6 January 2026 | Colchester, UK [Maksym Balaklytskyi with tedNEWS]
As millions of young people spend their free time immersed in digital worlds, a father and son in England, UK, found themselves reflecting on a simple but profound question: Where are the high-quality Christian video games?
Twelve-year-old Nazar Balaklytskyi, a young Adventist gamer, had been searching for Christian games that aligned with his faith. In conversation with his father, Maksym Balaklytskyi, the two explored what Nazar had discovered and what was missing.
“I specifically looked for video games with a religious, especially Christian, component,” said Nazar. “I reviewed about ten games that were connected with religion in one way or another.” The results were disappointing. Most of what he found were mobile apps or games with only superficial references to biblical content.
A digital search for meaning
Among the games Nazar explored was a mobile app that was based on an animated Bible series. While it offered educational value, it lacked the immersive interactivity that defines popular modern games. “It’s not a real gaming environment,” he explained. “You’re not really present in the world like you are in a full game.”
Other titles also fell short. A parkour-style game that interrupted play with short Bible story clips was, in his view, “boring” and repetitive. Word games and Bible quizzes lacked depth or a visual connection to scripture. One game, with a Pathfinder theme, offered no coherent biblical narrative and had several technical flaws.
Despite scouring Google, the Play Store, and even the Epic Games platform for PC and console titles, Nazar found that Christian gaming options are largely limited to mobile devices, and few show the polish or creativity found in mainstream titles.
Nazar believes the absence of Christian-themed games goes beyond technology and reflects deeper cultural hesitations. “European pre-Christian mythology is very well developed. No one complains if a dragon or a Yeti appears in a game,” he said. “But developers seem to avoid biblical content out of fear—because organised religion might respond negatively.” As a result, he says, young people are exposed to a steady stream of Greek, Norse, or fantasy-inspired stories, while biblical narratives are often viewed as outdated or irrelevant.
A vision for something better
Nazar isn’t just critiquing; he’s imagining solutions. If given the resources, he says he would develop a multiplayer game that allows players to experience the Bible first-hand. “It would be a team game where you move through events in the Bible. The player would act like the Holy Spirit, moving from one biblical character to another—from Adam to Noah, Moses to Paul.” He suggests that figures like Moses, David, Jesus and Paul offer enough depth and drama for powerful gameplay, with books like Genesis and Revelation providing the epic, world-changing settings that today’s fantasy games already imitate.
For Nazar, successful games are built on clear principles: progression, teamwork and interaction. “Teenagers want to level up, feel like they’re achieving something. But they also want to be part of a team, to share victories with others.” This social component, he notes, is often missing from religious games, which tend to be solitary or educational tools rather than engaging experiences.
The opportunity for the Church
While Nazar says most modern games are not anti-Christian, they are certainly non-Christian. In his view, this absence speaks volumes. “They just don’t mention Christianity at all,” he said.
His reflections raise an important challenge for the Adventist Church and the wider Christian community: If we believe the Bible contains the greatest stories ever told, why aren’t we telling them through the most influential media of our time? As Nazar’s generation grows up surrounded by digital storytelling, the Church faces a choice. Will we simply warn young people about the dangers of the online world, or will we also create inspiring content that invites them into God’s story?
[Photo: Maksym Balaklytskyi]
