Can a Kids’ Video Game Convey Profound Truth?

Kids’ movies, video games, and other media can be a confusing landscape for parents and families. Sure, a show or game may seem like harmless fun but how can parents be sure their kids aren’t taking in subtle messages that convey negative, even dangerous messages? Or even provide content for their kids that communicates profound truth?

When I first became a mobile game writer for TruPlay Games, the idea of transforming popular mobile games into meaningful experiences seemed akin to sticking WWJD stickers onto my car. But as I played the immensely popular Angry Birds game, two mini-revelations occurred to me. The first was the truly heinous nature of the gambling components in mobile games. Fifty dollars evaporated from my bank account in the space of an hour, revealing both my incompetence at the game and the true motivation behind the app. But the second was the realization that if I could create something meaningful out of a genre generally created to fill time, it could be, well, a game changer.

So when I was asked to create a storyline for a game involving one of TruPlay’s game characters called Ava, a sensitive lynx wearing the costume of a deer, I wondered how I might position her as a victor—and against what? My favorite part of the Angry Birds game, as for most people, I imagine, was toppling the improbable structures of the baby-bird-stealing pigs. Watching those structures crumble brought to mind this verse from 2 Corinthians 10:4: "We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments." Suddenly I saw the metaphor for a similar game, but one that communicates something profound: Ava is wrestling with strongholds, those practiced thought patterns we all struggle with. And for her, as for many of us, those strongholds are lies designed to erode the knowledge that God loves us.

I owe a debt to Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind, the practical theology version of the Ava game. I first learned what a stronghold was from her book, and it was the first time I faced the possibility that I believed things that weren’t true, many of which originated in my childhood. We often romanticize childhood, but children (like Ava) face fear, loneliness, and the full spectrum of negative emotions. When I realized that Ava and the Mirror of Truth could helpa young game player visualize that spiritual truth, I got so excited that the script for the game came easily and was pure joy. The snarflon and Ava’s fiery companion, Moth (a rare Scottish Sling Sloth), took their places. The engineers at TruPlay showed their brilliance as well as the artists, bringing my script to life.

In the Christian game Ava, I hope every child sees himself or herself as Ava flinging truth bombs at every lie that rears its ugly head against the knowledge of God and his unsurpassed love for us.