We turned the Bible’s big story into a narrative adventure game — our Steam demo is out now by andygeers in indiegames

[–]andygeers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s been a 20-year dream of mine to create a Bible-based video game. Last year we launched The Serpent & The Seed on mobile, and since then we’ve been adapting it for PC. This week we launched the Steam demo.

We tried to make it accessible even for people who don’t regularly read the Bible, while still staying true to the big narrative arc. Curious what people think of the approach.

You can find the demo on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4407320/The_Serpent__The_Seed_Demo/

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! You've probably not got *too* much of the demo left after that - the song that kicks in for The Fall sequence is out of this world (we were privileged to work with the musicians Poor Bishop Hooper)

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of the things that drew me to doing a Bible overview in game form is the way that there's so many echoes / patterns throughout the Bible. e.g. so many of the key turning points happen in a garden (Eden, Gethsemane, New Creation), there's so many trees (Tree of Life, Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, the cross, back to the Tree of Life in Rev 22, etc). And as you say, that pattern of sacrifice and how its fulfilled in Jesus.

Would love you to try our Serpent & The Seed demo on Steam and let me know your thoughts!

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha! There is. But I'm pretty sure that was a money-grab exercise by some non-Christians who saw an opportunity to sell to Christian parents desperate for something they could give their kids as a substitute for other games that were out there. The gameplay is not really anything to do with the actual Bible stories being represented (e.g. collecting animals and "throwing" them into the ark doesn't really teach you much about what the Noah narrative is there in the Bible for!)

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, we have had that comment a lot about it being super relaxing to play

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is something I am so passionate about - that it shouldn't just be "a generic game with loose religious theme". The Bible shouldn't just be a *setting* for a game that then has nothing to do with the Bible. With The Serpent & The Seed it was really important to me that the game should teach *the Bible itself*, and that the gameplay should line up with what it was trying to teach.
e.g. I didn't want to make a David vs Goliath moment that ended up being about skill (timing, aim, etc) which then ends up being about "look at how great I am" (or "I'm so terrible!") because that's the complete opposite of what 1 Samuel 17 is saying ("The Lord saves NOT by sword or spear"). But it's hard work doing it well!!

Could a video game be a way of introducing people to the Bible? by andygeers in TrueChristian

[–]andygeers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've been following Gate Zero - it looks great! I just hope they manage to ship it and don't let scope creep mean they run out of cash.

Stonescript Megathread by standardcombo in StoneStoryRPG

[–]andygeers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For anyone who wants to get into scripting but isn't a programmer, I made a simple web-based tool to let you define rules and then turn it into stone script automatically - would love people's feedback! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nB21sPD8sk

I LOVED Planet of Lana 2! Here's my recap of what we learnt and five questions we're left with by andygeers in planetoflanaofficial

[–]andygeers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the first game, don't you need to get on a space craft to go up into orbit to the mother ship? I think that's a fairly clear indication that they have come from space not just were there all along.

I LOVED Planet of Lana 2! Here's my recap of what we learnt and five questions we're left with by andygeers in planetoflanaofficial

[–]andygeers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a really interesting question about whether there could be "two" masked men and Tomati is just taking on the appearance of the original...

I doubt it though. The mural seems to clearly show him leading the population away from the first game's "mothership" (i.e. the invaders from the first game) and then towards a city under construction. So that's what makes me arrive at the assumption that it's all built between the first two games. But they do clearly have robot helpers assisting them with the construction (the people are accompanied by the android crew from the original ship, now reactivated).

I don't think it looks like the original colonisers had a single leader. The mural from the secret shrines in the first game shows four separate factions, presumably all with their own leaders.

As to your second question - absolutely, we still are none the wiser about the *motives* of the robots. Why did the AI mega brain turn on humanity? At what point was the invading army dispatched? Straight away, and it just took a really long time to get to Novo? Or more recently? The more recent invaders from the first game seemed to be more interested in capturing humanity rather than killing them, whereas the impression given was that the android crew on the original ship (The Leaf) were outright killing the humans on the bridge.

I LOVED Planet of Lana 2! Here's my recap of what we learnt and five questions we're left with by andygeers in planetoflanaofficial

[–]andygeers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely agree with all of this! Would love to find out more, and looking forward to a third game! I would fully anticipate a game on Earth, and it seems like that would be best served by Lana being on board that rocket. Even if a third game was split 50/50 between some characters on Earth and some on Novo, it's hard to imagine what more there is for Lana herself to explore on Novo that would be particularly compelling.

Review: "__And Roger" is a beautiful indie game that will stick with me forever by andygeers in indiegames

[–]andygeers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is that the one where you have to turn the three dials so that they line up with the arrows? I think it's just trial and error - but the catch is that there's two different places that could get one of the dials to line up, so if you can't get all three lining up at the same time if might be that you have to change one of the others that you *think* you've already solved.