Andrew Armstrong is the sole developer behind Fermenter Games, and creator of the spectacular Christian indie game, David.
Listen in as we discuss everything from finding faith to the sinfully-delicious power of bacon on this episode of Video Games and the Bible Live!
Buy David.! (Steam)
Thanks again to Elijah Elmasri (AKA “edouble1b“) for the awesome music.
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Kaiju-a-GoGo* fulfills the promise of classic games such as Rampage or War of the Monsters by giving you control of a customizable monster (or “Kaiju”), and an entire world to conquer.
I had the chance to speak with the Lead Designer of the game, Martin Cirulis. In the video above, you’ll learn about his history in the video game industry, the founding of Kerberos Productions, and how Kaiju-a-GoGo became the unique title it is today.
Destroying Sydney…
Gameplay in Kaiju-a-GoGo consists of tearing apart buildings and historical monuments, stomping on civilians, and fighting the Kaiju Defense Force (KDF) in locations around the globe. Resources gained from battle/surrendered cities are used to upgrade your secret island base and Kaiju. Each Kaiju has 90+ unique abilities, so playthroughs can be wildly different depending on the player.
All actions are performed with mouse clicks, simplifying the controls for less experienced gamers. Early on, destroying cities, taking over territory, and etc. can feel difficult as your underpowered monster tackles a far-more advanced military presence. This and the strategy required to conquer the planet without being found/destroyed by the KDF raises the recommended skill level higher than the graphics and control scheme would suggest.
Eventually though, through smart fighting, upgrading and construction, your mad scientist can rule the world!
The World Map contains locations both iconic (London) and slightly more esoteric (Albuquerque, New Mexico).
Two additional downloadable monsters (Shrubby and Armagordon) are coming to the game in the near future. As these monsters are added, the price of Kaiju-a-GoGo will go up by $1 per Kaiju until it hits its final price point.
Potential Concerns:
In Kaiju-a-GoGo, YOU are the “bad guy” trying to take over the world. You do this by attacking (or threatening to attack) a city and its inhabitants until they surrender. Graphic violence or destruction is not depicted.
I spoke with one of the developers after the interview above to see whether further concerns exist. She gave me an insight into how far the team went to be inclusive:
From what I’ve seen, even significant regional religious sites (for Christianity and otherwise) are for the most part spared…
Buy Now! (Steam)
Buy Now! (Direct from Developer)
The audio version of our article on diversity and the depiction of Christianity in gaming and its culture is now available! You can read the article and download the audio here, or simply listen below:
The audio version of our article on video game violence, hype, Max Payne and Romans 16:19 is now available! You can read the article and download the audio here, or simply listen below:
SteamWorld Dig* (SWD) gameplay from the Video Games and the Bible YouTube channel:
SteamWorld Dig is a wonderfully absorbing Metroidvania set in a unique steam-powered world.
Rusty, the hero of SteamWorld Dig, swinging his pickaxe.
Every Wednesday from 2-4 PM EDT, I (Nelson) co-host a live, non-religious gaming talk show called Beta Wave Radio. Conversations range from serious to silly, but the purpose is always to show the human side of the people behind the games that we play.
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This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg Johnson, the lead game designer behind titles such as Starflight, Doki Doki Universe and the ToeJam & Earl series. An industry veteran with passions ranging from old-school funk to touching humanity through play, Greg is currently Kickstarting the next ToeJam and Earl entry.
As of the the time of this writing, their Kickstarter campaign has 4 days left to raise roughly $55,000. If you can, support the newest ToeJam and Earl on Kickstarter NOW and listen to the full audio interview below:
(Download) Humanity–A Conversation with Greg Johnson
Thanks to Greg and the ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove team for allowing us to use some of their funky jams!
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Audio Version:
VGB Audio Editorial–Religion Has Hurt People–Christianity and Diversity in Gaming (Download)
At what point does stating your beliefs in a manner more palatable to a secular culture equate to watering down your message?
I ask because this is a question I personally wrestle with every day.
Diversity is currently a hot topic in gaming. Discussions on how to better create LGBT characters, strong women and non-stereotypical people of color dominate the industry–and it makes sense. People of all backgrounds and lifestyles are contributing to video games both financially and creatively. Additionally, with the advent of the internet and social media, communities of previously less-recognized groups can form and be heard.
However, commentators and the games industry in general have almost totally neglected one area of diversity–that of faith and religion (especially Christianity).
There are undoubtedly numerous factors to this, and yet, I think one thing can’t be denied: Religion (particularly rote religion that relies on law rather than faith and personal liberty) has hurt people. The Binding of Isaac and the story of its creation alone is ample evidence of that.
“…the other side of my family was a bit more harsh in their views on the Bible; I was many times told I was going to hell for playing Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering (in fact, they took my MtG cards away from me), and generally condemned me for my sins…” (Edmund McMillen, creator of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Gamasutra Postmortem)
Many in the game industry have had negative experiences with religion (as in the case of Edmund McMillen, creator of The Binding of Isaac). As a born-again Christian, I’VE been hurt by members of the faith, as has every brother/sister in Christ that I have spoken to.
The “crusades” of those bearing the banner of Christianity in video games, whether against the medium or to create unfortunately mediocre products certainly hasn’t helped, either.
So, we’re now at a point where stellar products are being made by Christians for audiences both believing and non. Websites speaking about video games from our perspective while encouraging audiences to choose what is right for their families thrive. And yet, “Christian” remains a dirty word in gaming.
Christianity, its symbols, terms and scripture are often used to quickly define video game opponents as insane, psychotic and evil. Events and elements essential to our faith are regularly appropriated, or used in casual conversation as a running gag.
Taking elements of Christianity and using them (let alone in a negative light) is not seen as cultural appropriation the same way that perhaps, Ben Esposito encountered with the original version of Donut County. Those born in North America, at least, have been raised in societies espousing largely Judeo-Christian worldviews most of their lives. So, using this worldview in fiction, whether reinterpreting it or outright mocking it, seems natural–like an adult laughing off a nightmare from their youth.
When working on the original version of what would come to be called Donut County, Ben Esposito stated that it was “Drawing from Hopi folklore.” That was in 2013.
At this year’s Game Developers Conference, he had something different to say.
Rock Paper Shotgun covered the talk:
““There’s no such thing as Hopi folklore,” he told a packed crowd at this week’s session. “It’s a religion. It’s not cool to be ‘drawing’ from that.””
As the article goes on, Ben pinpoints the exact moment when things changed for him:
“After talking to people of the tribe for a while, listening to them about their art and their stories, he had his apocalyptic moment.
“They’re people.”
What had been a project, part faithful desire to tell unknown tales, part desire to prove someone wrong, he realised, was actually the real-life stories of real-life people. “And I was not treating them [that] way,” he admitted with humility.
“A lot of what I was doing was hurting them. I couldn’t do it justice, because they didn’t want me to do it justice.”…”
Yet further on:
““Research does not equal lived experience,” he said in conclusion. Before adding something pretty damned wise. “Folks are not trying to silence you by telling you you’re trying to silence them.”
I love Esposito’s story. I want to defend him, champion him for his good intentions, his benevolent desire to communicate something. And I struggle along to the same conclusions, that sometimes a story is not your story to tell. “If it’s really important to tell someone’s narrative,” he adds, “let them tell it.”
If someone is not in a position to tell their story, maybe look at ways to help it get told. But don’t assume it’s yours to tell.
“When you get called out,” Esposito finished, “shut up and listen. Examine your position. Learn from them. Learn to shut up.”“
Donut County is now “set in the place Esposito lives, telling the stories he’s involved in.“
I’m not saying that the game industry as a whole is hostile to all Christians–I’ve personally been received pretty well, thus far. I’m saying that there’s a bias–an echo chamber of thought partially created by the absence of Christian developers and the silence of those in the industry already.
In an age of interest in “diversity” and “equality,” a gigantic community doesn’t speak, isn’t heard (or worse yet, only the negative segments are recognized) and is afraid to speak in the interests of their people for fear of censure. In an age of “diversity” and “equality,” I’m afraid to speak, for fear of losing the respect and support of my non-religious peers. Proverbs 29:25 says:
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”
I understand this verse intellectually, but…I want to be a voice for my people. To show how our beliefs and perspective can not only lead to greater accessibility and diversity, but improved products and a better industry as well. I want to show that reducing “Christian” to a label meaning a hypocritical, occasionally dangerous jerk or a title of poor quality hurts gaming as a whole.
So, when yet another joke is made at the expense of people of faith, or yet another antagonist is defined by their parroting of the words “salvation” and “sin,” the thought occurs to me:
In a time where everyone can “broadcast” their beliefs, worldview and opinions, many have stopped listening…And many more have stopped speaking.
We can not stop.
In a time of “diversity” and “equality,” ours is a voice worth hearing.
Defense Grid 2* (DG2) gameplay from the Video Games and the Bible YouTube channel:
A screenshot of the article…
Our brothers in Christ and friends over at Relevant Gaming recently featured Video Games and the Bible as part of their initiative to highlight a worthy site every month. A few quotes:
“Whenever I find a new Christian gaming site, I approach with caution. You just don’t know what people believe and sometimes it’s hard to tell if they’re speaking the truth with just a courtesy browse of their site. So when Nelson from VGAB approached me about becoming one of our featured gamers for 2015 you can understand my caution. I would say that I probably read more articles on VGAB than any other site recently just to make sure I could trust the gospel that Nelson is preaching…”
“In my opinion VGAB is a site on a mission. That mission is to reach the lost for Jesus. From anywhere on VGAB you can navigate to a video by Pastor Mike Hoggard it will clearly present the plan of salvation for you. The entire video is of note, but seems most personal from 51:00 to 55:00.
The plan of salvation is not the only thing you can find on VGAB there is also a section called Biblical Examinations. In these articles Nelson examines the latest games and explores the use of Biblical references in those games in an attempt to answer several important questions…”
When you exist in an environment that’s often hostile to your beliefs, it is easy to think that you work in a vacuum–that you are alone. So, this encouragement means a great deal to me.
You can read the full article about our site here, and read more of Relevant Gaming’s news, reviews and editorials here.
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17 20-23)
Audio Version:
VGB Audio Editorial–Max Payne, Violence & Comfort in Romans 16-19 (Download)
I’m a hardboiled ex-cop with nothing left to lose. Wearing a black leather jacket and an expression somewhere between a cynical smirk and extreme constipation, I stop just outside the smooth, heavy pair of wooden doors and wait. On the other side a drug deal is being conducted–the same blood-soaked business that tore my wife and infant child out of my life and reduced them to a couple of carcasses staining the ragged carpet of our New York home.
I shouldn’t even be here–the dozens of bodies left in my wake are a testament to that fact–but these men…They murdered my family.
Their business just became mine.
*quicksave*
I break the door like it was a piece of flimsy cardboard, firing twin Berettas faster than should be humanly possible. Before I can take out a single man, one of the thugs keeping watch steps out of the shadows and fills my face with buckshot.
*quickload*
I equip a sawed-off shotgun, taking out two thugs in quick succession, watching their bodies ragdoll across the table before another goon fills my face with hot lead.
*quickload*
I dive through the doors, time slowing to a crawl. I still “die,” but at least I feel the satisfaction of reducing one of the thugs heads into a neat blood spatter. I continue firing into his corpse before I turn into one myself.
*quickload*
Headshot.
*quickload*
Three dead.
*quickload*
Stupid mistake.
*quickload*
*quickload*
*quickload*
I don’t care about “winning” anymore.
Dive…Shoot…Reload…Dive…Molotov…Chaos…Muffled cries…
Silence.
*quicksave*
I’m angry.
*quicksave*
I’m not angry at the game. At least, not anymore.
*quicksave*
I’m angry at myself.
Why does every headshot, every victory, every body blown 6 feet in the air with every roar of my shotgun fill me with…guilt?
I knew Max Payne (noir third-person shooter classic, released in 2001) by reputation. It’s often hailed as an example of the “good old days” of gaming, where the “entertainment” of the player is the priority above all else. My first encounter with it certainly matches this description.
Shots travel in slow-motion, shattering plaster around my head as I dive across the hallway, guns blazing. The unique thrill of a room cleared in a cacophony of bullets while remaining unscathed…For the first time in my gaming experience I participated in pure, unadulterated, artfully-rendered violence–and it felt good.
And then, in the calm after the gunfire, in the midst of the bodies left behind…In the unguarded moments after the hail of bloodshed, my thoughts began to race.
“Why have I never felt this way mowing down armies of faceless soldiers in Call of Duty or Battlefield?”
“I’m going through a time of stress and uncertainty in my life–this is supposed to be cathartic, right?”
“Then why–why does this ‘pleasure’ make me feel…sick?”
“I have liberty, I spent good money, I need to just play.”
“This is wrong. It feels…wrong.”
“This is double-minded.”
“THIS is a classic.”
I race into the next room, attempting to drown out the noise of my uneasy condemnation in a rain of falling shells.
*quicksave*
*pause*
Certain titles from gaming’s past are seen as essential stepping stones to the games made today–Deus Ex, Doom, Max Payne, etc. There is an expectation as a gamer that you NEED to play these titles to not only appreciate our past, but the industry today as well. It’s easy to feel left out, even looked down upon if you don’t buy into the “hype” cycle–either for gaming classics or the latest blockbuster (such as Far Cry 4).
Romans 16:19 says:
“For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.”
“For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18)
My time with Max Payne gave me comfort in these verses. The comfort that, just because a game is celebrated, it does not make you less than if choosing not to play it.
No one should have to violate their beliefs to be a gamer.
*Quit*
Video Games and the Bible 