Adventure games are an interesting genre for gamers to try. While the name implies epic open world gameplay, these games actually tend to be slow paced affairs and have more to do with puzzles than anything else. The reason for this is that the genre began as what are called Text Based Adventures, before the Graphic Adventure genre was born, and from it, point and click adventures. This lattermost style of game is more niche than most. But has been experiencing a renaissance in recent years thanks to independent developers.
One of these independent developers is Wadget Eye Games, founded by Dave Gilbert, who released one of the few video games to actually make Judaism the central focus of the game.
The Shivah was released in 2006 and re-released in 2013 as an enhanced remake and is a mystery game following the central character of Rabbi Russel Stone. I will refrain from discussing the story points as much as I can, in order to not spoil the game experience for anyone else. As an adventure game’s main selling point is the narrative, I will instead discuss the themes of the game and how significant this game actually is.
The Shivah is a rare experience in gaming, since most games rarely touch on Judaism with few exceptions, such as Wolfenstein and South Park as we have previously discussed. These exceptions though, are games that do not make Judaism the central focus even if they do have Jewish themes and characters. For a game to not only make Judaism the main focus, but also have a Rabbi as the protagonist was unheard of for video games. It makes sense though, as an adventure game encourages narrative exploration, and character insight that other games just cannot match in the same way. More than that though, the way characters can interact and talk with each other was a perfect fit, as it even allowed the developer to factor in Talmudic style debates in the dialogue.
The Shivah does not just use Judaism as window dressing either, and instead looks deep into issues encountered in Jewish society, the good and the bad of it. Crises of faith, deep philosophical debates, and examinations of the less savoury individuals that exist, much to the chagrin of others. The game also investigates questions of the relationship between a Rabbi and his congregation, and the impact that relationship has on the members of the congregation. What if there was a falling out? What if someone who is supposed to be a person that other people can turn to, actually ends up causing more trouble for the community and does so intentionally? What if a bad choice that a community leader has made comes has far reaching consequences that ultimately come back to haunt them?
Despite all the positives of the game, there are a few problems, and perhaps unsurprisingly these are tied to the game’s depictions of Judaism. For example, some of the depictions of concepts like Minyan and Shabbos observance are not handled in the most accurate way for the type of Judaism that is actually depicted in the game. Still, because of all the game does get right – and especially about Judaism – a few discrepancies can be allowed. The game implies that the Rabbi is part of a more traditional denomination, so would not be using electronics on Shabbos for instance.
The bigger gameplay issues that might get some people annoyed is that the game is noticeably short and can be completed within around two hours, give or take. There are no real loading time issues that you will have to deal with, and the updated release, also called the Kosher Edition, has some enhacements like voice acting and refinements to make the game more welcoming to newcomers to the genre. It felt intuitive to understand and control, and the few action sequences did not have any real issues to them., and can be handled easily by anyone. While the game does have multiple endings, not uncommon for adventure games, and this can incentivise some replaying, that may simply not be enough for everyone seeking a more involved experiences. On the positive side, the game is not very expensive and is frequently on discount on storefronts like GOG.com, where I purchased the game.
What makes The Shivah stand out ultimately is not just that there is a Jewish protagonist, or that the game explores Jewish themes. What will likely most stand out for players is how the game explores these themes and asks questions that many Jews often ask themselves. An especially important feature about The Shivah is that in it, a type of Jew not commonly seen in video games is finally getting representation; this handily complements how the Jewish themes in the game are represented. Even with what the game gets wrong about accuracy in its depictions, it is clear that a lot of love and attention was put into the experience, and tough questions were asked as well. More of this kind of textured Jewish representation is needed in gaming today, and while it is presently from a niche genre, I appreciate that The Shivah is a game that has boldly tried to actually do this for Jewish gamers.