Andrew Harmon, designer of Portals and Prophets, discusses religious themed games.
Andrew designed a time travel game with a Biblical theme, and we talk the ins and outs of how to bring a religious themed game to life. We also talk about how not to offend too many people along the way.
Also, Andrew’s game is out on Kickstarter right now. Check it out here.
4 comments on “Creating Religious Themed Games with Andrew Harmon”
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Thanks for having me on, Gabe. 🙂
Gabe,
Having spent the time to review/analyze more than 100 Christian-events inspired games which all failed, I was quite pleased to see a well-designed/developed game that had a strong Christian theme which didn’t alienate non-Christians.
Andrew sounds as tho9ugh he has a passion for game design. His comments about why people are turned off by “Christian” games is spot-on…as it will absolutely attract some people but unless the game is really good, you’ll keep many, many others away.
Gabe, you made a great point regarding Freedom: The Underground Railroad. I absolutely love the game but it’s an emotionally draining game, as well. When you can abstract the “evil” element it’s the best of design because you, the player, can perform the heroic actions.
Andrew’s comment, which has been underscored by you, Gabe on countless occasions, is “make a great game.” If you don’t get that right, the cool theme, clever mechanics, or anything you want to do in the game will not matter at all.
As always…great interview!
Cheers,
Joe
This was a very interesting conversation that reached wider than just game design. I really appreciated the frank discussion about integrity of music, art and design, and the phenomenon
of some exploiting the Christian label to pull in an audience for mediocre creations. I don’t claim any particular religion myself, and admittedly wouldn’t jump at a game marketed as overtly religious, but there’s so much history, human effort, philosophy, art, and emotion wrapped up in religious traditions that it’s deeply fertile ground for a game that has a wide appeal. I think the idea of having the highest quality game made by a Christian, but without screaming “THIS IS A CHRISTIAN GAME FOR CHRISTIANS!” is the best “ambassadorship” for for getting people to explore a faith-inspired project without prejudice. Thanks Gabe and Andrew!
GM, Love the concept …I designed a religious game and my games solves people’s problem by speaking God’s promises!