I (Andrew, founder of By the Book Games) have worked as a pastor and computer programmer, and I’ve loved making games since I was a kid. But I was also addicted to games growing up. Over time, I wrestled with the question of whether games were worth playing and creating, or whether they were just distractions from the more important parts of my life.
I made board games for my dorm floor at college, which helped bring the community together. I coded computer games as a hobby during my seminary training, which helped me develop skills as a web developer. I created Aquaculture, celebrating the history of the rural area where I ministered, and sold copies at local markets with my family. But it wasn’t until the success of WORDMINGLE that I started to see play as a potential answer to many important needs and not just something to justify.
As a father, I noticed a need for family discipleship tools that nurture intentional conversations. As a pastor, I saw a sore lack of outreach resources that engaged a large, neglected segment of our culture—the nerds! (I see a lot of church sports camps going on in the summer, but the chess club doesn't seem to get a flyer.) As a game enthusiast, I rolled my eyes at “Christian games” that had the same basic ingredients as any other, only with lower budgets and cheesy themes (think Monopoly with heaven and hell painted onto the finish lines).
All this sparked a vision for something more.
While many indie game companies share their passion projects with the world, By the Book Games is built on a unique model for how games can work. Board games and video games often have a reputation for unhealthy escapism, leading people to either succumb to addiction or reject play as childish and evil. By the Book Games takes a different approach, summed up in our motto: Play Well. Live Better. We create high-quality games that incentivize healthy living instead of distracting from it.
These are games that anyone can truly enjoy—not “Christian games” that only appeal to people who already accept the message. But the games offer more than just entertainment. They're designed to help people, families, and churches grow, challenge their thinking, connect with their neighbors, and present aspects of the gospel in a winsome and unintimidating format. As the years go by, we keep expanding the scope and ambition of our games, hoping more projects in the future will have more ways of impacting people's lives for the better. But our mission doesn't stop with games alone. Through our multimedia vlog, EXP, we regularly explore the intersection of faith, health, and play, providing engaging and insightful content.
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