From Business Wire.com: Vatican Wars Is Live! Will Players Elect A Pope Who Supports Abortion Rights & Same Sex Marriage?
SGR Games, LLC (“SGR”) today announced the launch of Vatican Wars (http://www.vaticanwars.com), a revolutionary social game that exists at the intersection of religion, politics and social issues. Players are divided into two teams based on their opinions on topics including abortion, same sex marriage, the ordination of women and the use of birth control. Each team then works to ensure that a player from the other team is not elected Pope.“We did extensive surveying of Catholics before launching the game and were surprised to find that 80% of Catholics surveyed supported creating a game where they could debate these topics,” said Cheyenne Ehrlich, Founder of SGR Games, LLC. “It will be interesting to see if that’s because they want to elect a liberal Pope or because they want to prove that Catholics are unified and conservative on these issues.”
In Vatican Wars, a player who is elected Pope can make gradual changes to the Church’s position on each topic. Gradual changes made by ten consecutive liberal Popes could, for example, reverse the Church’s position on same sex marriage. Popes are elected based on their own gameplay, their team’s gameplay and actual voting by all players. Gameplay within Vatican Wars is based on the Catholic liturgical calendar, daily readings, Saints of the day and debating theology.
Vatican Wars can be played free of charge at: http://www.vaticanwars.com
The biggest reason I can think of why this game is terrible - is that it gives the impression that certain teachings of the Church are negotiable and open to change. Given that most Catholics don't know their faith, and that countless non-Catholics don't give a flying fig, this has the potential to further confuse people - which is the last thing the Church needs. Will we start hearing folks say, "Well, I was playing 'Vatican Wars' on Facebook, and they say that women can be priests. If it's on Facebook, it must be true, right?"
Thus, another reason why I don't do Facebook. Any users out there considering giving this game a go?
