271. How Do Christians Serve in Video Game Mission Fields? | with Brock Henderson

Fantastical Truth

Christian missionaries have traveled oceans to strange new lands.[1. “Clayfire” game concept art is courtesy The Salvation Poem Project.] They’ve smuggled Bibles into hostile territory. Someday they will even journey to space settlements. But what about today’s virtual mission fields in digital spaces, like gaming platforms and communities? Developer Brock Henderson with Christian Game Developers, whose conference teams up this month with Realm Makers, joins us to explore Kingdom service in these open worlds.

Episode sponsors

1. Enclave Publishing and Sky Turtle Press present Realm Makers Expo 2025
2. The Company: Kingdom Writers, World Changers
3. Above the Circle of Earth by E. Stephen Burnett

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Backstory: Brock Henderson

Brock Henderson is an Iowa-based game developer, designer, and missionary. He believes that video games are the preeminent art form of this century, with an ever-growing influence on our culture. His current work focuses on creating games that move beyond entertainment and spark connections between people. In his 15 years in game development, he has had the privilege of working on everything from the silly to the serious, shipping over 25 titles on nine platforms with more than 3 million downloads. He is the head of game development for the Salvation Poem Project and the founder of PxlPug. He also serves as board president for the Christian Game Developers Community and blogs and podcasts at Faith Forms.

• Salvation Poem Project
• BrockHenderson.com
• FaithForms.games

1. The mission of Christian Game Developers

• More about the organization’s origin and purpose
• History of the in-person conference for game creators
• Origin of the Realm Makers teamup and expectations for this year

2. How indie games remake digital worlds

• Fans are more frequently disputing design and story of the “big games”
• So it’s smaller games (mobile or big platform) that draw more attention
• Examples of games by Christian creators that have broken new ground:
  • “Clayfire” (fantasy adventure game in development at Salvation Poem)
  • “Sainthood” (cozy Christian game)
  • “Bug and Seek”
  • “David’s Mighty Warriors”
  • High Fructose

3. Sketching a future for Christian-made games

• Realm Makers Expo: a step toward connecting developers and others
• New creative and technological frontiers for Christians in these realms
• How players witness wisely for Jesus Christ as they level up in the world

Com station

Top question for listeners

• What’s the worst or best Christian-made video game you’ve played?

Next on Fantastical Truth

Zackary Russell and E. Stephen Burnett are heading for the Realm Makers Expo! That means next week’s episode may be delayed, or might release Tuesday. Either way, it’ll be another Stephen solo show. This one reveals a shocking truth: these days Stephen finds a lot more joy in books than he sees at the movie houses. Can the modern cinema be saved from synthetic moralities, sloppy franchises, and scandalized/sillified superheroes?