Hi Chava, I think some important aspects…

Thanks so much for your questions Jason! They are excellent and on point. It is clear that you have some type of experience with Bible study. It is somewhat difficult to address the complexity of the points you raise in the limited amount of time of a venture pitch, but I had two of them listed in my own troubleshooting – trying to foresee questions that might and SHOULD come up with potential investors regarding this venture. And in my mind, they would be addressed in the discussion to follow the pitch and in the next phase of the business pitch. I will answer your questions in order: 1) There is a Jewish saying regarding interpretation of the Hebrew Bible: “There are 70 faces to the Bible” to signify the idea that there are multiple ways of interpreting the Bible and the world of Biblical exegesis is vast indeed, and it is one of the key elements that keeps Bible study alive. As explained in my pitch, in order to progress in the game/quest narrative, students would have to read the Biblical text and complete tasks and activities on the Biblical text. Part of these tasks would include questions on how to interpret different aspects of the Biblical text. These questions of Biblical interpretation vary from questions such as: a) interpreting a word or phrase and what can be derived from it, b) evaluating a Biblical characters actions, c) hypothesizing what a character should do next in the Biblical narrative, d) drawing connections between different Biblical stories/characters. The game itself can be constructed in such a way that it is played in teams or individually and each team/player needs to post their ideas on a discussion board. They can continue the quest once they have completed the task. Where is the quality control of the learning then?! They can gain points/powers/something to help them on the quest by commenting; disproving a different teams answer or explaining why they accept the interpretation so they are motivated to contribute. They can be penalized for not contributing (sent back to complete a different task, lose points…) It is the teacher/instructor that “unlocks” powers and notifies the team/player of their reward for their contribution to the discussion, or their setback for failing to take the task seriously. This is how I envision keeping students engaged, thinking and CREATING (there is nothing more exciting for me when my students come up with an interpretation I never learned or came across) about what they are learning in the Bible. I hope this answers a few of your questions. 2) Regarding the money and the quality of the game – it is only for the development of one chapter (of 25 vs) that would serve as a prototype and pilot. Expanding it would require additional funds of course. After following the game David: Rise of a King, it is clear to me the game invested way too much in game mechanics such as making David swing on a vine like Tarzan and swim through treacherous water. David was a warrior but in no place in the Biblical text does it claim that he had to swim and survive perilous waters. So why invest in developing that?! The game needs to be exciting enough to convince students to want to play, but cannot lose sight of what is the true focus. From my experience teaching middle school, students are happy to play almost any game, even if it isn’t digital. What I did manage to create with my limited abilities (And I am not a game designer, I used the simple tools available to me to make it feel like a video game experience), there was total buy in. Compared to the alternative of no game…I am not suggesting BibleQuest can replace Fortnite, I am suggesting an alternative way to learning, or rather, experiencing the Biblical text. Investing in what needs to be invested to make it good enough and exciting enough for the right potential market. 3) Regarding difficult Biblical stories, for example, the rape of Dina and the violent revenge perpetrated by Simeon and Levi on the people of Shechem (Genesis 34). These are questions my team and I had to address when developing our written curriculum as well. We had a policy not to skip any chapter so as not convey the message that some Biblical stories are less important than others. More challenging stories were developed in a less extensive model, providing the tools for teachers to teach the material but essentially leaving it up to teachers/schools to decide whether they want to learn the story or skip it. A game is more expensive to design, so it is a more complicated decision to make. We do not need to “play out” every aspect of a story in order to learn it, and so I don’t see inappropriate graphics being a problem. I would like to think we would be able to provide a way to learn difficult stories as well, but in general, I don’t think the entire Bible needs to be made into a video game. We will decide which parts of the Bible we want to teach as a game and which lend themselves to be taught as a game, and take it from there… 4) Regarding conservative approaches – the objective of the game is to learn and discuss Biblical narrative. I would not include anything in the game that I would not want my own children and students to be exposed to. Part of our job will be to reach out to different figures and groups that represent different denominations and faiths, to involve them in the game and its importance in teaching Bible in the 21st C. A game designed by a group of religious educators, albeit diverse, with the official seal of approval that the content is appropriate and does not contain anything offensive, with the approval of different religious authorities, should generally be accepted. But there will always be people who shy away from change and progress. 5) Which text should be used- King James Bible, New King James Bible, New American Standard? Which interpretation? Once the game is designed, it’s small stuff to put in different text options into the parts of the Biblical text, and so I envision that players choose their version of the game. A Jewish player can pick to play with the Hebrew text option or with an accepted English translation such as JPS; and Christian players can pick their preferred version. Similar to The Bible Museum in Washington, visitors pick their (learning) path based on their faith/interest, so to the game will allow for a few options, the most common texts. I’m not saying it will be simple to make all of these decisions when creating the game, but it won’t be as difficult as splitting the sea ;)