Resources for Christian formation & video games

Resources for Christian formation & video games

Websites and Online Resources

Christians gamers reflecting on gaming:

• GameCell (“an in-home games-and-discussion ministry model”), found at Love Subverts.
• Gamechurch (“to tell . . . Gamers a new story of God—or maybe it’s an old story that we’re trying to tell in a new way”). Also on Facebook.
• Gaming and God (“to bridge the gap between the pastime that is playing video games to scripture, biblical values, and life lessons that we can use daily”).
• Geeks Under Grace (“to bring a Christian voice into the geek world. We are tired of people feeling like they have to choose between being geeky and being a Christian”).
• Theology Gaming University (for “healthy debates, Jesus-infused conversations, and videogames that challenge both our skills and thinking”). Also on Facebook.

Research and researchers

• Game-based Education and Advanced Research Studies (GEARS) Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
• Jane McGonigal’s compilation of research (with links to the Institute for the Future).

Books

General studies

• Craig Detweiler, editor, Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God (Westminster John Knox)
• Jane McGonigal, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (Penguin)
• Kevin Schut, Of Games and God: A Christian Exploration of Video Games (Brazos)

On the relationships between play, liturgy, and theology (theology of play):

• Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (Martino Fine Books)
• Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Play (Harper & Row)

On ethics and gaming:

• Mia Consalvo, Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames (MIT Press)
• Miguel Sicart, The Ethics of Computer Games (MIT Press)

Some specific discussions

• Christopher J. Ferguson and Adolfo Garza (on gaming and increasing altruistic behavior), “Call of (Civic) Duty: Action Games and Civic Behavior in a Large Sample of Youth,” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 27, no. 2 (March 2011), pp. 770–775.
• Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels, “The Benefits of Playing Videogames,” American Psychologist, vol. 69, no. 1 (January 2014), pp. 66-78.
• Ken Evers-Hood (on the application of game theory in economics to church life), Faith and Leadership.
• Laura Hudson (on exploring ethics through playing the videogame The Walking Dead), “If You Didn’t Kill That Zombie, Maybe I Won’t Either,” FiveThirtyEight.
• Scott R. Paeth (on virtue ethics and the importance of the church as a community of and for moral reflection), “Virtual Good and Evil: The Moral Complexity of Video Games,” The Christian Century, March 12, 2012.
• Jane McGonigal’s Practical Advice for Gamers.