TORONTO, Canada, September 9, 2005 — Bible versions of today's popular board games continue to draw increasing numbers of Canadian families together, according to one of this country's leading Bible game distributors.
Brent Hackett, president and founder of Forerunner Marketing Corporation Ltd. cites a return to traditional family values and greater consumer awareness of the availability of Bible-themed games based on such classics as Monopoly, Pictionary and Mad Gab as two reasons for the increase.
Hackett says Bible versions of traditional, secular games prove popular because they're so easy to learn. For by following the same rules and guidelines as those of a Bible version game's secular counterpart, players can experience a new, biblically based twist on an old standby.
"The Bible version games continue to gain acceptance because [the secular versions of the games] are already being played. [The rules] have already been established. So for somebody to take a Bible version of Scattergories for example-they already know how to play the original game. People can sit down and start playing it right away. They don't have to relearn the game. They already know how it goes."
Game manufacturers respond to market demand
In addition to board games, Forerunner Marketing supplies some 400 Canadian Christian bookstores with everything from pencils and framed artwork to key tags, toys and Bible covers. The company recently added a new game to their extensive product line that's already proving to be a hit. Settlers of Canaan is modelled on the secular game called Settlers of Catan.
"That's a very successful strategy game," says Hackett, explaining that the manufacturer, Cactus Game Design, licensed the game play from the developer of the secular version, then made it into a game that's played based on the geography of Israel.
This fall, Forerunner Marketing will distribute a new charades type board game called, Guesstures Bible Edition.
It would appear that the manufacturers of such games are merely responding to market demand. Hackett says his sales numbers show that games like Bible Pictionary and Bible Trivia have contributed to a tidy increase in his business revenues. He says Forerunner's sales of the games have increased by approximately eight percent in the past year alone.
But it's a trend that started some time ago. In 2002, the New York Times reported that, "while sales of religious board games represent a small niche in the game markets, manufacturers are reporting sales doubling and are quickly adding new titles."
The President of Cactus Game Design, Rob Anderson said at the time that increasing sales of Bible version games were not unexpected. "Most game buyers don't want to have to learn from scratch a game they've never heard of," Anderson said. "They're thinking, 'I'm going to have to learn how to play this? I don't want to work that hard.'"
Something to be thankful for
According to a recent Forerunner Marketing news release, the company has taken "a direct approach to educating today's consumer" by planning a promotional campaign with Christian radio stations in major markets across Canada from October 10 - 14.
During that time, Bible-themed games will be made available to the radio stations to give away free to listeners.
"The Game-A-Day giveaway will tie in with the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, as a way to promote the fact that families and family time is something to be thankful for," says Hackett.
"If someone can win a game and then spend some family time together playing it, it is something to be truly thankful for."
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