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

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

Christian Software Game Design Tips

I've been to the 7th level of Captain Bible and run the Unibot, ...and played most every other Christian Computer game that ever was. It's part of what I do... and have always done since I began teaching with software in 1990. Amazin Blazin? Bible Builders? Onesimus? Gil's Bible Jumble? Bongo Loves the Bible? Heavenword? Catechumen? Played them all.

More importantly, for over 18 years I've been next to the KIDS who were playing these games. Here are some of the important things I've learned and often share with Christian computer game developers:

1. Pay Attention to What Other Developers Have Made
This would seem to be obvious, but I run into developers all the time who have never seen ANY of our software, or played any of the more popular Christian computer game titles out there. They are just all fired up about THEIR concept. Do the research and talk to other developers. Most of us are very willing to share our experience and advice. Some of it may even be correct.

2. Teach to the mainstream. Don't teach your peculiar brand of Christianity.

There's a game out here about a new world order coming to power and trying to put down the Church. Seriously, you are welcome to such a belief, but it's not going to win you many converts or sales. And you DO want to make more software, right?

A corollary to this is "have a sense of humor." Quite a few Christian software games are a bit too serious, and quite a few 3d Christian games have such dark themes that you'd think "battling evil" was what 3d game engines were designed to do!

3. Keep it simple.
Overly complex games lose players, and more importantly, YOU lose the opportunity you wanted to share the Gospel through your game. Don't make your game overly long either. Most kids and youth are not hard-core gamers. I know from personal experience that it's hard to objectively evaluate the level of difficulty of a game you have spent MONTHS working on. Always put it before new testers who've never seen it before. Watch them play it. In every game we've ever made, we've had to make the navigation easier, and the gameplay more obvious. Many of the games we evaluate from other producers could have used these same adjustments.

4. Don't overspend on layout and graphics, and underspend on the presentation of Bible content.
I see this mistake all the time. Game developers spend too much time on creating cool levels, and the actual Bible content looks crappy, or like an afterthought.

In fact, don't overspend at all. Keep your projects small and on a really tight budget. The Christian software market is smaller than you think.

5. Avoid getting locked into ONE distributor.
I've lost track of the number of developers who have "distributor done me wrong" stories. Diversify. And as you develop your title, ask various distributors to preview it and offer suggestions. I've played many programs that I WISH we could have suggested changes to BEFORE they went out and made 5000 copies of it , ...and those changes would have made it appropriate for OUR catalog, and maybe a few others as well.

Bongo Loves the Bible CD is a great example of a Christian computer game designed to fill a much needed CONTENT and MARKET NICHE.

www.sundaysoftware.com/bongo

• Bongo Loves the Bible CD is FUN, and has a sense of humor.


• It's for both children and youth.


• Each of its four games can be 'won' in under 35 minutes.


• It covers basic Bible content, but also Books of the Bible, and "How the Bible Came to Be" ...all popular topics in many churches. Yet it is fun to play at home too.
  
• It's 3D games can run on slightly older computers (the kind many churches have)
  
• And it was done on modest budget.

Review: Attack of the Sunday School Zombies

This Christian computer game CD is NOT going to do big sales.
Not even "modest" sales.

Why? Because it has the words "Attack" and "Zombies" in the title. Kids love the title, but they don't buy software. Parents and teachers buy software, and they've told me they don't like the words "attack" ...sounds too violent, or "zombies" ...sounds too ghoulish. But I adore the title, and the game, and the concept of what the game is trying to achieve.


So this "review" is actually a lesson in THE MARKETING of Christian game software. ;-)

The 3D Game:
Players navigate "Super Kenz the Bible Kid" around a 3d church, flinging donuts from her "donut flinger" at 8 different 3d characters. The 8 characters have been turned into "Zombies" (not the bloody kind, but the church kind) who have a bad attitude or the wrong reasons for going to worship and Sunday School. Did I mention "donut flinger" ?? Super Kenz must find boxes of donuts to reload it. And they're chocolate, so they leave a mess.



After quite a few donuts "hits," the Zombie stops and talks to Super Kenz. First the zombie spouts their complaints about church ("it's boring," or "I don't like some of the people," or, "people are hypocrites."). It's all familiar stuff, unfortunately. Kenz sympathizes a bit, then opens up her handheld iTell Bible Computer and shows them a couple of Bible verses that address the specific complaints. The zombies comes around, and returns to normal. After all 8 zombies are found and corrected, they all show up in the sanctuary to thank her.

I wanted to make fun little game about the RIGHT REASONS to go to worship. I wanted a game that addressed all the EXCUSES I've heard over the years from kids in the various churches where I've served and taught.

But I know what churches buy: they buy software about Bible stories, not topics. "Why you should go to church" is not on their curriculum! So by creating Zombies, I'm trying to force the subject. Because frankly, if you've taught for any length of time, you know it is "THE" topic.

Notes to Fellow Developers:

If this were the only game I ever developed, it would be my last, because most every developer needs to make some profit out of a project in the first year. I could only develop it because I had other more successful titles. So in a very real sense, Attack of the Sunday School Zombies CD is my gift, an indulgence. And because I can carry the title for many years, and keep it in front of my audience, I'll probably eventually make my development dollars out of it. Production houses and bookstore chains can't do things this way.

I knew I needed to make a FUNNY game. (and there's a difference between "fun" and "funny" btw, and games should be BOTH). I knew it had to be a game kids would want to play long enough to get them to hear themselves complaining, and maybe get little attitude adjustment along the way. The game's narrated scriptural "reasons" and attitudes also give teachers and parents something to grab and discuss.

I'm no dummy. I know kids will want to bypass the content and keep shooting donuts. That's the key in my designs: balance. "Balance" means make the game interesting or fun enough that the content catches them with their guard down.


And because of everything I've just said, I knew I needed to make it a "short" game, and not a 10 level 12 hour epic. Epics cost money, and this game would only get bought by church folks who have on average only 35-45 minutes of class time. Zombies takes about 20-25 minutes to play.

Learn and see more at http://www.sundaysoftware.com/zombies


Note about Violence in Christian Video Games...

I've had some customers who don't like the fact that Super Kenz SHOOTS donuts at people. Any kind of "shooting" or "hitting" bothers them. For most developers in this small market, you simply can't make choices like that. You have to appeal to as many as you can to be able to make a ago of it. But once again, because Zombies was a "pet" project, and didn't have to pay the mortgage, I could indulge my strange sense of humor. I think shooting donuts at the pastor is hilarious, and quite appropriate to get him to loosen up a bit. (yes, the pastor is one of the zombies)