Question:

I enjoy role-playing games (RPGs), but I don't care for the mainstream RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, Rifts and Vampire. I have been able to find a few good alternative secular RPGs, but have yet to find a good Christian one. Do you know of any good Christian RPGs?

Answer:

You are not alone in your quest for Christ-honoring role-playing games. In fact, a group of Christian game enthusiasts decided to take their interest online, and they founded the Christian Gamers Guild (CGG) in 1996. CGG was formerly known as the Christian Role-Playing Gamers Association. Though the name was changed to include all types of gamers, CGG continues to focus on RPGs. They host a newsgroup on Yahoo! (there's a link to it on their website) and publish an e-zine complete with reviews on Christian RPGs. Their web address is:

http://www.geocities.com/christian_gamers_guild/.

There aren't a ton of Christian RPGs out there, and CGG hopes to change that: Its goals include involvement in game design and publishing, game advocacy from a Christian perspective, and ministry at gaming conventions. It doesn't sound like you need this warning, but many readers may need to be reminded that RPGs can be very dangerous. As Christ followers, we must make sure we do not put negative or occult-type thoughts in our minds. I'd like to tell you about Steve, a Christian guy who got into RPGs when he was 14. Steve found a website with lots of RPGs and joined in a few of the games. Soon, he became hooked. His schoolwork and friendships suffered, and his faith took a backseat to the hours he was online with RPGs. He sensed God was telling him that some of the games were unhealthy for his spiritual walk, but he ignored the feeling. He figured he was OK because he was still going to church.

Within a year-and-a-half, Steve found himself addicted to very intense and anti-Christian games, and he was looking at pornography everyday. Steve left the church, his friends, his faith. His grades dropped and he was violating his value system in every way. Finally, Steve realized he was addicted. He had started innocently enough, but now he was facing a very scary situation.

Thankfully, there is a positive ending to Steve's story. He turned to God for help, and went to his youth pastor for counseling. After some very intense months of healing, Steve is now living in freedom from the addiction. However, the vivid images are embedded in his mind, and he still lives with the consequences of addiction. Now, Steve must keep a safe distance from anything that could come close to pulling him toward RPGs or pornography.

I really do hope that Christian gamers will soon have some creative and safe alternatives. Who knows, maybe God will use you to create some! But for the sake of so many who are getting fooled into some very negative stuff, I felt I needed to expand on your question. Here are two great verses to help us discern what we should put in our minds: