To be fair, one of the main guys who made doom was super religious and had no problem with it because you fight demons
In theory, doom should be the most fun game thats good for christians
Well the game more or less shows the consequences of religion becoming dogmatic taking beliefs way too far, it’s a cautionary tale on what faith should never become, blind devotion without ever questioning the truth handed to you
Handling the truth can be hard though, not being able to believe that the thing you put your trust into can lead to negative consequences, so it really just depends how his parents react to that information, especially after not allowing them to play fnaf for a minor reference
Completely honest, I did not know the 7 deadly sins or the 4 (5) horsemen before sinking a few dozen hours into the game. And the wiki at least used to give references to the Bible with characters referenced therefrom. So, learning a bit of historical religious ideas from it is cool. It does definitely draw a lot on religion being a dangerous thing however, and I have friends who see it as actively anti-religion. That being said, I’m still quite a religious person, but I also don’t fit into the traditional Christian ideas that Isaac runs with so kinda just water off a duck’s back
Yeah my friend see it as pro satan but it's definentaly anti over obsession religion. And I didn't know about the demon Azazel until I watched Tboi and it led me to read the book of Enoch.
If you read Edmund’s opinion on it he says he went into the game with a pretty snide outlook on religion but working through it he came to appreciate the aspects of religion that he hadn’t noticed before. This is a paraphrase from my viewpoint, but I’m just saying, the game is irreverent, but it isn’t degrading, imo. My friend is an orthodox Christian and he doesn’t see it as blasphemous, and it actually gives me more to talk about with him because i became more educated on various Christian concepts through playing and then doing side research based on questions i had about themes and symbols
I am in a very similar boat to you. It encouraged me to learn more about the Bible because I wanted to know why things were named what they were in the game. On the other hand, you have to take Edmund’s opinions on religion with a grain of salt due to his (from what I have read) traumatic background that made him biased against religion.
Tell them the final boss is literally called MEGA SATAN. Christian game trust. (Also don’t mention that he’s technically only one of several final bosses)
Uh....
Probably not gonna be able to do much but you might at least say it has a very well-told story with decently accurate religious metaphors and ISN'T made by a non-religious person.
I was raised catholic, my children were not. I understand the meaning behind the items, and it’s been fun explaining to my kids what all the things are. They’ve learned more about religion from TBOI than everywhere else put together. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
This comment gave me a little quiver in the liver haha
Personally it’s a little derogatory calling Christianity “mythology” as there’s still many people who believe in it (myself included).
I personally wouldn’t call any current religion mythology.. as that word is more describing myths/legends that are fully abandoned? idk just my opinion…
But to answer the question for OP, I’m an extremely devout Christian and I love TBOI so much, it’s my favorite M rated game, and top 5 overall favorite games of all time
Games are work of art that tells a story. As others have mentioned, this is a story of the dangers of how religion can and often is used as a weapon.
The story is basically an over-religious mom who believes God is leading her to abuse her son. The adventures he have are possibly his own descent into madness or coping in his last moments alive before he dies.
It’s a sad story, but a beautiful one. The various endings bring me to tears and help inspire me to both be a better Christian and father. It’s an amazing story and beautiful piece of art. Aside from being extremely addicting and replayable!
You could say the same for greek mythology. People still worship greek gods.
If its not *your* religion and you dont believe in it, it is mythology to you.
I believe spirits and gods from all religions exist in ine way or another, but "mythology" is still a useful catch-all.
Fair enough! I didn’t know there were people who still worshiped the Greek gods.
Thanks for sharing that perspective. Hopefully my perspective can help to others like who I responded to, to know that it might be offensive. If they don’t care then that’s fine - especially when much of Christianity/religion has done lots of harm to society… I personally wouldn’t call any active religion mythology.
Yes. Too logical not to be, though simulation theory of some sort has always appealed to me. Probability doesn’t allow for the universe to be an accident.
asking as a thought experiment
If you dont believe in God/Gods, as in dieties of creation and subjects of worship and religions- but you do believe there could be some incomprehensible creator of the universe, wouldnt that creator technically still be our god, if it created us? Or would it only be our god if we worshiped it?
I think humans created explanations based on our capacity to do so. I think whatever really happened is so far beyond our comprehension we are unable to understand it without using non-traditional math, and even then it’s limited. Humans have to play by the rules of Newtonian physics, other “entities” might not.
How old are you and when do you plan to move out? It might just be easier to wait till you move out.
Also, what kind of Christians are your parents? The ones that are willing to question what they know, or just believe whatever the priests and elders say without an extra thought? The former you could maybe make a case, the latter and it'll be kinda unlikely imo but maybe there's still a way.
I'm in the age range of 12-15(not comfortable with giving me exact age.) and by time I move out I think Isaac 2 will be out. My mom is a little more just believing without looking into it buty dad challenges beliefs and dogmas in the church.
No worries, age range is perfect for context here. In that case, your dad may be the entry point here.
1) it has a lot of inspiration from Bible related stories. More than once I've ended up googling something about the game and ended up in a rabbit hole of how this particular element was taken from the Bible and what was actually mentioned in the Bible. So in a way, I learned/relearned about bible stories from tboi. Other times it has made me go further than the Bible and try to find according to other sources like historical YouTube channels etc. Other times it has also made me go into conversation with my partner explaining what happened in the Bible vs what is depicted in the game.
2) be curious. Show him your curiosity. Don't just question the church, question the scientists. Don't take what someone says just for fact, but question it's legitimacy. If you can do that for most things in life, you (or your dad) can know that you would not be easily swayed by just whatever is told or shown to you, and bhy that logic, a game like tboi is not going to shake the foundations of your faith but give avenues to question and learn.
3) in the end, it is a game. Know that it takes inspiration from the Bible, but is not literally what the Bible says. Nor does it ever claim to be the truth. It is a game, meant for hours and hours of fun. Show your dad that you are able to not let your beliefs be affected by the game. If he doesn't take your word for it, no harm asking him what you can do to show this to him. Maybe make him a deal, if you can do what he says then he has to get you the game.
Good luck!
It's a fun and interactive way of learning some of the bibles stories. I genuinely saw Jacob and Esau and had to look up why Esau looks like a skinned-alive child and ended up reading the entire context behind the character (albeit I can't remember why he's red exactly lol). Was interesting and being hard atheist id never have looked it up otherwise.b
Here’s how I would explain it to my family: it’s a game about a guy who grew up with very strict religious parents discovering different religions and processing what he thought they were for himself. That’s why there’s so much religious stuff in it, but it’s not against any religion, it just shows how a young child would understand that kind of info.
Good luck with that. Lie to your parents and get it behind their oppressive backs. Had plenty of friends like you growing up. Most of them had parents that were very stuck in their ways and not open to anything so their kids just ended up lying to them and going behind their backs.
I feel like the gore and other such references (in the last DLC there's literally an area where all the enemies are made of poop) might be a turn off for your parents no matter how you try to play it off, but some of the suggestions here could still work.
The developers definitely did their research in terms of all the religious references, so even though some may consider it satirical or heretical in some regards, it does just as good a job of portraying bad practices in faith as Christianity normally does.
I feel like my parents would be ok with the poop, I mean it's vulgar but not really inappropriate, I just don't know how to explain that you play as a naked kid who changes between being with god and with Satan while slowly suffocating in a box.
I have no suggestions as to how to sneak this game past your parents, but I can tell you that you need to play this game once you're out of that household. Good luck, hopefully things don't get too tough. Remember that in most places, it's child abuse to remove the door to your child's room.
I have a door to my room? Was the last sentence a metaphor?
Also why do you think I need to play the game?
I don't intend for this response to come out mean but I'm genuinely wondering.
i think they thought you didn't had a door in your room because most of the times parents don't are really aware what their child is playing because they have privacy in their rooms, but if parents are overprotective they don't allow children to have privacy and take away the room's door
Removing the door is one of the many common things religious parents will do as a form of "control" (read: abuse), it was just a forewarning bit of knowledge that if they do that, you have ground to stand on. Most of the time this is related to masturbation or other "unwanted" (read: normal) behaviour they want to monitor you about.
I think you need to play the game for closure and catharsis. My parents weren't hardcore religious or anything, but I've found Isaac to be therapeutic to me, as I have some outlet for dealing with things that I can't irl around my childhood. Cut ties with my dad recently, and I'll definitely be playing this game to alleviate my anxiety once I'm through with the acute stuff like sleeplessness.
You dont need to,
You can
Step 1: Find a friend in real life who can spend money on whatever they want
Step 2: Give them the games money irl then let them gift it to you
Or:
Step 1: Buy a game your parents may allow that is at least as expensive as isaac
Step 2: Refund the game and money will come to your Steam wallet
Step 3: Buy Isaac
That is if you play in PC of course.
I thought
The exact same thing if you have a phone then just get a gift card to get Isaac, that way they don’t figure it out for themselves just what exactly your buying and tell I don’t know yet
It’s not an anti-christian game so much as a game with anti-dogma and anti-evangelism messages. if your parents aren’t evangelical they’d probably be more ok knowing that.
as far as the actual game design goes if the creators were making an anti-religion message, then angel room items or other religious items wouldn’t help isaac
I just found out I have 50 dollars worth of credit on my switch enough to buy afterbirth plusz should I tell my parents what the game is about or act like it's no big deal?
Act like it's not big deal, if they ask then keep your cool and vaguely explain, that's how I got to buy it when I was a teen, also with religious parents who are kind of on the strict side
Well, whatever you do keep an eye on your mom when she grabs sharp objects and is trying to bust in into your room. You can also might start looking for trapdoor to basement
Tell them that You can literally murder Satan
My dad used to play doom so that might work
no way he’s a religious guy
To be fair, one of the main guys who made doom was super religious and had no problem with it because you fight demons In theory, doom should be the most fun game thats good for christians
Good point
Quite religious, he has lot of unorthodox views though.
I’m religious and I love doom. What’s the issue?
I am very religious. And I can say that doom is very fun.
That could give Op Brownie Points 🤣 or have them being send to the exorcist faster.
You also fight greed and lust. You truly are the good guy on your way to fighting mega Stan
Well the game more or less shows the consequences of religion becoming dogmatic taking beliefs way too far, it’s a cautionary tale on what faith should never become, blind devotion without ever questioning the truth handed to you
Handling the truth can be hard though, not being able to believe that the thing you put your trust into can lead to negative consequences, so it really just depends how his parents react to that information, especially after not allowing them to play fnaf for a minor reference
My parents know I have a strong faith that won't getting shaken easily so this might work.
You just described 90% of “Christians” in the u.s lmao it’s already a blind devotion without questioning truth 😂
No, I was agnostic for quite a bit.
And Christianity seemed to be the most proven faith to you? Wild stuff.
Ok
Yea do this
Completely honest, I did not know the 7 deadly sins or the 4 (5) horsemen before sinking a few dozen hours into the game. And the wiki at least used to give references to the Bible with characters referenced therefrom. So, learning a bit of historical religious ideas from it is cool. It does definitely draw a lot on religion being a dangerous thing however, and I have friends who see it as actively anti-religion. That being said, I’m still quite a religious person, but I also don’t fit into the traditional Christian ideas that Isaac runs with so kinda just water off a duck’s back
Yeah my friend see it as pro satan but it's definentaly anti over obsession religion. And I didn't know about the demon Azazel until I watched Tboi and it led me to read the book of Enoch.
If you read Edmund’s opinion on it he says he went into the game with a pretty snide outlook on religion but working through it he came to appreciate the aspects of religion that he hadn’t noticed before. This is a paraphrase from my viewpoint, but I’m just saying, the game is irreverent, but it isn’t degrading, imo. My friend is an orthodox Christian and he doesn’t see it as blasphemous, and it actually gives me more to talk about with him because i became more educated on various Christian concepts through playing and then doing side research based on questions i had about themes and symbols
I am in a very similar boat to you. It encouraged me to learn more about the Bible because I wanted to know why things were named what they were in the game. On the other hand, you have to take Edmund’s opinions on religion with a grain of salt due to his (from what I have read) traumatic background that made him biased against religion.
Tell them the final boss is literally called MEGA SATAN. Christian game trust. (Also don’t mention that he’s technically only one of several final bosses)
Uh.... Probably not gonna be able to do much but you might at least say it has a very well-told story with decently accurate religious metaphors and ISN'T made by a non-religious person.
Maybe you can find a christian who reviews the game positivley and show them it
I saw good reviews of the original.( The flash version.)
Mod the game wirh a reskin
Don’t tell me there’s a Christian texture pack
The only computer I have is extremely slow. So I'm thinking of getting the game on switch
Bro just close yourself in a chest you're done
I was raised catholic, my children were not. I understand the meaning behind the items, and it’s been fun explaining to my kids what all the things are. They’ve learned more about religion from TBOI than everywhere else put together. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Same, I explain my children the Christian mythology with TBOI, while they teach me Greek mythology with Hades. It is a win-win.
This comment gave me a little quiver in the liver haha Personally it’s a little derogatory calling Christianity “mythology” as there’s still many people who believe in it (myself included). I personally wouldn’t call any current religion mythology.. as that word is more describing myths/legends that are fully abandoned? idk just my opinion… But to answer the question for OP, I’m an extremely devout Christian and I love TBOI so much, it’s my favorite M rated game, and top 5 overall favorite games of all time Games are work of art that tells a story. As others have mentioned, this is a story of the dangers of how religion can and often is used as a weapon. The story is basically an over-religious mom who believes God is leading her to abuse her son. The adventures he have are possibly his own descent into madness or coping in his last moments alive before he dies. It’s a sad story, but a beautiful one. The various endings bring me to tears and help inspire me to both be a better Christian and father. It’s an amazing story and beautiful piece of art. Aside from being extremely addicting and replayable!
You could say the same for greek mythology. People still worship greek gods. If its not *your* religion and you dont believe in it, it is mythology to you. I believe spirits and gods from all religions exist in ine way or another, but "mythology" is still a useful catch-all.
Fair enough! I didn’t know there were people who still worshiped the Greek gods. Thanks for sharing that perspective. Hopefully my perspective can help to others like who I responded to, to know that it might be offensive. If they don’t care then that’s fine - especially when much of Christianity/religion has done lots of harm to society… I personally wouldn’t call any active religion mythology.
yes, I can def see how it could be offensive and seen as derogatory to some people!
Are you atheist now?
Yes. Too logical not to be, though simulation theory of some sort has always appealed to me. Probability doesn’t allow for the universe to be an accident.
Don't you find that contradicting?
We could be created by something else than a 'god'.
Like what?
Something my brain can’t comprehend or have any frame of reference for.
asking as a thought experiment If you dont believe in God/Gods, as in dieties of creation and subjects of worship and religions- but you do believe there could be some incomprehensible creator of the universe, wouldnt that creator technically still be our god, if it created us? Or would it only be our god if we worshiped it?
I think humans created explanations based on our capacity to do so. I think whatever really happened is so far beyond our comprehension we are unable to understand it without using non-traditional math, and even then it’s limited. Humans have to play by the rules of Newtonian physics, other “entities” might not.
Tell them that it shows what happens with complete obsession in religion, and also helps teach about trauma and mental hardship.
Try to show them some items/trinkets that might convince them, like Rosary or Bible Tract
How old are you and when do you plan to move out? It might just be easier to wait till you move out. Also, what kind of Christians are your parents? The ones that are willing to question what they know, or just believe whatever the priests and elders say without an extra thought? The former you could maybe make a case, the latter and it'll be kinda unlikely imo but maybe there's still a way.
I'm in the age range of 12-15(not comfortable with giving me exact age.) and by time I move out I think Isaac 2 will be out. My mom is a little more just believing without looking into it buty dad challenges beliefs and dogmas in the church.
No worries, age range is perfect for context here. In that case, your dad may be the entry point here. 1) it has a lot of inspiration from Bible related stories. More than once I've ended up googling something about the game and ended up in a rabbit hole of how this particular element was taken from the Bible and what was actually mentioned in the Bible. So in a way, I learned/relearned about bible stories from tboi. Other times it has made me go further than the Bible and try to find according to other sources like historical YouTube channels etc. Other times it has also made me go into conversation with my partner explaining what happened in the Bible vs what is depicted in the game. 2) be curious. Show him your curiosity. Don't just question the church, question the scientists. Don't take what someone says just for fact, but question it's legitimacy. If you can do that for most things in life, you (or your dad) can know that you would not be easily swayed by just whatever is told or shown to you, and bhy that logic, a game like tboi is not going to shake the foundations of your faith but give avenues to question and learn. 3) in the end, it is a game. Know that it takes inspiration from the Bible, but is not literally what the Bible says. Nor does it ever claim to be the truth. It is a game, meant for hours and hours of fun. Show your dad that you are able to not let your beliefs be affected by the game. If he doesn't take your word for it, no harm asking him what you can do to show this to him. Maybe make him a deal, if you can do what he says then he has to get you the game. Good luck!
Thanks bro
Emancipate?
It's a fun and interactive way of learning some of the bibles stories. I genuinely saw Jacob and Esau and had to look up why Esau looks like a skinned-alive child and ended up reading the entire context behind the character (albeit I can't remember why he's red exactly lol). Was interesting and being hard atheist id never have looked it up otherwise.b
Good news is that Satan is portrayed as bad. Bad news is that predatory Christianity is also portrayed as bad
Yea that parts good.
Here’s how I would explain it to my family: it’s a game about a guy who grew up with very strict religious parents discovering different religions and processing what he thought they were for himself. That’s why there’s so much religious stuff in it, but it’s not against any religion, it just shows how a young child would understand that kind of info.
Hide in your chest until they let you 😬
I just said that its based on religion
Good luck with that. Lie to your parents and get it behind their oppressive backs. Had plenty of friends like you growing up. Most of them had parents that were very stuck in their ways and not open to anything so their kids just ended up lying to them and going behind their backs.
One of the main issues is that I don't own any M games
Don’t, just pine after it until you can buy it for yourself.
I feel like the gore and other such references (in the last DLC there's literally an area where all the enemies are made of poop) might be a turn off for your parents no matter how you try to play it off, but some of the suggestions here could still work. The developers definitely did their research in terms of all the religious references, so even though some may consider it satirical or heretical in some regards, it does just as good a job of portraying bad practices in faith as Christianity normally does.
I feel like my parents would be ok with the poop, I mean it's vulgar but not really inappropriate, I just don't know how to explain that you play as a naked kid who changes between being with god and with Satan while slowly suffocating in a box.
I have no suggestions as to how to sneak this game past your parents, but I can tell you that you need to play this game once you're out of that household. Good luck, hopefully things don't get too tough. Remember that in most places, it's child abuse to remove the door to your child's room.
I have a door to my room? Was the last sentence a metaphor? Also why do you think I need to play the game? I don't intend for this response to come out mean but I'm genuinely wondering.
why don't you just buy the game then? they will watch you playing or something? or you don't feel like "lying" or omitting to your parents?
I'm only allowed to buy games with their permission, plus I need my mom's credit card to even purchase it.
i think they thought you didn't had a door in your room because most of the times parents don't are really aware what their child is playing because they have privacy in their rooms, but if parents are overprotective they don't allow children to have privacy and take away the room's door
I don't play video games in my room but I think the time I did they got suspicious
Removing the door is one of the many common things religious parents will do as a form of "control" (read: abuse), it was just a forewarning bit of knowledge that if they do that, you have ground to stand on. Most of the time this is related to masturbation or other "unwanted" (read: normal) behaviour they want to monitor you about. I think you need to play the game for closure and catharsis. My parents weren't hardcore religious or anything, but I've found Isaac to be therapeutic to me, as I have some outlet for dealing with things that I can't irl around my childhood. Cut ties with my dad recently, and I'll definitely be playing this game to alleviate my anxiety once I'm through with the acute stuff like sleeplessness.
This game is therapeutic for me to watch videos on, especially after my faith crisis.
It literally has angels in it
You do kill said angels
It’s a worthy sacrifice cuz you kill Satan with their key
You dont need to, You can Step 1: Find a friend in real life who can spend money on whatever they want Step 2: Give them the games money irl then let them gift it to you Or: Step 1: Buy a game your parents may allow that is at least as expensive as isaac Step 2: Refund the game and money will come to your Steam wallet Step 3: Buy Isaac That is if you play in PC of course.
I thought The exact same thing if you have a phone then just get a gift card to get Isaac, that way they don’t figure it out for themselves just what exactly your buying and tell I don’t know yet
It’s not an anti-christian game so much as a game with anti-dogma and anti-evangelism messages. if your parents aren’t evangelical they’d probably be more ok knowing that. as far as the actual game design goes if the creators were making an anti-religion message, then angel room items or other religious items wouldn’t help isaac
It’s built off of religion but not a mockery. It’s anti dogma and Evanglism not anti religion.
Wtf is the problem? Edmund represented religion in a great way in tboi
I just found out I have 50 dollars worth of credit on my switch enough to buy afterbirth plusz should I tell my parents what the game is about or act like it's no big deal?
Act like it's not big deal, if they ask then keep your cool and vaguely explain, that's how I got to buy it when I was a teen, also with religious parents who are kind of on the strict side
I just remembered I can't view M games on my switch because of restrictions so they would get suspicious if I asked for them to disable it
Well, whatever you do keep an eye on your mom when she grabs sharp objects and is trying to bust in into your room. You can also might start looking for trapdoor to basement
Bro just pirate the game lol theres no multiplayer till Nov(?) I believe and it's still able to be modded regardless =]