Bible Adventures

Boss Fight Books #7

by Gabe Durham

In the beginning, a small unlicensed game development company was hit with divine They could make a lot of money (and escape the wrath of Nintendo) by creating games for Christians. With the release of the 1990 NES platformer Bible Adventures, the developers saw what they had made, and it was good. Or, at least, good enough. Based on extensive research and original interviews with Wisdom Tree staff, Gabe Durham's book investigates the rise and fall of the little company that almost could, the tension between faith and commerce in the Christian retail industry, culture's retro/ironic obsession with "bad games," and the simple recipe for transforming a regular game into a Christian throw a Bible in it and pray nobody notices.

Genres: Nonfiction, Video Games, Gaming, Games, Religion, Game Design

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Gabe Durham is the author of a novel, FUN CAMP, and a book about 90s Christian Nintendo games, BIBLE ADVENTURES. He is the editor of Boss Fight Books. He lives in Los Angeles.

http://www.bossfightbooks.com

Reviews

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I tore through this book. What a great story. There are a handful of really fascinating stories that are coming out of the video game world, and this book captures one that's gone mostly untold, or at least hasn't been condensed into a single spot until now.

More than the other Boss Fight Books, this one is a great read for gamers and non-gamers alike. It covers the story of Wisdom Tree, a company created to make non-Nintendo-licensed games for the NES that had a basis in religion. I mean, sort of.

Within that story, we get a lot of great questions. I mean, what is a truly Christian product, anyway? Is there any way to sell something with every link in the chain being Christian? Why can't we play a video game AS Jesus? What is retro and what is nostalgia, and why is it becoming such a powerful force in recent history?

And how does a single game company go from making weird games like Robodemons to making Bible Adventures, and then to starting in on a Hellraiser game? How do the building blocks of Wolfenstein, a game about shooting Nazis and ultimately Hitler, become transformed into a game about Noah, as in big-ass boat Noah?

WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS ------> FREEFALL!?

It's a great little book that covers a very niche part of gaming, but also isn't afraid to expand into the larger world.

This book also had the best ending of the books I've read in the series. It ties everything up with some questions. If video games, it turned out, really did make you dumber, if gaming was worse than a night of hard drinking, if there was a real toll to pay, would gamers still game?

Read this book. And I am so goddamn pumped to read Metal Gear Solid, the next installment in the series, I think, that it's hard to describe.

[Jamie Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really nails the balance of personal and journalism. And in small ways managed to bring you back to a time before the Internet (but just before, not the Middle Ages) -- a time that was different in so many ways that we strain to appreciate now... Or more likely just forget. The real joy in the book, for me, were the essayistic/ rhetorical flights of fancy around mid-book. The off-the-cuff re-telling of the life of Jesus in RPG terms? Yes, please.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In this way, Christianity is the retro gaming of my spiritual journey.”

I’m reminded that, when presented well, a writer’s relationship to a piece of media they’re examining can tell a reader more about said media than facts and figures ever could.

[Ethan Whitted]

3.5 stars. Bible Adventures is a decently fun little taking a critical look at the infamous NES game of the same name. (The "NES" is the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's first home console in the U.S. for those uninitiated in retro gaming.)

What surprised me when reading this is that rather than being focus soley on Bible Adventures, this book is instead a survey of all games published by the game's development studio, Wisdom Tree. (A group of non-Christian developers making sketchy, unlicensed NES games to sell directly to Christian bookstores in the 80s and 90s.) In fact, only one chapter in the book is specifically dedicated to the game Bible Adventures itself. The rest of the page space is dedicated to 1) the author sharing personal vignettes and musings from his own journey away from Christianity and into atheism, 2) snippets of behind-the-scenes information from the history of Wisdom Tree's game development that the author collected through interviews and online resources, and 3) descriptions of each game Wisdom Tree released.

I would say this book is at its high points when sharing the author's stories from his childhood/later journey away from faith, and when passing along information from the interviews he conducted. The descriptions of each of Wisdom Tree's games provide a nice scaffolding for the book but it would have been nice if this roadmap was more presented more upfront and clear to the reader from the get-go. As it stands, the book acts as if it is only going to focus on Bible Adventures but the reader slowly recognizes the true guiding narrative as the novel progresses. Most of the game descriptions are little more than a one to two paragraphs describing what the gameplay mechanics for each title are and the rest of each of the "descriptions" are filling in the cultural context that author attaches to each game.

I've not read any "game history" books before so it was fun to explore this subgenre for the first time. It was also fun to see a couple of people I know personally get mentioned near the end of the book when discussing what has happened in the Christian video game space post-Wisdom Tree. For anyone mildly interested in retro gaming from the NES era or the stories behind "bad games", I'd say this is an entertaining and informative short read. It's not a masterpiece but has some interesting content.

[jessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a funny and fascinating story- equal parts video game history & personal essay! i laughed a lot. i also had to stop reading quite often to read up further on the developers online or to quick download NES and SNES roms to try nearly every one of color dreams & wisdom tree’s titles myself. they’re an absolute disaster and i’m obsessed. Got me on a general NES/SNES game kick for a while, and i discovered so much i wouldn’t have known about without this. would also recommend this to anyone who wants a really nuanced take on the relationship between faith and art from all angles, as i don’t hear many takes on that in video game development! handles that subject matter with a good amount of grace and also so much humor when it comes to christianity. durham’s writing on his christian upbringing and the sheer absurdity of these “christian”games is absolute comedic gold

[Luke Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute joy of a book to read. Durham doesn't just recount the fascinating history of an obscure/famous NES game; he weaves a fascinating tapestry of questions about belief and doubt.

[Snakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an old-time gamer, I was intrigued by this religious title I’d never heard of, and it turned out as a fascinating story. Religious gaming, niche and strange, but a really good read nonetheless.

[Hugo Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gabe Durham, the author of this title is the person heading the video game series of books on video games by Boss Fight Books. Bible Adventure is his contribution to this project and so much makes sense now in the selection process for writers in this series. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a requirement of some kind to include sexually explicit language and lewd interpretations, often very loosely made, for the game in question. Included with all this is the heavy themes of progressive ideals concerning sexism, racism, environmentalism, climate change, anti-religious and anti-war messaging and pro alternative lifestyle rants that have little, if nothing, to do with the title being presented. Yes, somehow, even Galaga could not avoid being steeped in DEI coded language with an emphasis on heavy condescension of religious values. Often, it may seem, that a good portion of the word count in these books are spent on abusive childhoods--some to an exaggerated degree of ambiguity that is not helped by the flat out lies typical of Kurt Vonneguts Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse5. Surround a historical event with an alternate view but leave enough evidence of mischief that anyone who generally would question it can be dismissed with the fact that it was a work of fiction. Clever, but sad and pitiable. But this was the book on Galaga, so desperate to match the misery of the previous authors but managing only throw his family under the bus. While the Earthbound author found a way to rebuild family ties through his book, Michael Kimball manages only to burn all his bridges and all this without a single word about his mother. But why should I expect anything at all about her? when there is so much in the book about his father and brother. At least his message of real life relationships being greater than the game was a healthy way to end it.

These books have been a precious window into the way other souls have managed to navigate the unique age in which technology has affected a post-industrialized world. I find a lot of it educational and worth the investment to study and understand so many other perspectives and behaviors of those who, like me, were consumed by the medium, by the worlds that helped them achieve escapism.

While my expectations for the future titles on my list is very low now (I am reading them in order by publishing date), I am refreshed that some have kept the DEI issues to a minimum and have been truly excellent examples (Jagged Alliance 2, Super Mario 2) of deep research and diligence in the authors attempt to capture the conception, labor, recent and early reception of the game they were tasked, or chose, to write on. There is a palpable affection and deep seated reverence for the game and this project coming across the pages. Sadly much of it is polluted by the disaffections and interests of the author. Maybe "interestingly" and "infused' are kinder words and I substitute them when appropriate.

As with so many religious who have become hostile antagonists to their prior held beliefs, Durham leads the pack here (so far) in a multitude of examples, quoting liberally from scriptures (the bible) as he does his very best to blaspheme and mock religion, Christianity in particular. And as many others fails utterly in his interpretations and understanding of what he is criticizing and thinks he hates. He has very poor understanding of the historical crusades, likely because his education on the subject was by those who similarly wish to undermine the Church by offering lessons with the worst kind of historical revisionism. It is obvious that no one ever talked to him about who the Mamluks were and how they epitomized what Islam has ever been to the non-Muslim world, who turned their ideals into a merciless grinding machine of conquering and recruitment. How for 300+ years Christians were butchered, enslaved, raped and pillaged by Muslims before they stood up to say that's far enough. That the Ottomans plucked the playbook and operating foundational workings of the Mamluks and continued these barbaric practices, taking them forward in time. Far from unjustified when viewed through the actual lenses of the past. Progressives, likewise, will never admit that abortion, as it is practiced today and the last hundred years, is the only act that can ever be described as more horrendous than war crimes, slavery, sexual assault, and vandalism. You will be hard pressed to find, in the history of mankind, a woman taking pride in the act that causes little hands and tiny feet to be ripped and torn off from a living fetus before the spiked clamps crush the white matter out of the little skull of her own child. Yet, to most progressives these remain the most important freedoms that a woman could have a 'right' to.

I would hope Gabe may find his faith some day. True faith. Maybe he'll take the time to really read his scriptures with an open heart to what it really says and not follow blindly the tropes and pithy insults of those who don't genuinely pay as much attention as those they so freely deride.
Durham says Noah got out of the boat after 40 days. Actually it rained for 40 days. He was stuck on the ark for over 6 months waiting for the waters to recede. He says, by quote, that rape is not in the 10 commandments and feels like he has a mic drop moment. In Deuteronomy 22:26 you can see very plainly that this bestial act is compared to MURDER. Now, the last time I checked there was a commandment against murder.

I'll leave this on a positive note, with memories of my own bible adventure style Christianized theme 1983 Noah game by Enter-Tech. That single thrilling day I had playing Noah and doing my best to gather the pairs of animals and bringing them back to the ark. I tried and tried but failed in subsequent levels, my little mind daunted by this Herculean task. It was a day my uncle, my dad's brother, picked me up to tag along on a date he had. This uncle had never done anything like this before, but I loved the arcades at Chuck'e Cheese. It was my favorite place to go and didn't often get the chance to. I couldn't pass up the invitation. After losing my last set of tokens I had to give up the dream of getting them all in before I ran out of time and the flood swallowed them whole. I had never, since, seen another arcade machine of its type and size. I returned to our table and had a serious thought about how hard Noah's job must have been. The kindly woman was there sitting alone and asked if I wanted to keep playing. My uncle was out there somewhere trying to impress himself on her boys, who were around my age. Most likely the reason he brought me and not my brother. There could have been other reasons. I felt a keep sadness at the thought that my uncle might hurt this kind and mild mannered woman. I said no thank you to her offer and blurted out that my uncle was not a good man and he was only pretending to be nice because he liked her. I will never forget her reaction. The slight smile and only two soft words, "I know". I felt the guilt at betraying my uncle and throwing a wrench into his game. I was even more confused at her calmness and the lack of surprise to my statement. I remained quiet for the rest of the day, passively reflecting on that perfect grace. I never saw her or that mini Noah arcade again.

I'm looking forward to Baulder's Gate II. I got some memories of you too buddy.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, given that the subject matter seemed interesting and (relatively) undocumented.
Ultimately, what turned me off was the shifting tone of the work. The straight-and-narrow threading of various firsthand accounts from employees at Wisdom Tree was great, along with the research put into the niche Christian bookstore market. The descriptions of the games themselves were pretty thorough, but not super interesting to read (maybe I should've played along with the book?). The personal connections from the author to the subject matter were underdeveloped and distracting, mainly because they would interject into the journalistic narrative without adding much additional insight into the motivations of the subjects. Finally, the book has a few too many unnecessary references that I feel like are going to be dated within the next five years (even for gaming culture).
I'm definitely interested in reading more books from this series, but this one didn't connect with me unfortunately.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a few Boss Fight books now and have really enjoyed them. This might be the best one yet. Gabe nails the mix of game history, personal reflection, and sheer entertainment. I was sad when the book ended because I wanted more more more. If you have any interest in the peculiar corners of video game history, make sure to buy this book. You will love it.

[Zach Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truth be told, the simple existence of this book alone was probably enough to garner the full 5/5 stars from me. I grew up squarely in the "NES era" and also in a religious family--meaning I played more than my fair share of Wisdom Tree Games (Bible Adventures, Exodus, Joshua, King of Kings, etc.). But I thought those experiences were unique to me. To my surprise--though it shouldn't have been, as pop culture was so much broader back then--this Boss Fight Books series decided to cover exactly that! The icing on the cake: it's an extremely interesting and thoughtful (even funny, at times) take on religious gaming by author Gabe Durham.

There are two main avenues that Durham takes with his analysis...

First is the nuts-and-bolts look at Color Dreams (later spinning off Wisdom Tree) and how they produced the Christianity-based games. This includes the fascinating stories about bypassing Nintendo's lockout chip, creating game controls on the fly (vaguely ripping off Super Mario 2), and the marketing of such products through Christian booksellers and church libraries that were overjoyed to have video game products children were clamoring for. Reading through all that helped me understand exactly how and why that baby blue, oddly-sized cartridge ended up wedged into my NES.

Secondly, Durham muses on the nature--both practical and philosophical--of religiously-themed video games. Often snarky and a bit tongue-in-cheek (both used to great effect), Durham also can provide serious analysis on what held these games back from being great (even good, really)--but also why they made enough of an impact to be solidly nostalgic for a generation of children.

This book was my introduction to the Boss Fight series and I couldn't have been more enthralled. It tapped directly into the main vein of my 80s childhood nostalgia and managed to be extremely interesting in the process! I will certainly be checking out more of this series very soon!

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before this book, I had never heard of this game, so everything here was entirely new. Except. As someone raised in a Christian household, I connected immediately to Durham’s description of the Church library and its eclectic selection of materials deemed appropriate for members. Ours didn’t have videogames, but that may have been because consoles were still new during my time and they may have added games like Bible Adventures in the 90s. For someone who loved libraries, I was disappointed that the church library had such narrow interests in the materials made available, almost as if they didn’t want to introduce anything to make people question. (Even then, some of their material still led to that kind of analysis, including a particular volume I remember about the cult nature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that led me in a different direction than the authors likely intended.)

So how did a videogame company decide to create a series of Nintendo games based on Christian ideology when the programmers and executives weren’t believers themselves. Ah, capitalism, thy name is legion, and in this case was called Wisdom Tree, the makers of Bible Adventures and a number of other cartridges. Even better, at a time when Nintendo strictly ruled the toy stores and others that sold the games for its platform by forcing a hardware component necessary for the console to “accept” and run the game, Wisdom Tree had technology that bypassed this. Toys ‘R’ Us still wouldn’t carry their unauthorized games, but Wisdom Tree had discovered the Christian bookstore market, and that provided enough sales to keep it afloat until the Internet changed that (not to mention the boom and bust of console platforms).

A great insight into the burgeoning videogame business and worthy of your time if you have an interest in electronic gaming history.

[think blue count two · Rating 4 out of 5]

an easy and entertaining read. i have been giving myself an ulcer recently by dwelling on the evangelical bubble i was raised in and the effects it (probably) had on me. i felt some sort of relief or at least acknowledgment via stepping back into and out of that bubble many times throughout Bible Adventures.

critical reflection on a "super christian" youth usually leaves me cold. people criticizing the church tend to sound like they learned everything they know about protestantism from watching A24 movies. Gabe Durham was embedded in a very similar scene to me, from the sound of it. it was nice to feel like someone pretty much got it. the things that are malignant about evangelical culture are all a lot more subtle than they look in movies, but it's a really tight network of these subtle things, if you've really bought into it, which i certainly did - and it sounds like the author really did, too. most former-churchgoer experiences, at least the ones that aren't horror-movie-dramatic, honestly sound like they were written by people who slept during the sermon and had someone explain why christianity is bad later. it was nice to hear something from someone who was also actually plugged in, willingly.

the story of the game itself was amusing, too. and i found Dan Lawton writing off his own past anti-christian rhetoric as an "autistic meltdown" pretty humbling, because i get a stick up my ass about the church far too often. [at this point i attempted to add a joke about how "having a stick up your ass" is gay, which segued into something about the oft-heard sunday school phrase "that makes jesus sad," which got a mention in Bible Adventures, and i kept going in the Autistic Meltdown direction so i am cutting that out and ending the review now.]

[Wesley and Fernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn on this book. It was quite interesting to read about the history and motivations behind one of the most infamous attempts at creating the NES Bible-based game, Bible Adventures. Having interviews with actual team members who put it together definitely helps to see the game in a different light.

On the other hand, I can't say I was a fan of how the book was written. I totally understand that this book is partly about the author's personal experience with the game and I'm fine with the continual skepticism and even poking fun at Christian culture (much of it does need to be ridiculed, to be certain); however, is it really necessary to use this much coarse language? I can understand if, during interviews, the person being interviewed dropped some language for emphasis and you're just recording what they said. It's another thing when the language is sprinkled about liberally, with no rhyme or reason. That does affect my enjoyment of the book because there is literally no reason to write like that when you're putting out something professional like this. I really don't see the point, personally.

But overall, good information and an important gap filled in gaming history. I will definitely check out the other books in this series, but I do hope that this style does not continue throughout the rest of them.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've heard of Bible Adventures it's probably because you've watched a comedic YouTube review or playthrough. These types of videos paint Bible Adventures as one of the worst games of all time, but Gabe approaches the game and the people who made it with respect and the result is a wonderful read. The story of how Wisdom Tree came to be, and the antithesis between the group of developers and the games that they were creating adds so much context to what these games really were. Gabe explores not just Bible Adventures but every game made by Wisdom Tree and a lot of the original unlicensed games that inspired them. With new interviews and a compilation of a bunch of previous articles Gabe tells Wisdom Tree's story and how the games were received. Gabe balances Wisdom Tree's story with his own personal story about his experience with religion. How he was raised to be Christian, the programs he took part in, how it affected how he saw people, and how he grew out of it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in games, struggles of faith, and the commercialism of Christianity.

[Hack Fraud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as advertised.

If you expected this book to be a deep dive on the video game company Wisdom Tree, prepare to be disappointed.

So much of this book is dedicated to the authors faith (or lack there of) it was actually astounding. I get it, the games were Christian themed, but I have very little interest in some random guys takes on the Christian faith

The second most covered topic in the books is describing the games in granular detail. I suppose it's at least on topic, but I could just look up some gameplay if I needed a refresher.

There was some things in the book I didn't know, but if your exposure to Wisdom Tree in the first place was AVGN (which I'd assume this is the case for about 90% of people). Than you already know most of the information on offer.

If your entire book about a single topic is only slightly more illuminating than a comedic game review that came out 18 years ago, maybe you should go back to the drawing board.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ended up being a very uneven book. There were some fascinating bits about the history of this niche of "Christian" games and some great background information gathered from personal interviews. However, it also felt like the author was trying too hard to be one of the "cool kids" in mocking Christianity. I get it, some aspects of the Christian culture and Christian retail truly are ridiculous, but to take every opportunity to be as snarky as possible just seemed insecure. "Yeah, here's another instance where Christians are dumb, amiright? Let's all yuk it up again." Not to mention that many of his critiques of the Bible showed just enough understanding to make it seem like he knew what he was talking about, when just a little more thought would reveal something different than his conclusion.

Nevertheless, mostly a good, informative read.

[benana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first read from the Boss Fight Books series! I was happy this book went beyond waxing poetic on how shit these games are, instead extending its investigation of these stinkers into what they say about the game dev industry, faith, and the intersection of religion and commerce. It's truly a fascinating tale that goes way beyond these bizarre pixellated Christian games from a bygone era. Excited to read more from this series, I'd definitely recommend this book even to those not super familiar with the games, it's such a strange story that does a great job putting you into the context even if you're not up on yah gamer history, as my Dad says chugging a Surge™ and a Monster™ at the same time.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author doesn't talk very much about the actual game design of the games made by Wisdom Tree, and throughout the book sympathizes primarily with the atheist members of the team who treated Christian doctrine as lore from a video game. It also includes many anecdotes of the author's previous religious experiences and how they've weakened his faith, and these sections are usually unrelated to the other content in the chapter. The author also couldn't be bothered to label the chapters. However, this book isn't a throwaway book, as you will learn about the history of Christian game development. I don't believe those sections make a $15 price worth it.

[Alexander Monaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bible Adventures" is easily the best of the Boss Fight Books series that I've read so far; once I got started, it was very hard to put down. Durham takes readers back to the late 80s and tells an obscure and hilarious story of a game developer creating awful Christian NES games despite being staffed almost entirely by atheists. Throughout the entire book, the interspersed discussion of Christian commercialism and the author's own struggles with religion add a fascinating dimension to an ultimately ridiculous subject.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐
Another great Boss Fights book down! What an interesting story of a Christian game created by atheists & the balance of sticking to faithfulness vs profit. This is not a book that shines a particularly great light on Christianity tbh, but I found the final chapter #retrogaming to be a great conclusion! Would recommend to gamers & non gamers as it's largely devoid of technical-ness & focuses itself instead on the morality & the business of selling "christian" things & the origin of the games & Wisdom Tree itself.

[Josh Freund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and thoroughly entertaining look at an obscure(ish) company that used to make Christian (and I use that term loosely) video games, with observations from the author's own faith journey sprinkled in. As someone who was part of the target market for Wisdom Tree's titles as a kid and whose Christian views have also evolved quite a bit since then, I found this to be a relevant and worthwhile read.

[Jake McClenahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narratives from this series, Boss Fight Books, are fantastic dives into what went into the behind the scenes world of some of our favorite or most well-known games.

This book will give you all of the background information that you didn’t know you wanted or needed when it comes to Wisdom Tree as a company and Bible Adventures as a title.

Fair warning, however: This book will make the reader want to play this game and the others mentioned even though they’re still considered “bad” games!

[Dave Corun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting this to be as well written or insightful. I thought I was going to read a book about the terrible NES game Bible Adventures, but he had much more to offer.

I picked this up from a Humble Bundle. This was the first Boss Fight Book I've read and I'm looking forward to reading the other ones.

[Alejandro Guevara Montiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good.
Had good insight of the video game industry form the 80's to early 00's.
It was fun to read and interesting to learn how revolutonary bible games where in the market aspect. While at the same time so very poorly made.

A rebelion of the little, against a giant, won by intelligence.

[Tommy Prast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking FASCINATING- specifically about how game companies in the 80s tried to circumvent licensing bc Nintendo was kind of a control freak about what was published on their system (after the Atari debacle, can you blame them?)
SUCH an interesting development history for these games

[Bemmu · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but only about 1/3 of the book is actual behind-the-scenes description of the creators and creation of the game. The rest is about the religious context in which the author played it in his youth, and details about the gameplay.

[Ross Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

started out well. wanted to hear more about the people and their live than the games.

[Darnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun look at an odd period in gaming history. What was there was pretty good; rating lower mainly because it was so short and a little superficial due to that.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good overview on a strange sub-genre of retro games, with little sprinkles of surprisingly thoughtful insight on religion as a whole. I enjoyed it.

4/5 stars