Will the Church Value Video Games in 2017?

Defining moments are difficult to determine when they are happening. The mainstreaming of “meaningful games” in the past five years, however, likely owes much to That Game Company's Journey, released in 2012. A masterpiece in both art and story, it was received with almost universal positive acclaim and reached a well-known status for an indie game. The wordless narrative depicts the typical hero's journey story arc, runs about as long as a typical movie, and leaves the players in the odd spot where they can write their own interpretation onto many of the events in the game. Ian Bogost, Chair of Media Studies at Georgia Tech and renowned game critic, commented at the time that “in a medium where interpretation is scorned as indulgent and pretentious, Journey gives no ground: the player must bring something to the table.” Journey wrangles emotional engagement from the player and fosters communication around itself through its creative use of story.