To preface this blog, you really should read about this incredible experiential board game called Train. I am in awe of the creative mind behind it. Once you read about it, you will never be able to truly play it. But there's only one copy in existence in the world - your chances of ever even hearing of it outside of my recommendation are slim.
So, I guess I should let you know, reading this article is a massive spoiler alert, if for some chance you did come across it and decide to play it publicly. If you never get that chance or wouldn't take it, this article will enrich your life. It's a calculated risk, but you should go for it. Here's a link to one of the articles about it - there are a few others that are also very well-written and explore different facets of this game.
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Preface over. I decided a few years ago, while still deeply in the faith, to make a board game about people using their religion to shut others out. I know this sounds like an exChristian project - and sure enough, it became one. But it's actually deeply New Testament too.
The game instructions were written a few years ago, while I still identified as Christian. The idea was to get people in the church to play it, and for me to sneakily write out their reactions as they are playing it. And to film or otherwise record their reactions when someone won. The game could end many ways, but the best way to end the game is to get all of your players into the final space - the "Locked Chamber". You collect keys along the way, and can use them against others or choose to collect them for extra points. You can form alliances to benefit yourself or break them. You are assigned a "sworn enemy" from the beginning an may use specific tactics against them, or refrain and collect more points.
There are a number of strategies a player can employ. Competitive players can manipulate others or use cut-throat keys to completely demolish their enemies success. Non-competitive players can collect keys, hope their enemies don't take advantage of them, and could choose to treat their enemies well by not using any tactics. Their idea is self-preservation rather than competition. Most players will fall in some range between the two.
The Keys are a limited commodity, meaning that some will want to "store them up" and others will use them to benefit the short game and hopefully get all of their players in the Locked Chamber as quickly as possible.
This game is painstaking because there is a bunch of forward and backward movement. You may have to sacrifice one of your own players to get another one into the Locked Chamber at all. There is a dungeon which is difficult to retrieve players from. It can be done, but it is costly. However, leaving them in the dungeon also detracts from your final score. Players must decide the strategy to take.
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When a player won, the idea was that the Locked Chamber would open, and in it, they would find the verses Matthew 23:13, Luke 11:52:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut
the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do
not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."
And:
"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to
knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those
who were entering."
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It would be a great discourse for discussion. This game could be played in the Church and different strategies examined for their merits.
It turns out that writing rules for a game is not the difficult part. Don't get me wrong - it is a difficult part, but there's much more to it. I found a website that will produce a board game of my creation (The Game Crafter), but the technical aspects are time consuming.
I stopped the design of this game while still in the faith. I have begun resuming it now as an exChristian. Why?
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On a metaphoric level, I think the "lessons" from this game are useful. I think lessons aside, it could be an interesting cut-throat game. It is involved and painstaking, though, so I don't foresee it being a "staple" game, so-called, that people return to time and again. But the thought behind it is valuable. Gameplay is still very telling.
And honestly? I still want to attempt to market it to churches.
As an exChristian, I am not a bastion for tearing down religion. But I absolutely want to bring to light the misuse and abuse that religion can inflict on the world - and their own followers especially. I want to discourage that.
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I'm making the game this year. Instructions are remaining about how they were before. But graphic design and the technical components of submitting it to the Game Crafter will happen this year. I am passionate to finish this in 2016.
What are your thoughts on such a project? Would you like an update once it is completed and available for purchase?
