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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
If you've heard of Bible Adventures it's probably because you've watched a comedic YouTube review or playthrough. These types of videos paint Bible Adventures as one of the worst games of all time, but Gabe approaches the game and the people who made it with respect and the result is a wonderful read. The story of how Wisdom Tree came to be, and the antithesis between the group of developers and the games that they were creating adds so much context to what these games really were. Gabe explores not just Bible Adventures but every game made by Wisdom Tree and a lot of the original unlicensed games that inspired them. With new interviews and a compilation of a bunch of previous articles Gabe tells Wisdom Tree's story and how the games were received. Gabe balances Wisdom Tree's story with his own personal story about his experience with religion. How he was raised to be Christian, the programs he took part in, how it affected how he saw people, and how he grew out of it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in games, struggles of faith, and the commercialism of Christianity.
A nice mixture of history lesson, nostalgia, and musings on the journey of personal belief.
funny
informative
fast-paced
This book really nails the balance of personal and journalism. And in small ways managed to bring you back to a time before the Internet (but just before, not the Middle Ages) -- a time that was different in so many ways that we strain to appreciate now... Or more likely just forget. The real joy in the book, for me, were the essayistic/ rhetorical flights of fancy around mid-book. The off-the-cuff re-telling of the life of Jesus in RPG terms? Yes, please.
It weaves Bible camp kids, 80s nostalgia, international copyright law, and cooperate espionage into a weird and engaging tale. There is an adept writing style and various pop culture observations usually only made by the likes of wish Chuck Klosterman and a depth typically only plumbed by writers like Charles D'Ambrosio. This is good stuff. One of the best books I have read in years.
Great first read from the Boss Fight Books series! I was happy this book went beyond waxing poetic on how shit these games are, instead extending its investigation of these stinkers into what they say about the game dev industry, faith, and the intersection of religion and commerce. It's truly a fascinating tale that goes way beyond these bizarre pixellated Christian games from a bygone era. Excited to read more from this series, I'd definitely recommend this book even to those not super familiar with the games, it's such a strange story that does a great job putting you into the context even if you're not up on yah gamer history, as my Dad says chugging a Surge™ and a Monster™ at the same time.
How could a small gaming company survive in a world where Nintendo installed chips to make sure that no unauthorized games could be played on their NES system, or where any major store who sold unauthorized games would find themselves without the blessings of Nintendo? The out of the box answer was to make "Christian" games--collect animals 2x2, work up to fighting Goliath by hurling things at Philistines, launch baby Moses into the river--created by a team of people who had almost no interest in religion, but sold enthusiastically by Christian book stores and allowed by strict parents. Durham takes on one of the oddities of his childhood, along the way examining the economic world of Christian stuff, big gaming companies, programmers and retro-players.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Another great Boss Fights book down! What an interesting story of a Christian game created by atheists & the balance of sticking to faithfulness vs profit. This is not a book that shines a particularly great light on Christianity tbh, but I found the final chapter #retrogaming to be a great conclusion! Would recommend to gamers & non gamers as it's largely devoid of technical-ness & focuses itself instead on the morality & the business of selling "christian" things & the origin of the games & Wisdom Tree itself.