims (and be tailored towards all three of these religions).
Agree, include New Testament however.
6. A biblical card game should be a ministry tool first, and a game second.
Hard Disagree
7. A biblical card game should adhere to a conservative/mainline interpretation of scripture.
A biblical card game should take scripture at face value
8. A biblical card game should include demons, witchcraft, and any other magical subject found in the Bible.
Hard Agree
9. A biblical card game should separate its Old Testament and New Testament cards so that Jews can play without Christian cards.
Neutral
10. I would rather play an online BCG than a physical BCG.
Hard Disagree
11. I would rather see realistic artwork than cartoonish artwork in a BCG.
Soft Agree
12. I would have a problem with artistic liberties being taken with biblical subject matter.
Clarification needed.
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BCG - Biblical Card Game Survey
1. A biblical card game should only contain cards that are explicitly from the Bible.
**Disagree**. If the game involves any sort of artistic license/historical fiction-style story, there could very well be characters and other things that could be present. _Noah: Man of Destiny_ and its sequels are an example of a fictional story that aims to stay true to the text but is pretty much completely fiction, in a way that gets readers to more deeply understand and think about the Biblical record. I suppose I would only be interested in *Christian* games (as opposed to *Biblical*) which portray everything in the game through a faithful and reverent reading of Scripture.
2. A biblical card game should always be family friendly (meaning no cards that deal with sex/hardcore violence/partial nudity/blasphemy)
**Somewhat**. This depends on the target audience of the game. Different games could deal with any issues present in Scripture, but should do so in a mature way, that is, not for the sake of having these things, but to teach and represent the Bible faithfully and handle them as seriously as the Bible does.
3. A biblical card game should use bible verses on all or most cards.
**Disagree**. I don't think this is necessary. It could make sense for some games but not others. I am personally a bit disappointed when I see Redemption material that says "we aim to put the best verse reference on each card!" - like, okay that's fine but do you also try and make it a great game?
4. A biblical card game would be more fun if it was collectible (rather than a base card game that is bought at once with no randomness).
**Depends** on the game, I suppose.
5. A biblical card game should seek to not offend Jews, Christians, or Muslims (and be tailored towards all three of these religions).
**Disagree?**. It should seek to not offend anyone *more than a clear reading of the Bible already would*. As for the disagree, the game should be tailored to everybody, really, but not necessarily in a way that is specifically aimed for.
6. A biblical card game should be a ministry tool first, and a game second.
**Disagree**. No problem with designing something that's primary goal is to be a ministry tool, but it's not required.
7. A biblical card game should adhere to a conservative/mainline interpretation of scripture.
**Agree?**. I suppose Red worded it well. Take Scripture at face value and faithfully represent the Bible.
8. A biblical card game should include demons, witchcraft, and any other magical subject found in the Bible.
**Disagree/not necessarily**. If it's relevant to the game to include a faithful representation of what the Bible includes about these things, then include it. But the game might not touch on these things at all if it's not relevant.
9. A biblical card game should separate its Old Testament and New Testament cards so that Jews can play without Christian cards.
**Disagree**.
10. I would rather play an online BCG than a physical BCG.
**Disagree**. Different formats may appeal to different people. I would probably be drawn to a physical game over digital.
11. I would rather see realistic artwork than cartoonish artwork in a BCG.
**Not Necessarily**. Different art styles may fit well with some games more than others.
12. I would have a problem with artistic liberties being taken with biblical subject matter.
**Disagree** as long as a faithful reading of the Bible is still there. I would have very much have a problem with twisting Scripture if that's what the question is leaning towards.