Although we are a church going family and she attends Sunday School, she is not, how can I put this, a keen Biblical scholar. There was an embarrassing episode a while back in church where she volunteered to go to the front and take part in a quiz, it became awkward when the quiz master started to get the congregation to shout up the answers to her while I slowly sunk down in my chair amazed at just how little she was able to to answer! It was all taken in good humour though and a few heckles were thrown about how the Sunday School teachers were obviously not doing their job.
But there the point was perhaps made that if church going kids aren't taking in Bible stories, how on earth do we expect non-churched kids to have a clue who David was and why his story is important today?
And this is where Scripture Union did their research and hit upon designing a game that can be downloaded for free onto a tablet, to engage children from all walks of life and bring the Bible alive, whether they're church attendees or not, and Guardians of Ancora was the result.
I had actually forgotten I'd suggested it to my daughter and I honestly thought she'd be put off by it being Bible based, but after about a week she came up to me and said "that game you told me to download, it's actually pretty good!" She even told me that she didn't know the story of Jesus filling Andrew and Peter's nets with fish and now she did!
I mean, come on! Eleven years of Sunday School and they haven't covered that story?! Nearer to the truth it's probable they've told that story dozens of times but she just hadn't taken it in, we certainly are living in an era where children engage with the world differently, we are the immigrants and they are the natives of this digital age!
The game is in its infancy so could do with a few glitches tweaking, occasionally your character can get 'stuck' in the graphics and you have to exit and start again, and I personally found it almost impossible to get the timing of the characters jumps right, meaning it got very frustrating and repetitive, the advantage being you don't lose lives, so the jumps could be attempted until you crossed the gap or threw the tablet in frustration, whichever came soonest; but as my daughter pointed out, I struggled to play it because I'm not 11!
Having said that, the graphics are great, the story's easy to follow and there are lots of extras like quizzes, missions, audio stories and places for you to make your own notes and drawings which can be shared with other players or kept private.
Also at the moment there are only 2 playable quests, which she has now completed, hopefully the others will be unlocked soon or the game may lose momentum for its early players.
I think my daughter is looking forward to the next quest. (And I must admit, I am a little bit too!)
I really enjoyed reading your review of this great FREE game, I'd love it if you could read mine over on my christian blog. - rcghub.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteIm 33 years old and I took the advice of a pastor that said, if you don't understand a bible concept, read a children's version.so ive had a ball playing this game and reading the stories, its a challenge and informative, praise God for good video game fun.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if the game is in alignment with the overall theme of scripture, as in does it each gospel centered understanding of the story and why we should know why we are studying or teaching or learning a story? or does it teach more of a moralistic "heros of the Bible" concept? I am 34 years old, as of about 2 years ago, after going to church all my life, a legalistic moral church who taught it wrong and my parents taught it wrong, therefore, I got really bored. that's because I never knew the heart of the matter, the why Jesus had to die for my sins, what the bible really was about, who was God ,the love of the word, the concept,etc. Often times, churches and adults (my mother still included) believe that kids should not have a bible until a certain age unless it is one that is a storybook bible. Ok, maybe maybe not, but depends on which storybook "bible". Does it teach the theological concept true to the word for understanding which makes all the difference in knowing and loving God, vs does it teach about the characters in the bible and what THEY did and how GOOD they were and how THEY saved the day and how WE should be like THEM? Those "bibles" are not bibles and anyone that teaches, including us as parents, must realize first what the word of God says , who God is, vs who we are, who is the hero, the gospel centered approach to it, and to be careful what we are teaching our children. I love 2 of R.C. Sproul's books that are also on youtube or rightnowmedia, of which he has more, that are amazing in teaching the concepts of the word for kids and adults. The lightlings is one The other is The Prince who drank the Poison Cup.. There are others but I cant find them free yet, lol. I may buy them and it comes with parent guides for prompts to teach. Short Books similar to CS LEwis's longer books, but easier to understand as a child and adult. You see, I want all of us to understand why we read the bible. It isn't for knowledge alone. Its the understanding of it. To know God, is to Love God, and the heart cannot love what the mind doesn't not know. You can hear and read and know something and memorize it, but if you do not comprehend and interpret what the story is about beyond main characters and who did what, but the point of the story is still missing, then of course our children will be bored and never remember.. It is not "this day in age" problem. This day in age is just as sinful if not, just like or even not as sinful as the world was as soon as sin entered it. Read the OT and you will see what I mean. It is not about being good vs bad. not alone. Its about the gospel, about what the overall story of it.
ReplyDeleteOur children are not the problem Sin is the problem and always has been. It is our job as their early parents to know the concept behind the bible, behind the truth of the word of God, and then provide resources to help us teach them in a way where they also will understand the concept behind it. Otherwise, it is just like another rule book. its moralism, legalism no why, no motivation , no heart behind it. no rleason. Many churches are putting teachers in charge of children, just as I was, that learned all kinds of stories of the bible, yet I never knew these people or "heroes' of the bible were mostly broken humans who were used by God and bc of their faith, acted in obedience to him and by him, they were able to do such things and they did it b/c why? what faith? what is faith? what is salvation? what does confess mean? Why did Jesus die? . What does the OT have to do with the NT?? everything absolutely everything. who is Jesus, who is the holy spirit, Who is the Triune God. do we just have grace alone and saved by whatever faith is? what faith do we believe and why? why am I a sinner? the whole "well im a good person, so i will go to heaven" thing is came from the teacher of children who are now adults who were taught all wrong. they were taught any concept to make them have a heart for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, for our Triune God.
ReplyDeleteI am still learning many things today that I wish someone would have considered how essential it was for me as a child, brains that are like sponges, to learn the foundations of truth and understand these concepts, and not thinking I will not understand so why bother until a "certain age". Children are born into sin, we are sinners until we are saved by the faith we are given by God's grace, and we must understand what we are saying when we confess we believe in the Christ that died for us. Grace covers the one while they are learning ,but it grace alone is not an excuse. and moralism is not the gospel. moralism is not what God teaches.. good vs bad is not what this life is nor is it what the heavenly realm is. they are not equal and if we are just "good" , then what is "good" and where does the bible say "good" gets you to heaven? no one is perfectly good, nor is it what is taught by God. children, we want to think are innocent completely. it is hard to know they are sinners. yes, at 2 years old, they will not grasp the concept of the gospel and I certainly get that, yet they are born as sinners and in a sinful fallen world. but we should begin teaching children in the church concepts and even to the little ones like toddlers, we should prepare them by teaching the love of Jesus. love..
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