Play Saves the World

Episode 16: 5 Spiritual Lessons from Action Selection Games

October 16th, 2022  |  1 hr 7 mins

action selection, game theory, spiritual lessons

What are Action Selection games, and what can we learn from them about our spirituality?

Episode 15: How Reality Is Broken and We Need More Games

October 2nd, 2022  |  1 hr 9 mins

book club, game break, game theory, happiness, neuropsychology

What does Jane McGonigal's Reality Is Broken say about games and human happiness? Defining a game and its sense of flow is key to understanding what creates human happiness.

Episode 14: Judaism and Board Games, with Alex Radcliffe

September 18th, 2022  |  46 mins 49 secs

judaism, sabbath, world religions

Alex Radcliffe of BoardGameCo and GameFound helps us understand how board games and Sabbath practices function within Orthodox Judaism.

Episode 13: How Board Games Can Be Transcendent

September 4th, 2022  |  1 hr 1 min

Can board games be transcendent, what are magic circles, and how does this get at religion and the spiritual life?

Bonus: Thank You for 1,000 Downloads!

August 24th, 2022  |  48 secs

A brief thank you to our awesome listeners for this milestone of 1,000 downloads.

Episode 12: 5 Spiritual Lessons from Push Your Luck Games

August 21st, 2022  |  1 hr 7 mins

parable, push your luck, quran

What are Push Your Luck games, and what might we spiritually gain from them? Daniel and Kevin discuss 5 ideas (+ a bonus), along with risk-taking in general. NOW WITH CHAPTER MARKERS!

Episode 11: Can Board Games Save the World? With Dave Bindewald

August 7th, 2022  |  1 hr 2 mins

creation, curiosity, evil, interview, play, work

We interview Dave Bindewald, founder of the Center for Play and Exploration, on the question of whether board games can save the world – or at least help cultivate our "curiosity, divergent thinking, and freedom to fail." Games help us become better thinkers and problem solvers, colleagues, and participants in God's creative acts of creation.

Episode 10: The Game of Life

July 24th, 2022  |  1 hr 3 mins

bernard suits, game theory, grace, grasshopper

We wrap up our discussion of Bernard Suits' seminal book The Grasshopper. What are the implications of approaching human life as a game? We unpack some of Suits' terms and ideas regarding utopia as a place where we only play games, and the threat that utopia is always under.

Episode 9: Is Winning the Point?

July 10th, 2022  |  57 mins 36 secs

bernard suits, game theory, grace, grasshopper

Daniel and Kevin tackle the obvious question: is wining the point of playing games? How does a desire to win relate to the desire to have an enjoyable gaming experience, and what spiritual realities are present when we strive to be humble and gracious at a gaming table where the object is to win the game?

Episode 8: Accessibility, Community, and Neurodiversity, with Chelsey Hillyer

June 26th, 2022  |  1 hr 12 mins

a gentle rain, azul, charterstone, gametek, jojo rabbit, life is beautiful, neurodiversity, no thanks!, pandemic

Rev. Chelsey Hillyer joins us to chat about creating accessibility around board games so everyone is welcome to be themselves, find satisfaction with their game play, and empowered to have fun. We discuss ADHD, games as protest, and how play can create deep presence and community.

Episode 7: Book Club! The Grasshopper ch. 3 and Defining Games

June 12th, 2022  |  55 mins 54 secs

bernard suits, book club, delight, game theory, obstsacles, quran

What is a game, and why might it matter? Suits says that games are "the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles,"
and we mull over this, along with wondering if there is any basis for thinking God delights in games too.

Episode 6: Board Games that Teach

May 29th, 2022  |  1 hr 4 mins

board games, education, morality, teaching

What can, and should, board teach us? We explore didactic board games that have a message, and what sort of indirect messages board games can also give us.