The Board Game Faith Newsletter, Issue 1
Hello, Gamer and Religious Person
Let’s be honest: on the surface, exploring the intersection of board games and faith seems like a pretty trivial task, doesn’t it? Maybe even odd. So, why create a podcast about it? More to the point (for those of us reading this right now), why publish a newsletter about it?
Because–underneath the surface–we believe that both faith and board games get at the most important stuff of life: connection, community, playfulness, and joy. These are the spiritual qualities that people are most hungry for today, and both spirituality and games are exceptionally good at nurturing them.
Daniel: When I look back over my life, for instance, there are two places (outside of my family) where I consistently have felt the most connected to others and to God/the Universe–where I have felt the most real: the line to receive Holy Communion at our local church, and the board game table. (And U2 concerts, but that’s another story for another time.)
Kevin: I just keep circling back to the pattern of so many religious people being into board games. Not every religious person is a board gamer, and not every board gamer is religious, but there is a weird overlap that we are finding ways to explore. A similar thing happens with fantasy and religion, where people like Tolkien and Lewis found traction between those two worlds.
If you are reading this right now, we suspect you have felt something of the same thing.
So welcome to this odd little corner of creation where faith and board games come together. We are so glad you are here. Religion and gaming may seem like a strange pairing, but the truth is that the two are profoundly important subjects which are connected on a deeper level than is immediately apparent. At their best, both faith and games can teach us about acceptance, community, and connection. Both are vehicles for grace. And what could be more important than that?
Behind the Episodes
Last podcast episode (15 - “How Reality is Broken and We Need More Games”) we discussed the first two chapters of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, by Jane McGonigal. McGonigal is one of the world’s foremost proponents on the value of games to the human experience, and is a great advocate for the positive “gamification” of many areas of life. If you’d like to learn more about her, she is fairly active on Twitter, and you can find her TED talk on how she thinks games can save the world here (just one of multiple TED talks she’s delivered).
Coming Up
Next episode (16), we will be considering what lessons we can learn about ourselves, life, and spiritual matters from “action selection” games. Action selection games are a pretty hard category to nail down because they can include other game mechanisms like simultaneous action selection, action drafting, and worker placement, among others. Typically, action selection games involve each player choosing a particular action to take from a limited number of options, and then other players either gaining or missing out on an opportunity because of that choice. Popular games that fall into the category include Race for the Galaxy, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, and maybe…even…Rock-Paper-Scissors??
If you’d like a really great deeper dive into action selection games, and the various subcategories that make it up, please check out this excellent video by Adam in Wales. Many thanks to @GrenadierBG (who has a great account on Instagram) for introducing us to the video!
What are your thoughts about action selection games? Is the category too broad? And what do you think action selection games can teach us? Please let us know over at our Discord server. We’ve already had a lot of great conversation about the topic there!
Games We're All About Right Now
Kevin: I dream in Root, I fear. It’s a psycho puzzle of a game that races to an abrupt end, with lots of possible hilarity (you just blew up my eyrie!). I’m getting Daniel to play the digital version, and I think he’s getting Root-infected as well.
I’ve recently been returning to Raiders of Scythia and Hadrian’s Wall because of the great solo versions. Hadrian’s Wall is such a great game – about 50 minutes to play, easy to setup and tear down, and very satisfying because of the many choices and pathways you can attempt. I am maybe halfway through the campaign (available through the Garphill Games website) that is a lot of fun because it forces you to try different strategies.
I had a great teach and playthrough of Brass Birmingham with my oldest son. I did back ISS Vanguard and Frosthaven, which should be arriving in the coming months!
Daniel: Perhaps in anticipation of the new Wingspan expansion, Kristen and I have been getting back into the base game (plus the European and Oceania expansions.) Every time we play it, we are reminded just how well designed it is, and how very different each game can feel based on which cards come out.
We also had a wonderful board-gaming weekend with some good friends recently, and got to try Carnegie and Rococo for the first time. Both were excellent. Carnegie provided a steady stream of upgrades to make me feel that I was getting better throughout the game, and Rococco offered so many different avenues to victory that I never felt blocked out of what I wanted to do (though I still lost!).
On top of that, I’ve been playing Root online with Kevin! I’m still learning, but it’s a lot of fun. And I have a feeling Kevin is going easy on me. :)
Media We're Digging Right Now
Kevin: Ackkk, so much pressure! There’s that band I can’t remember the name of … but in trying to remember, I will say I’m enjoying The Orielles, Japanese Breakfast, and Parish News experimental radio podcast. I’m reading a collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick, and Daniel is making me read Reality Is Broken by Jane McGonagal.
I am one of the many captivated by the Netflix show Dahmer. The writing, performances, and sets are just so so good. It’s a glimpse into a deranged, dangerous, and broken man, and the world of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1980s. Definitely not for the squeamish!
Daniel: The bands and singer-songwriters I enjoy most are often those whose music is what I call “religiously haunted” (my children call them “Dad Songs”). These musicians are generally folks who don’t have an explicitly “religious” label, and yet their songs regularly wrestle with spiritual themes. Some of my favorites in this category include Coldplay, Chance the Rapper, the Indigo Girls, Ásgeir, Rose Cousins, Micahel Franti, Tracey Chapman, Mumford and Sons, and…of course…U2. Who would I be without U2?
Recently I came across another “religiously haunted” band that I have on seemingly endless repeat. Cloud Cult is a group out of Minnesota (a northern state here in the U.S.) that combines sweeping melodies, delightful musical experimentation, and raw emotion to explore issues of spirituality and mental health with authenticity and vulnerability. Three of my favorite tracks from the group are “There’s So Much Energy in Us” (an epic track about space exploration and the meaning of life), “One Way Out of a Hole” (which helped me through some rough times recently), and “Love You All” (which combines a synthesized voice with a choir to make me weep pretty much every time I listen to it). You can listen to all three of these tracks (as well as songs by the Orielles and Japanese Breakfast) on our YouTube music playlist or our Spotify playlist.
Um, I Think It's Your Turn
We would love to get to know you better! Since this newsletter is our first, we’d like to begin with a general “getting to know you” opportunity. If you could please fill out this brief “It’s Nice to Meet You!” Google Form, we’d really appreciate it. It will only take about 3-4 minutes, but it would help us a lot in getting to know you more and making the podcast better. Thank you so much!
We are so grateful for each of you. Thanks for being a part of the Board Game Faithful!
Until next time,
Kevin & Daniel