There’s a new kind of hero. He leads dangerous journeys to rescue lost souls held captive by evil hordes in the city of bondage.
He walks through dusty streets into dark alleyways toward the city’s only bright place — the Well of Living Water. Along the way, the hero assembles a posse of biblical characters.
The quest doesn’t take place in a comic book, action movie or video game. It’s all in a religious board game called “Redemption.”
Religious board games were some of the best-selling religious gifts this past holiday season. Some of the most popular games included Bible trivia, action games such as “Redemption” and New Age games with questions to boost self-knowledge.
What’s more surprising than religion being transformed into games is that board games are thriving in the era of video games.
In 2000, video game sales in the United States dropped 6 percent to $5.1 billion while board game sales jumped 11 percent to $423 million, according to industry reports.
About 1 million Christian board games are sold each year. One of the best-known Christian board game companies is the Bible Games Co. in Frederickton, Ohio. Its product line soared from eight games in 1987 to more than 400 today.
“The main reason for the growth is that people of faith want to take it to all aspects of their life,” said Bible Games Co. CEO Ron Zovar.
“So they want it to be in their entertainment too, whether it’s the music they listen to or in a game.”
Playing board games has also enabled busy families to slow down and bond — a trend that has accelerated since Sept. 11.
“Certainly Sept. 11 had an effect on people considering their spirituality and mortality, but even before then there was a general trend toward people finding out where they belong spiritually,” said Lew Herndon, CEO of Talicon Inc. in Chino, Calif., which produces the popular games “Bibleman” and “Left Behind.”
“And these games are helping parents to bring spirituality into their homes.” Herndon said.
A few years ago, some people questioned if spirituality belonged in a board game.
But with more church groups and families using them, religious board games have gained legitimacy.
So biblical alternatives are offered for many major board games. The Christian version of “Trivial Pursuit” is “Bible Baffle” and the alternative to “Monopoly” is “Bibleopoly.”
The Christian adaptation of the game “Risk” is “Missionary Conquest,” where players must fund and then go on evangelical tours. A religious alternative to the popular card game “Uno” is “Amen.” For children, there’s “Bible Charades.”
Other religious games even urge religious discussion.
“What Would Jesus Do: The Game” confronts players with questions about Jesus’ possible reactions to real-life situations.
In the Christian version of “Ungame,” players answer questions such as, “When in your life did you feel closest to God?” and “If you met Jesus today, what two questions would you ask Him?”
Other games have the goal of playing for eternal life.
In the popular Catholic game “Communion of Saints” (catholicchild.com), players accumulate sin, grace and sacraments. The game ends when all of the players have landed on a death square and are sent to heaven or hell.
There’s also the apocalyptic “Left Behind,” a board game based on the popular book series inspired by the Book of Revelation. In the first part of the game, characters accumulate credits for Bible knowledge so they are prepared for the second part of the game when the Antichrist arrives.
(RNS)
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