The Missonary Game

The Missionary Game - Full Length Game Review
[by lisaf]

The Missionary Game is made by Kommunion Inc. and is copyrighted 2006 (http://www.themissionarygame.com/). Kommunion Inc. provides services of social media, web development and systems development for the Christian community (http://www.linkedin.com/companies/kommunion-inc.). The internet archive wayback machine shows no record of this site prior to 2006 and no changes since 2008 (http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.themissionarygame.com/#). I cannot see any changes to the site when I follow the provided links. The game reminds me of Mario Bros. 3 in the sense that the player can select which village to visit, and there are various types of terrain to traverse en route to the village. Some routes are dessert, some are jungle, and some are similar to the tree-top world or the ice world. The webpage http://www.biblegamezone.com/games/tmg/ has the barnas.net logo, which seems to indicate this group to be a sponsor. While I could not access this site, the Barna Group has a website at http://www.barna.org/. This site explains the Barna Group to “provide research, resources and training to facilitate transformation in organizations, communities, and individuals” (http://www.barna.org/). This group seems to explore diversity, accountability, and movements in the Christian Church and directs the viewer to such links.

The Missionary Game is a game that seems to promote Evangelistic Christianity. The player is a missionary that must travel to remote regions where the people “do not know Jesus” (http://www.biblegamezone.com/games/tmg/). The player must stock-up with Bibles, food, water, blankets, and medical supplies before beginning the journey. The object is to build as many village churches as possible before the missionary dies, after losing three lives. Without the appropriate supplies for the village, the church will not survive. If the missionary can supply the village’s needs, as well as build a church with the Bibles he brought, then the church will survive the test of time. On the path to each village, the missionary must overcome various obstacles. The player may maneuver “hungry predators, wild rivers, and poisonous plants” and at times it will be necessary to “fold your hands and ask for God’s help by pushing the p-button” (http://www.biblegamezone.com/games/tmg/). When it is necessary to pray to overcome an obstacle, the player will be prompted by a “p” on the screen.

The game is also religious in the aspect that once the missionary has packed supplies and specified a destination, while en route to that destination, a prayer is said. This prayer is written across the computer screen, and the player has no control over his or her participation. The player may take the message of this game to have religious significance in that it sets an example to be an evangelical Christian missionary. The purpose of the game is to convert indigenous people groups to Christianity. Yet the game sends a very realist message that the indigenous people will be less receptive of the Gospel if their physical needs are not met. The Bible alone will not convince them to maintain a Christian perspective, but as long as the missionary returns with material goods they will remain attentive. This promotes the ideal of service, not just preaching.