Fun Times Are Here Again

  The Super Bowl. I hate the Super Bowl… Mainly because my team never makes it there, but I hate the Super Bowl. I didn’t always hate it, but ever since Facebook, and Twitter, and over-saved Christians making the Super Bowl a spiritual topic… I’ve grown to hate it.

It’s not the event itself, not the spirit behind it, nor even the fact that some people worship the sport of Football that causes me to hate it. I hate the Super Bowl because of the spiritual dump site it has become. People talk about how we should spend time at church rather than go home and watch Football. Or that if we make a big deal out of watching the Super Bowl, they say that we are worshiping sports. It makes me sick!

Here it is: God isn’t a killjoy. He’s not sitting up in heaven waiting to rain on our parade and stomp on our fun. Sure, His house and the fellowship with believers should rank above sports, but fellowship can take place at your house as much as at God’s house. The church building is nothing more than a location designated for our gatherings of worship.

Do I think it’s wrong that some churches don’t have Sunday evening services to allow the congregation to watch the Super Bowl? No. Their minds and hearts will be with the game whether their bodies are or not. It’s our attitude that makes the difference. If we really wanted to be in church the night of the Super Bowl, we would find a way to make it happen. Even if all we could do was host a Bible study or something that night, if we really wanted to, we would. But we love sports, they relax us, excite us, and bring us joy and laughs. 

If given the choice between the Super Bowl and church, Christian sports fans would feel obligated to be at church, but their heart wouldn’t be there: what would be the purpose? Am I saying that it’s right to rank Football higher than church? Well, yes. At least, it’s logical if nothing else. When church fails to be more exciting, joyful, and relaxing than a Football game, by all means, go watch Football. 

Are you getting this? People are more relaxed in their own homes than at God’s house. People get more joy out of worldly, fleeting things than the everlasting hope and promises of God. People get more excited about a touchdown than salvation of souls by Christ Jesus. What is wrong with this picture?

Beyond the explanation of why people would rather watch Football than go to church, humans need a break every so often. Fellowship with believers isn’t a bad thing, it’s an element necessary to the growth of a Christian. If that can be accomplished by a Super Bowl party better than it can at a church service, why not? 

Lastly, it’s not our job to convict other believers about what God wants them to be doing. The Holy Spirit will work in their life to convict. If it’s blatant sin, we have a responsibility to call them out in the presence of witnesses, but this isn’t a direct or indirect sin. If you can’t live with the Super Bowl, live without it; but to make a deal over the way people treat it only angers them and frustrates you. 

Enjoy the games. And if you are not planning on watching the Super Bowl, I hope you are putting use to that time.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Best RPG, FPS, and Strategy Games

Okay, I’ve been serious for the past dozen posts, it’s time to do something just for the fun of it.

When you’re a moral, home schooled, sheltered kid, you are very selective about your game choices. Everybody wants to find the perfect game that they enjoy and can feel good about playing. These games aren’t perfect, but they come close and are a few of my favorites.

We’ll start with iOS games, because they’re more popular these days.

#1- This Means War!

This Means War is a build-a-base game like Clash of Clans or Game of War. The unique thing about this game is that it is set in modern day, if not a slightly futuristic modern day.     As is shown in the first screenshot, this is a flat field of battle, both bases are in play; this feature is one of the major distinctions of “This Means War” from all other games like it. In the most popular of the play type, Clash of Clans, there is no danger of your base being attacked when you are in a raid; in This Means War, the enemy can attack you as you’re attacking them.

The best part: it’s clean and simplistic. The graphics are top, the developers release updates often with new content and fixes, and you don’t have to wade through creep-things like you have to in other fantasy games. You can click here to download This Means War for free.

#2- Tiny Troopers

This is an entirely different game play done with bobble headed characters. Like a total control 3rd person FPS, this delightful game is a pleasant pastime. 

  Again, the graphics are great, the game play is fun and engaging. It’s still not a true FPS, but the many missions and characters keep it from getting boring too fast.

You control a squad of three men and invade small maps, eliminating targets and keeping your little guys alive. It’s not a pay-to-play like a lot of games are nowadays, and it’s actually fun. Download it here.

#3- 0A.D.

For number three we move to the laptop computer and a new open-source strategy game. 0A.D. is so new that they are still in Alpha. Having recently released their 19th Alpha version, called Syllepsis, 0A.D. is pushing ahead toward become the next Age of Empires.

  

 

Okay, take a moment to appreciated the prettiness of these screenshots. Alright, now take in the fact that this game is completely fan funded. They do not charge for the game. This game is built by monetary support and actual code and design contributions by fans. Wow! To be as good as it is now and to still be in Alpha building, this game will be a monster when fully developed. 

It’s gameplay is very similar to AoE 2 with a graphic scale of AoE 3. If you are an Age of Empires fm, you’ll want to keep an eye on this developing game. You can read more about it or download the latest version here.

#4- Age of Empires: World Domination

Speaking of Age of Empires, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the classic, most iconic CPU strategy game that is getting a  mobile app. That’s it. You read that correctly; Age of Empires is getting an official mobile game.  

  
   

Now, this app has not yet been released to the US market, but they are testing the iOS and Android systems in the Philippines and other abstract places. I’m pumped about this game, but a bit disconcerted by the reviews it’s getting from testing. Despite that, I think there is great promise and great possibilities for this game. Obviously there is a huge fan base for this game, and I’m excited to see what they do with it. 

The style of game play looks very similar to the old style, but the game is free to play. That means that there will be purchasable items, making it potentially a pay-to-play game. Well, no game is perfect. Learn more about AoE World Domination on their website by clicking here.

#5- BombSquad

 This game, developed by Eric Froemling, may very well be my favorite group game ever. It is a computer game that works best on Mac devices, (but will also work on windows, if you know how to obtain the Beta), which you control using phones. You download the game to your computer and the controller to your phone and you’re set for a bobble-head adventure.

There are multiple basic game styles, which include: capture the flag, last man standing, king of the hill, football, racing, and several variations of these. With free-for-all, single player, and multi-player team modes, there is no end to the hours of mad fun you can have with this simple little game.

There are 6 free avatars to choose from and additional ones for purchase, but the real fun of the game is in the 4 buttons on the controller: punch, jump, throw bomb, and pick up. The last of these actions enables you to pick up another player and simply throw them off of the map. This is the equivalent of sneaking up behind someone in Halo and hitting them over the back of the head with a rocket launcher.

You can play with up to 8 players and the rounds are short, making this a great game for mid-sized groups. I like it a lot, mostly because of their tagline in the last screenshot: “Blow up your friends”. What’s not fun about that?

There is no blood, no realistic violence or themes, so even the little kids can play. You can download BombSquad for free by clicking here. 

I suppose I need a moral to this post, just for consistency of course. Games are a bridge to escape life for a few short moments. Everybody needs a bridge. These are some of the bridges I enjoy walking, I hope you will too.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Stories: In Ten Words

Being that the bus is incapacitated and unable to travel, I find myself living at my home away from home: the Dodd’s house. Now, my family has known the Dodd family from before we went into travelling evangelism almost 20 years ago. This house is one of my all time favorite places to be; you never can tell what’s going to happen here. The day before yesterday, for instance: Guy, the Dodd’s cousin, was having a conversation with Bethanie, their youngest child. He told me about it in a conversation that took place yesterday, which looked something like this:

“I just totally made this game up yesterday with Bethany, while the other boys were playing. She loves to tell stories, but they’re always really long. So, I said ‘Hey, lets try this. See if you can tell a story in ten words.'”.

So, the objective of the game is to tell a story in exactly ten word?

Well, I let the younger kids do ten words or less. But, yes: ten words.

So, I learned a new game yesterday! It’s a ton of fun and I thought I’d share it with all of you. I think it would make a great holiday game when you have all of those relatives over and you don’t know what to do with them. Here are a few of the ones we thought of yesterday afternoon. They started out simple, but ended up getting very complex and interesting. The entire family got involved.

Samuel: Once there was a girl named Abby, she passed tests.

Benjamin: Once Abby got married to…(unfinished story due to content issue: Censored.)

Guy: The paintings in my house come to life at night.

Jared: I wish that I could say all of my story.

Guy: The people ate fuzzy mushrooms for breakfast, and then died.

Guy: I looked in the mouth of my uncle’s gift horse.

Stephen: I found the antidote, but it was far too late.

Kevin: I saw a fish, caught it, then let it go.

Guy: My flashing antenna sensors blink when I fall in love.

Jared: They were trapped inside then found a secret door.

Stephen: There is a mild design flaw to the saber’s holstering mechanism.

Guy: Farewell, my dear captain, sometimes the ship goes down alone.

Bethanie: Once there was a girl playing the violin very prettily.

Guy: Far too many cards fall under tables while playing games.

Jared: The glasses sit abandoned for their drinkers are in jail.

Bethanie: I just pinched my finger in the piano’s black keys.

Guy: My wife abandoned kids and me. Count it all joy.

Jared: Dog are dogs no matter what the government tells us.

Isabel: This is a star. It’s a decoration, and a camera.

Teri: And then there were none left to continue the quest.

Bethanie: It’s a mask that looks I am wearing glasses.

Stephen: When they fell, I knew that hope had fallen too.

Guy: Tomorrow. We will ride. The sun may not arise. Apocalypse.

Savannah: So there they were, each left to his own adventure.

Jared: A picture is worth a thousand words. Prices may vary.

Guy: I haven’t had inspiration at all today; too many distractions.

Josh: A man hit Somebody. Somebody’s friend hit him right back.

Guy: Jesus paid it all, I owe it all to Him.

Jared: Clock: the noise a clock makes when it hits you.

Guy: “I need a holiday,” he said, wiping off another’s blood.

Jared: Stop watch! Don’t move! You will be put in timeout.

Brittanie: Smiling, the dog jumped, leaped, frolicked, and ate the bone.

Jared: The last living human hears a knock at the door.

Guy: I’m afraid of falling, but I cannot find a floor.

Jared: I didn’t shoot him, he shot me, then I died.

You can even try variations of this game and split a single story between multiple people. Here are examples of myself and Guy each contributing five words chunks to a single story, and also taking turns adding one word each, respectively. After that, things just got crazy when Guy and I built 1 single story out of multiple ten words stories.

Jared, Guy: Ten thousand gleaming blades raised, they shouted with frenzied pleasure.

Guy, Jared: Many times our minds fill with wicked intentions. We sin.

Guy: Light-years apart, the star-crossed lovers dedicated themselves to galactic exploration.

Jared: How did they meet? Is there a cosmic postal system.

Guy: No, but antenna sensors can communicate telepathically across solar systems.

Jared: Sadly the majority of long-distance relationships are doomed to failure.

Guy: However, they are so in love, they will fight forever.

Jared: Nevertheless, the light-years between them alienated them from each other.

Guy: So, he built a Hoverbird and flew to her system.

Jared: Their love grew. The two often flew their starships together.

Guy: Eventually, their union in matrimony created problems of planetary proportions.

Jared: She left to parts unexplored, his starship went down alone.

TA-DA! There you have it. Stories: in ten words.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist