Name Badger -- Single Nametags made Easy

Sunday Software releases it's first non-game title:

Name Badger

The point of this software is simple: Give Sunday Schools and Churches a simple interface for walk-up users to find and click their name on a laptop, --which prints out a single nametag from a thermal label printer.

Nametags are an essential fellowship tool, especially for the members (staff people often don't understand the importance of nametags because they know lots of people).

The problem with nametags, however, has been daunting:

• People don't wear permanent ones. They tend to forget about them.


• People lose their permanent nametags, or walk out the door and leave them at home.


• New members and visitors don't get permanent tags for a long time.


• Kids mangle permanent nametags.


• And everyone's handwriting is either TOO SMALL or completely UNREADABLE

Enter Name Badger... installed on a used/free laptop, placed at the point of ENTRY for whatever even you need nametags for, and hooked up to a fast thermal label printer.

Release Date: January 10, 2010

www.sundaysoftware.com/namebadger

Name Badger is a great example of the type of church software niche programmers have been ignoring. Yes, there are nametag printing programs if you want to make them IN BULK. And yes, there are nametag programs for preschool security check-in, if you want to pay hundreds of dollars. Name Badger is $35 and works on older equipment hooked up to an inexpensive label printer.

Joseph's Story 2.0 ~ A 3d style "lesson game"

September 2009
Sunday Software just released Joseph's Story CD version 2.0. Our first version was a lot of fun, but had some technical issues, and it took too long for the average Sunday School class to play. So we committed to completely rebuilding the game. Version 2.0 is richer in detail, has tighter code, and its game fits in the average length of a Sunday School class.

www.sundaysoftware.com/joseph

We call it a "lesson game" to differentiate it from the 20 level 3d shoot'em ups that have plagued this category of Christian software.

By "lesson game" we mean: the focus is on teaching the story and the story's meaning, and not on whacking things or solving puzzles.

To be sure, Joseph's Story 2.0 IS FUN, but not in the typical "first person shooter" way that most associate with 3d style software of this genre. Rather, Sunday Software is using 3d game engines to travel through a story landscape, and teach the story's meaning in an engaging "adventurous" way.

Robin, the main character in Joseph's Story 2.0, does get to blast a few spiders in the opening level. But the rest of her adventure consists of finding her way through the "ruins of Joseph's Egyptian Palace" ...found beneath the sands of Egypt by her Grandfather, Sir Dabney MacTavish. Sir Dabney acts as a guide in the game, teaching Robin about key parts of the story.

The "game" part of the content consists of discovering parts of the story, following through on instructions, and finding your way through mazes. Kids love "playing through" a story like this.

The CD's storyline is that "the ruins were created by Joseph to teach his story to future generations." When Robin falls through the well, it's a bit like going down the rabbit hole. The ruins begin to think that SHE is Joseph.

After being sold to Potiphar, Robin finds herself by the pool and Potiphar's wife. The guards arrest her as she approached the wife, and Robin is thrown into prison, until her grandfather comes let her out. Afterwards, she must find the baker and cupbearer, meet Pharaoh and interpret his dream, and find the Cup of Benjamin, --which unlocks a scene at the end where Robin can talk to 3 of Joseph's brothers.

For more details, go to www.sundaysoftware.com/joseph

Review: Bongo Loves the Bible

Bongo Loves the Bible CD is a "Bible Knowledge" 3D adventure game from Sunday Software. We made it to fill a HUGE hole in the Christian software offerings: a game "about" the Bible that wasn't just a pile of Bible trivia. read more about it at (www.sundaysoftware.com/bongo)

Question: How many priest did Saul kill at Nob?

Answer: Who cares. Knowing this isn't going to make you a better Christian!

Rather than trivia, we created 80 questions "about the Bible" that we thought every older elementary students and young teen SHOULD know the answer to. Bongo's four level Bible game has questions like: "What does the word 'Gospel' mean?" and "What were the names of Abraham's two sons?" and "Which book of the Bible is a collection of poems and lyrics?" We researched our 80 questions using a number of "about the Bible" curriculums and books published by a number of denominations. The 80 questions are split into four levels. Bongo runs through the

But Bongo Loves the Bible CD doesn't stop there. Also included is a game about the Books of the Bible.. where Bongo must jump on them in the correct order to cross a canyon and win the treasure chest.

Bongo Loves the Bible CD also has a game about "How the Bible Came to Be" (great for Confirmation classes), and yet another game about "How does the Bible describe itself?" ...light, lamp, treasure, etc.

All these games take place in a 3d environment. Students navigate Bongo through jungles and caves and canyons using their keyboard. Bongo is occasionally chased by Surf Mummies and Bongo-eating plants, which he can repel by slingshotting bananas at them!

Some older gamers will think the game is too easy, and it probably is. We made it for play in a church environment where, on average, students only have 40 minutes of class time to use the computer. We also made it to run on older Windows 98/Me/XP computers... which is the typical kind you'll find in a church or kid's home computer in their bedroom.

For more info go to www.sundaysoftware.com/bongo

<>< Neil

Where O Where is the Christian Game Software?

The 1990's were the heyday of Christian software development. But other than our 15 or so new titles since 2002, and a couple of other nice titles from other developers, the Christian software market has failed to grow. In fact, most of the developers from the late 90's and early 2000's have moved on.

Why?
Economics ...Some producers tried to develop Christian titles like they developed secular titles ...with big budgets and teams of developers. However, the sales of their product never allowed them to keep such a business model going.

Bad decisions ...at one point we kept count of all the Noah software that had come out. We were up to 16! (Thankfully, most are gone and forgotten). Some poor apples spoiled the barrel too. Worse, some of the big $$ projects aimed at teen boys and young adult males --trying to compete against $50 million dollar Halo and Gears of War titles. Whereas, most ignored the preschool and early reader market.

Poor distribution channels. ...Bookstores don't want software that's two years old. And they don't know how to sell software from a shelf. ONline stores often only tell you a little bit about the software.

"Failure to Embrace" ...the Church talks about negatives in the culture, such as violent games, but does little to support the non-violent Christian game industry.

What's needed?
We need the denominations and their publishing arms to embrace this medium. They have a built in need to educate their young people, a sales and marketing apparatus, and the "imprimatur" of their name behind the product (i.e. if it comes from the Methodist Publishing House, 14 million Methodists will trust it). EXAMPLE: Every denomination has a need to teach Church history to young people, especially with those annual Confirmation programs. Why is there no interactive Church history program or online interactive presentation?

Every denomination sells Bible books to children. Why then aren't they ALSO backing an interactive Bible for children?

Part of the answer or 'reason' to all this is the Church is historically behind the times and underfunded for new initiatives. And as the rate of change speeds up in society, this makes the Church seem increasingly irrelevant and out of step with the needs of its members. Yet small developers ARE creating such resources and the internet is helping them distribute on their own (http://www.sundaysoftware.com/ is one such example!). The denom's should be partnering in this.

<>< Neil

New Tech and its Implications for the Church

I'm not just a "Sunday morning software guy." I follow and dicuss and write about technology issues for the church as well.

This past week's TIME magazine had an article about a church using TWITTER during worship services. Members were encouraged to use their cellphones and laptops to 'talk back' especially during the sermon... and their comments were projected on a big screen.

I wrote about Twitter and churches several months ago, -explaining it to pastors and volunteers, and how it can be used to instantly broadcast important messages. (Not sure I'd recommend it for worship however!)

The article also discusses using instant messaging, live chat at church websites, and Facebook in your ministry. You can read the complete article at http://www.sundaysoftware.com/articles/newtech.htm


<>< Neil

Scripture Memory Software with a difference

A number of scripture memory programs have come and gone over the years. I started looking at them back in 1992 and have seen most of them. I offer the following discussion especially to those who might be thinking of making scripture memory software. Most developers keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and that's not good.

Here are the main mistakes which most scripture memory software games make:

1. They don't come with a VERSE EDITOR.
This means you have to select what someone ELSE thinks are the verses to memorize.

2. They come with limited TRANSLATION options. ie... all the verses are in the KJV or NIV, but you might prefer the NLT or NRSV. This means you have to memorize verses in the translation the publisher could afford to include (KJV is free, so most of them use that).

3. Most of these programs can FAIL you. You play against a clock that counts down. Unfortunately this means that a 3rd grader and a 12th grader and a pastor have the same amount of time to learn a verse. Or it means time can run out on you. 'Presure' is not conducive to memory.

4. Most of these memory verse programs have been BORING to play.


Sunday Software to the rescue!

In 2002, my friend Mike Gale and I set out make a scripture memory game that didn't make the same mistakes others had made. Using some our classroom experience, a sense of humor, and some very cool "biovirtual" technology, we created "Cal and Marty's Scripture Memory Game CD" ... You can learn more about it at www.sundaysoftware.com/luther-calvin


Verse Editor
Cal and Marty comes with a a built-in verse editor. YOU put in the scripture verses YOU want to learn. (You can cut and paste them from a Bible program if you like.) Better still... what we realized years ago was that kids love to type, and love to type-in their own verses. This starts the memorization process even before the game is started! And you can type verses in any translation you please.

A Clock that Counts UP
Rather than counting down, we simply reversed the clock. This allows younger or less experienced students to take all the time they need and not feel like a loser. Of course, the shorter time you take, the better your score.

Add Comments and Add a Quiz
Along with each verse, you or your students can add a detailed 'comment' to each verse that pops up after it has been played. You can also add a 3 question quiz to each verse. Once again, that's a way to encourage students to engage the verse and add their own content to it.

"BioVirtual" Fun
We used an application from biovirtual.com that animated the famous portraits of John Calvin and Martin Luther to make them "the hosts" of the "Cal and Marty Show" (the scripture memory game). They appear on screen with very bad french and german accents, telling jokes, and encouraging students. More interestingly, the biovirtual software makes their eyes and head FOLLOW your mouse cursor. It's eerie, and eye-catching, --and makes the kids want to play it again and again. And THAT is the name of the memorization game, because "repetition is the cornerstone of all learning."

We also have Cal & Marty briefly introduce themselves and present some brief details about the Reformation in a special section tucked-away in the program.

Neil MacQueen

www.sundaysoftware.com/luther-calvin