Priest and parishioner create catechism-teaching game together

Just read a nice article in Catholic San Francisco about a priest in the Phillipines and a guy in San Mateo teaming up to create a video game, entitled Paolo's Journey, that is based upon Pope Benedict XVI's Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

"The idea of using video games to teach catechism was not a stretch for me,” Ronald Schaffner said. “I was excited to use the medium that is so often aligned with negative stories due to violence in some games for something positive.”

The article goes on to talk about Schaffner, head of The Studio of Secret6, assisting the priest for free, instead of charging at least $25,000 like some of the other studios would have done. The priest, Maximo Villanueva Jr., actually studied 3D animation at one time, so he isn't a slouch either.

I have no idea how the game plays, but the graphics don't look bad considering that it is being produced on a small budget. Still, the game has lava. I'm tired of lava in video games! That and water, both cheap obstacles that require absolutely no thought. Shame on you Father!

I don't think Paolo's Journey will supplant any current video games in a 12-year-old's library, but having that choice could be fun, provided the game gets an international release at some point. And it's good to see someone with talents helping out a priest in need. Good job Catholics for working together!