Sainthood (Video Game)
Summary
Sainthood is a 2024 indie strategy game about community and faith by the Sainthood Project. With a cozy art style and quick-to-pick-up game mechanics, this strategy game places players in the shoes of a young nun with an important mission: serve the community around her. Be that through prayer and worship or acts of charity, the needs on this little island are great and the workers are few.
Assessment
Sainthood lives up to its description as a cozy strategy game with an immersive design and gameplay. The game itself plays similarly to a table-top board game, with a defined end time limit (33 in-game days) to reach certain metrics, otherwise the player loses. The mechanics are relatively simple to pick up, although there are a few different consumables on top of several different kinds of points to be collected, which can be tricky to keep track of the first time around. There is also a hefty strategy element to the game, where players must make wise decisions
In terms of artwork, the game is both adorable and cozy. Despite its simplicity, the game has a lot of personality which lends itself to a pleasant gameplay experience. Sometimes the art plays into the mechanics as well, with the changing of the seasons and weather hazards that threaten to slow or freeze the player’s progress.
Theologically, the game paints a decent picture of charity work and self-sacrifice. Players must wisely choose their resources — including rest — in order to maximize their impact on both the community and their own spiritual health. The game avoids lending itself to a ‘works-based’ salvation by having the faith and charity points collected separately with no impact on each other.
Note to Protestants: this game is based heavily in Catholic tradition. While overall the game is focused on denominationally-neutral worship and service to the community, there are a few brief references to Mary as well as penance and other Catholic cultural and theological elements. The player is also stepping into the shoes of a nun with the goals of reaching sainthood.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Mechanics: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Artwork: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for kids and older.
Talk
This is a supremely addictive little game. I kind of just want to play it for the next four days with only brief snack breaks and maybe a nap somewhere in the middle. It’s so cozy, the artwork is delightful and easy on the eyes, the mechanics are a blast (once you get the hang of it), and the sound design is so pleasant. And clicky without being annoyingly clicky, if you know what I mean.
Overall I think this game has a lot to offer the Christian (and, while it is a very Catholic-themed game, I think it has a lot to offer Protestants as well). The first thing it offers is that it is adorable, super easy to play, and in some weird undefinable way, restful. This isn’t a game you have to expend a ton of brain energy on; it’s just interesting enough to keep you engaged and problem-solving, but it’s not so difficult that it makes your brain start to hurt. And if that is the only thing you need this game to do, that is not a problem at all. Not everything needs to have a super deep theological meaning, some things can just be a soft place to land.
The second and more theological reason is that I think it has the potential to be a really good, practical lesson in how to balance time spent in faith, time spent in good works, and time spent in rest. It’s so easy to get caught up in one or two of these three things that the others slip into an unhealthy cycle. Faith without works is dead, but works do not earn us our salvation, and to top it all off sometimes we really need a nap. We are finite little creatures in what seems to be an infinitely broken world, we can’t and won’t be able to do and be everything for everyone.
I’ve played through one run of the game so far and failed miserably but I’m about a third of the way through my second run and things are looking a whole lot better!
Where to Enjoy
Google Play: Sainthood - Cozy Strategy Game - Apps on Google Play
Sainthood Project Website: Sainthood by Sainthood Project
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1748600/Sainthood/
Xbox Store: Buy Sainthood - The Game | Xbox
P.S. The maker of Sainthood also has a super simple and equally addictive strategy game called ekklesia which is loosely based on the church’s growth in the early years. You can find it to play for free here: ekklesia by Sainthood Project
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