Creative Gaming

 

Creative Gaming

 

 

            On July 22, 2017 thousands of trainers gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park for the purpose of catching enough Pokemon during the Pokemon GO Fest so that the first Legendary Pokemon would be revealed that day in Grant Park.  The one-year anniversary of Pokemon GO marked the new opportunity to discover and capture a whole new generation of rare and powerful Pokemon.

            Pokemon GO can be played without cost.  Locations around the world host the augmented reality game developed by Niantic.  Players, called Trainers, use smart phones as they explore the physical world in order to find and capture creatures in the world of virtual reality.  During the first year after its release tens of millions of players participated.  “It’s easy to look at Pokemon GO and wonder if the game’s success might underwrite other, less trite or brazenly commercial examples of the genre.” (Bogost).

            Gaming and gamers have always been some of the most creative products and producers in merchandizing history.  James Naismith invented basketball so that YMCA members in Springfield, Massachusetts, would have something to do during New England winters.  Today it is considered to be the second most popular sport in the world after soccer.  Video games like Pong, Space Invaders, Pac Man and Donkey Kong soon evolved into much more complex games like The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Continual improvements in gaming consoles made possible the plethora of offerings available today and coming out weekly.

            DARE to enter the world of creative gaming.

1.      Create a quest game which explores the entirety of Old Testament prophecy to determine the identity of the promised Messiah.  Enter into the world of each of the prophets to determine what they knew about the Coming One.  Introduce the multitude of false biblical interpretations which arise as trails which lead away from the truth.  Winning the game would lead the player to the fulfillment of prophecy in the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

2.      Create an augmented reality game like Pokemon GO where the goal involves revealing (not capturing) biblical characters.  Hebrews 12:1 says that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses,” those who have lived and died in faith.  Use the names and identities of all the men and women of the Bible in the game.  Add to those the names of angels revealed in scripture.  Another level of legendary Spirits could include the names of angels mentioned in literature but not in scripture. 

3.      Sponsor the installation of a life-size chess set in your local park.  Volunteer to give lessons in chess on a regular basis.  Recruit helpers to move the life-size pieces as the players call out their moves through the game. Run tournaments and award prizes for the winners.

4.      Invent a card game based on church history.  Create character cards including famous preachers, missionaries, church musicians, writers and leaders.  List four facts about each person and play the game by collecting a set of four cards, each of which includes one of those important details.

5.      Create a video game based on John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Bring to virtual life the battles Christian faces on his journey to the Celestial City.  Include the journey of Christian’s wife Christiana and their children and incorporate material from Bunyan’s “Holy War,” as well.