| When it comes to the relationship between parents and the video games their children play, the long-time label has been “it’s complicated.” Some feel as though video games are pointless at best and a negative, even violent, influence at worst. Others don’t so much mind the games themselves but wonder if their children should be spending their time in other ways. Still others worry about the dangers of playing online and the social dynamics of gaming.
While there are no easy answers to questions of how to engage with video games, Christian colleges are giving creative participation a try. More than a dozen Christian colleges offer video game majors, minors, and concentrations, reports Samantha Saad for CT. With an emphasis on storytelling and world-building, these programs train students to cultivate goodness in the video game industry. They’re considering how to design beautiful games, tell tales with a moral arc, and create communities that bring value to the lives of gamers.
“If I’m designing a game, I should be thinking about the players first and how this game is going to ultimately serve the player,” says Michael Steffen, who leads the B.A. in Game Design and Interactive Media at Biola University. “The best way to serve them is to point them to God. But maybe there’s also other ways, [like] how [do] we serve our team? When we’re working in a game company or with a game development team, how do we love them?”
Like any other industry, gaming has its unique challenges and questions. Perhaps, through programs like these and the games they could inspire, the answers are found not in perfect ways of thinking but in loving participation. |
