The short story was polished. It was ready. I wrote five drafts before submitting it and the anthology itself had an entire team involved with editing, marketing, making the book beautiful, et cetera. Then when it came out, eighteen authors all did their darndest to get their hard-earned audiences to buy the thing.

We were happy to sell 49 copies in a week (largely just to us authors).

Meanwhile the video game was super rough. Typo-ridden. Included a game breaking bug. It was a single chapter rough draft that I blitzed through to get to the end then posted to a forum as a prototype to show people what I was envisioning.

Within a week, Chapter 1 of The Iron King’s Heir had ten thousand views and an instant following. I can only conclude that there is a craving for interactive stories that is not being adequately satisfied by the market.

The “shortage” of Christian storytellers isn’t what we’re told

You’ve probably heard the complaint that there are not enough good Christian storytellers out there. But if you’ve spent any amount of time engaging with the multitude of indie Christian authors online, you know this is simply not the case. We do not have a shortage of Christian storytellers, but we do have a shortage of patrons with the wealth and will to support and promote our work so that we have the time and resources to make our creative dreams a reality.

As a result, many storytellers default to the path of least resistance (i.e., novels and short stories), whether or not that path is the one they truly desire. I myself seriously considered a career in film, and even earned a degree in screenwriting, only to be deterred by barriers that did not seem worth surmounting. Like so many others, I eventually focused instead on short stories: they cost no money, hardly any time, and they are guaranteed publication if I so choose (even if just self-publication, though in my experience it’s pretty easy to find a niche mag to take a half-decent piece if you don’t mind a few rejections along the way).

It’s no wonder that we have so many Christians writing short stories and novels and so few telling basically any other kind of story. While I’m thrilled we have a variety of Christians writing beautiful works of prose, I believe (or at least hope) that we’re about to see more Christian game developers as well.

The barrier of entry for game development is crumbling

Would it surprise you if I told you that a person can get into game development with no team, no money, and no prior experience? It surprised me to learn this, or at least to learn just how doable this is. For a long time video games were a little like film: they required specialised equipment and knowledge, a ton of money, and an entire team of people to develop. But this is increasingly not the case. With the rise of open source software such as Godot (game engine), Krita (graphic design), and Visual Studio Code (code editor), anyone with access to a computer can start making their own games with no additional cost.

Don’t have any artistic talent? Download free or cheap game assets, learn the basics of pixel art, or do like me and write something completely text-based. Don’t know how to code? There’s only about a bajillion tutorials online. Some of these languages are not nearly so hard as you might think; I learned how to code a basic ChoiceScript game in like a day.

There are currently so many resources available to interested storytellers that the only real barriers of entry are those which we set up for ourselves (e.g., lack of discipline or motivation). As more Christians realise that game development is a viable option, something they can feasibly do on their own with no patrons and no additional cost, I hope to see more of us in the industry.

Indie games are so in right now

Not only are games getting easier and easier to make, but indie games are getting more and more desirable. Think of the massive success of Stardew Valley—made by one guy who just wanted to make his own Harvest Moon and ended up creating a game that sold tens of millions of copies. Or Undertale (also a solo project) which became a bit of a legend in the indie gaming world despite looking like this.

In such a fake world with its fake stories that try to appeal to everyone and end up appealing to no one, major studios only seem capable of creating blase, milquetoast games that look great but feel meh (I’ve already mentioned my beef with Hogwarts Legacy). But now that the sensationalism of high-budget, visually and aurally pristine games is waning, many of us find ourselves craving something different. Something raw and real and human. Something that might be a bit rough around the edges but that was created with heart by people who love the medium, and not by people who just want to use it primarily for money or political gain.

We are now at the point where gamers don’t just tolerate “bad” graphics for the sake of a good game; for many of us, retro styles such as pixelation have become a feature, not a bug. Not just a nostalgic link to the past (sorry, couldn’t help it), but a sought after aesthetic with its own special appeal, not altogether unlike the Impressionism of the nineteenth century.

Even entirely text-based game such as my own have a certain niche appeal that pretty much guarantees half-decent authors some kind of audience if we’re only willing to put in the work.

It’s time for Christians to stop being afraid of games

I’ve heard it said that Christians rejected the film industry long before the film industry rejected us, which is one of the reasons why modern films are so opposed to Christian values and why it can be so difficult for Christians to break into the industry. When the medium was in its infancy, many Christians were wary of it, and as a result the industry was adopted and raised by people who were indifferent to or even opposed to Christ and his teachings (fact check: feels legit).

Something similar is happening in the gaming world. While understandably wary Christians hem and haw about just how productive, moral, or otherwise worthwhile a gaming habit might be, everyone else is out there just playing games. With the rise of cozy games in particular, the medium is becoming more widely adopted by a variety of people. It’s not just for computer geeks and juvenile gamer bros, but for regular moms and dads, their kids, and everyone in between.

As with movies, games have already shaped culture and will continue to do so, whether we want them to or not. Maybe games shouldn’t be so culturally relevant, maybe the world would be better off without them, maybe we should all be playing less and reading more. But at the end of the day, I know my gaming habit isn’t going anywhere, and I choose to channel that interest into something creative.

If we want games to be more worthwhile, why not make it so? Why not be a part of shaping the industry into something we can proudly claim as our own, something that showcases the good, the true, and the beautiful? It’ll be work, yes, but since when have Christians shied away from that?

If you’re already doing this, by all means, drop your project in the comments and let us know how it’s going, even if it’s still a WIP. I’d love to see what other Christians are working on, and I hope I’m not alone in that. Let’s support each other and see what we accomplish together.