Commissioned (the board game)

I don’t very often post about anything so “frivolous” as a board game – but here I am!

Now that we’re in a house with teenagers, it’s been fun to spend some time playing board games as a family. We’ve discovered some really fun and unique games, actually.

But last night we played one which I think deserves a mention. It’s a “Christian-themed” game that – *gasp* – I like.

Ok, I guess I should say, before you think I’m being harsh, that I have seen a good Bible trivia game or two (in fact, we have one).

But I admit it, when I heard about this game, I was prepared to dislike it.

The game? Commissioned. From the game’s website:

Commissioned is a historically-based, cooperative style board game for 2-6 players that takes 1 hour. Acting as the Apostles of the early Christian Church, players must work together to strengthen their individual decks of faith cards, grow the church, collect the books of the New Testament, and overcome persecution. You do not need to know anything about Christianity or history to play.
[source]

That’s right, in this game you’re an apostle (I started as Andrew), and you’re doing game actions like “pray” and “endure trials”.

This has to be corny – or silly – or theologically questionable – right?

But then I heard from a friend about his experiences, and read a review or two*… and decided to give it a try.

So we played twice through one of the scenarios last night. Once, just to figure it out, and once to really try to win – which we almost did. “Winning” in this scenario is writing the New Testament books and planting a church in every city on the board.

Somehow, this game manages to capture some of the history of the early church, connect to clues in the New Testament about how it all happened, and still be a good game.

Very briefly – your “faith” cards allow you to make progress in the game (through church growth, miracles like the ones you’ve read about in Acts, and so on). You face trials (again, generally based on history and the biblical account) which can set you back – or, surprisingly – help you. Praying gives you options, and then you make decisions (when it’s your turn to do so).

Strangely enough, playing the game showed a bit of God’s providence and wisdom in the days of the early church, and even reflected some of our personal experiences in church planting. Weird, I know.

I know it sounds strange, but there you go – it really is, in my opinion, a good game!

I admit we were all pretty tired by the time we finished last night, so I look forward to trying it a little earlier in the day, or an evening when we’re not quite as tired. But of course we did play twice, which we won’t have to do again now that we have the hang of it.

Oh, one more thing I should mention, for the Christian audience. The game comes with an appendix, explaining some of the game dynamics. Many of the explanations are actually passages of Scripture from the New Testament. Again – you’re still skeptical – it doesn’t treat them lightly – you actually are made to think about what the Bible is actually saying about the early church. Very cool.

You can check out Commissioned right here. If you try it, let me know what you think!

* Currently, this game has a 7.5/10 on Board Game Geek – a very good review – and 4.6/5 on Amazon.