Short Game: Purim/Passover/Chanukah Concentration

Rather than focus on one specific short game, this page will focus on a particular type of short game: the concentration game. On Chabad Kids! there are three different versions of the concentration game: "Purim Concentration," "Passover Concentration," and "Chanukah Concentration." As stated on the description of "Purim Concentration," these games are meant to "test your short term memory" (chabad.org "Purim Games").

On the screen, there are "cards" are lying "face down." That is to say, card-shaped identical images are on the screen. The player must choose two “cards” at a time, “flipping them over” or revealing a smaller image on the opposite side of the card. Once the player chooses two matching cards, the cards disappear to reveal a larger picture hidden underneath the remaining cards. The player must match all the cards in order to win the game and reveal the hidden larger picture.

Each of the individual games, “Purim,” “Passover,” and “Chanukah,” utilize different photos relating to their respective holidays. For the “Purim” game, there are images of the Megillah (the scroll containing the Book of Esther), wine, and people dressed extravagantly. “Passover Concentration” includes images such as matzah (unleavened bread), a cup of wine, and the lighting of candles. “Chanukah Concentration” has images of menorahs (an eight branched lamp), driedels (a teetotem bearing Hebrew letters), and gold coins. Each of the images mentioned can be viewed as symbols of the holidays.

As mentioned in the wiki page, “Game Suites: Chabad Games” the mission of chabad.org is to “utilize internet technology to unite Jews worldwide, empower them with knowledge of their 3,300 year-old tradition, and foster within them a deeper connection to Judaism’s faith and rituals” (chabad.org). These games focus on the last element of that mission statement; chabad.org is utilizing symbols in order to “foster” a “deeper connection to Judaism’s faith and rituals.” Assuming these concentration games are targeted to younger children, the repetition of the images exposes these children to the rituals involved in the celebration of holidays. While holidays only occur once a year, these games can be played year round. While a family may put their physical menorah away after Chanukah, a child can be exposed to a virtual menorah at all times of the year because of this game.

According to “Terminology: Symbol” an observer must analyze the pragmatics involved in religious video games. Here, the player is not required to manipulate the symbols in anyway. The objects serve merely as images that need to be matched. There have been many secular versions of this game produced both physically and virtually. In this game, the symbols distinguish that this is a Jewish game rather than a Christian or secular game. The game strategy and technique is not unique to Judaism, nor are the skills obtained important only to Jewish culture. Since the game does not require knowledge of Jewish culture, this makes the game accessible to both Jews and non-Jews. However, it also does not provide extensive knowledge or background on the images presented, so it does not help to educate Jews or non-Jews about Jewish culture. The game relies solely on the visual exposure to Jewish symbols in order to have any effect on the player in a religious way.