According to Nielsen Insights, gamers in the U.S. are spending 11 percent of their leisure time playing video games. Across the world, more than 50 percent of consumers in developed nations identify as gamers.

In North America, one of the most popular formats for games is the role playing game, or RPG, where gamers control the characters as they're engaging a mission or a story. From the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout to the medieval lore of dragons and magic with Skyrim to historically based games like the original Call of Duty, gamers increasingly are drawn to not just watching stories play out, but immersing themselves in them as active participants.

What if that immersion happened in the midst of one of the Old Testament's great epics?

That was the question that gripped Phil Smith, and it drove him to form Kingdom Games in 2013 with the intent of providing high-quality, family friendly gaming that starts a conversation into the true stories of the Bible--starting with Five: Guardians of David.

"What Phil noticed is that so many people now really rely on movies and other forms of entertainment to get a perspective on stories and history and past events that they couldn't get otherwise," said Eric Daniels of Kingdom Games. "And there's no shortage of good stories in Old Testament." 

After considering a number of possible stories for an RPG, Daniels said Smith landed on the story of David, because "everybody's heard of this underdog story, David versus Goliath. But a lot of people don't really know the depth of how amazing and fantastic the entire story of David is." 

With debut title Five: Guardians of David, Austin-based Kingdom Games looks to give gamers the opportunity to slay the giant from Gath, yes, but also to follow one of the greatest kings of ancient times throughout his extraordinary life as a warrior and ruler.
 
"Five: Guardians of David is an expansive, Diablo-style RPG set in the ancient lands of Canaan," reads Kingdom Games' official description of the title. The 11-act epic allows the gamer to lead and play all five of David's Mighty Men--each of whom have differing skills and abilities--as they battle through the region's traditional foes. Players may gear up with an extensive variety of ancient artifacts and develop spy networks by selectively donating valuable treasures and relics. 

Ultimately, players are invited to "experience the struggle and story of King David amidst his greatest victories and fatal downfalls," the description closes.

"Because it's historically accurate to the Old Testament story, what we really want is people who interact with the game to know the story and the man, King David, and get insight to the story they might not get from reading the text," Daniels said. "It's fun, you get to know the story, and parents know they can trust the content."

One of the values of Kingdom Games is to not do anything of a gratuitous nature when it comes to sex, violence and gore. Although some of David's story contains elements of all three, Daniels said the game presents them honestly and truthfully, but in an appropriate way so that the entire family can enjoy gameplay. 

So far, Daniels said, response to the game has been mixed. While there are plenty of gamers inside and outside the faith community who enjoy the "really fun, well constructed, well executed" gameplay and the story of Five: Guardians of David, some people have their reservations.

"For some of them, they have issue with being involved in any kind of religious thing," he said. "On the Christian front... some people inherently mistrust games and their effects. But we've also had a bunch of people who have really enjoyed the game and see what we're doing and want to support it."
 
So while some people allow their preconceived notions about gaming or faith to filter their approach to Five: Guardians of David, Daniels said others have allowed it to be a starting place for a journey of faith. He said one gamer contacted Kingdom Games to let them know that while he considers himself to be an atheist, the game made him ask some questions. 

"He said, 'I played this game and it was fantastic fun, and it generated some curiosity,'" Daniels said. "It had him wondering what is the Old Testament account--what really did go on with David. That's really good to hear."

Daniels added that Kingdom Games isn't trying to preach to the choir, or to anyone really, but to make a fun game that stays true to the historical stories on which they're based, palatable to anyone, regardless of their faith background.

"If you're a Christian and know the story of David, by playing the game, you'll have a much greater appreciation and depth of knowledge of the story afterwards," he said. "For those without any kind of Biblical background, we want to game to be very approachable to the, because if they want a fantastically fun gaming experience, they can get that. There are things that are fantastically heroic that resonate with people, regardless of their background."
 
There's more to come from Kingdom Games, Daniels said, noting that the future is "wide open" with regard to additional Old Testament epics becoming RPGs. In the meantime, "We have an entire Five saga that we'd like to tell," Daniels said, noting that the studio is very close to releasing what they call a "mini sequel" to Five: Guardians of David that will lean heavily on the five heroes they've developed. 

Five: Guardians of David is now available for PC (and Mac computers through the Steam platform), and may be purchased for $19.99 (or $24.99 for the Deluxe Edition) at kingdomgames.com.