Wisdomantics is a board game for 2 to 4 players where the goal is to learn and internalize the wisdom of Proverbs in a fun way.
Wisdomantics
Kingdom Games Enterprises
2013
Your goal is to answer trivia questions – fill in the blanks – from 400 DVD questions earning the right to move around a Monopoly -like game. As you move you’ll gain Blessing cards (money), compete activities like telling about ways God has blessed you or paying for others or yourself, and earn resources (cypress, gold and cedar) to be the first to build Solomon’s temple.
I applaud the goal of the game and it can be interesting and engaging for those who use the King James Version. But there are some draw backs. As for the game play it seems odd to collect blessings from God and use them as currency. It’s also a gap where you’ll end up with way too many blessing cards too early making the game less about the board and more about the trivia. In fact, I’d prefer this was more about the trivia instead of the goal of building a temple out of 16 resources that you earn and buy. I’d also have preferred to stay away from the DVDs and go with cards and a timer. I’m not a fan of having to use a DVD without a reason. There are just questions with a timer on the screen so why do we need that? And if you read a modern translation (and you should based on scholarship and accuracy) then you’ll really struggle on the questions at times. But kudos for trying something else with the game. I just don’t think it works well.
Other than game play I’m worried that games like this don’t succeed in their worthy goals because they come off as cheesy or a parody of Christianity. A Christian I showed the game to actually said they thought the game was someone playing a joke on Christians. I see where they are coming from. The chits (game pieces we move) are a dove, a bible with a cross, the 10 Commandments and (for Doctor Who fans) what looks like a weeping angel. (Why? Do we really want people playing as persons of the Trinity? And who gets stuck with the fourth token? Just go with four colored tokens in my opinion.) The artwork on the box and low production value on the DVDs also set the bar really low. And this is a shame.
I get what the developers are going for and if this game serves to help people remember and hold on to the Proverbs then great! I’m just worried that the game isn’t that fun to keep people coming back, is a little clunky to play with odd design choices, and isn’t very appealing so I’m not sure it’s going to get that chance.
The good news is that if you’d like to try this out the developer and the publicity company, FlyBy Promotions, are willing to send out a copy of the game to one winner. One winner only. We will randomly select the winner from these comments or on Facebook. The winner cannot have won from this same publicity company in the past 60 days.
This contest is now closed.
@ashertopia is the Managing Editor of BookGateway.com. He is an avid reader and a lifetime learner. His favorite genres include science fiction, fantasy, as well as theology and Christian living. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people.
This game was provided by the publisher as a review copy.