Sorry for all the questions. I'm just trying to nail down what counts as wholesome. I know a LOT of games, but I can't make recommendations until I know which ones qualify.
Hiya! Sorry for the late reply again. I've been super busy with university projects and finals. I actually really appreciate that you asked this question because it has made me think more critically about what games I do and don't consider okay.
When I say "wholesome game," I think I really mean that a Jesus follower could play the game and not feel convicted. An old (and very guilty) pleasure of mine was survival horror games like the
Outlast series. Although I believe some survival horror games are very well constructed (I'm thinking
Silent Hill 2), this series is pretty much just violent and nasty for the sake of being violent and nasty. If I were to play this series again today, it certainly wouldn't sit very well between me and the Holy Spirit. Although I believe there are a lot of trashy video games, I don't think all video games are evil. I personally just believe the interactive nature of video games lends itself very well to actions and behavior that are disapproved of in real life.
I know that most story-based games are going to have violence, magic, and worldly content in them.
So I think the main qualifier for a "wholesome" story-based game for me would be 1) violence and evil is not especially explicit or gratuitous 2) violence and evil is not glorified and 3) the characters you are playing/rooting for are trying to overcome evil. A lot of role-playing games seem to follow this general structure. Of course, there isn't always an explicit "good vs evil" plot in story-based games like RPGs (The
Pokemon series being a good example). I think those games are fine.
Open-world games with morality systems (like
Skyrim or
Fallout: New Vegas) are really interesting to me. If one were to play the game as a very lawful, moral character, could the game be considered wholesome? Is knowing that more evil/sinister content is embedded in the code excusable even if the player never accesses it? I'm not quite sure, but it is a curious ethical question.
It's generally harder to categorize games that were made for older audiences. For example, my personal favorite game of 2017 was
Night in the Woods. This game is (mostly) nonviolent, has pretty clean language, and handles contemporary issues such as mental illness and unemployment very well. However, the eldritch horror subplot, thematic violence, underage drinking, and an unmarried couple who lives together makes things more complicated. I'm not against playing a game that doesn't perfectly follow the Bible: real life is messy and chaotic so it makes sense that video games would reflect the state of the world. I'm only concerned when violence and worldly living becomes the defining factor or draw of a game.
So that's pretty much a summary on my idea of what a wholesome game is. Sorry for all the confusion. Some "wholesome" game examples I can think of are
Animal Crossing, Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, the
Mother series,
Psychonauts, Celeste, Journey, Stardew Valley, the old
Sonic games (not that the new ones aren't wholesome... they just aren't good games). I'm looking for some games that maybe are more mature (aka not kid's games) but still follow the criteria I listed above.
Thanks for all the thought-provoking questions and I look forward to your response!
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