Guts, gore, blood, zombies, demons, satanic symbols, and extreme violence are not my favorite cups of tea. When I see all of this portrayed on my favorite pastime, video games, I tend to not partake. It has never been my thing to watch so much death and horror, even before I gave my life to Christ when I was 17. These games freaked me out, felt too real and the sense of dread wasn’t enjoyable.

I used to think that most Christians didn’t play these types of games because of the content they contained. Over the years chatting with other gamers, writing for different faith-based blogs and reading comments online have proven the opposite. It seems they actually enjoy it and defended the purpose of playing them as well.

According to a study from Indiana University (see reference below) where college students participated in playing horror games and what their reactions were after. Over half experienced fear and over forty percent enjoyed it. This didn’t shock me, as a lot of people love horror media in different forms. What I found interesting was that those with high empathy were more affected by these games than those with low empathy. When you have a heart that cares for others, it’s true that you will be more concerned for others and yourself than those who don’t. Sadly, there are many people whose heart has grown cold to others and only worry about themselves.

The bible is clear that this will happen, and is happening. I believe this is not a new phenomenon but has increased and everyone knows it.

Matthew 24:12
12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.

Horror games induce fear, and I refuse to be living in fear because of them. When I was much younger, movies like Chucky or games like Resident Evil scared me and had me sleeping with one eye open. I hate that feeling and I refuse to allow even an inch of fear in my life since I was not given a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

If you do play these games, you won’t get any judgment or dirty looks from me. To each their own, but I wanted to express my opinion on the topic. Be careful about what you watch, listen to and experience. Good or bad, it will affect you whether you think it will or not.

There are so many other games I can enjoy that aren’t in this genre, so I would rather pick one of those up than these. Which games or genres do you avoid, and tell me your reasons why. God bless!

*Some examples of horror games/series I do not play*

• Silent Hill
• Doom
• Fatal Frame
• Shin Megami Tensei (also for its mockery of God)
• and pretty much everything on this Google list.

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References

https://theconversation.com/how-horror-games-give-us-the-fright-were-looking-for-44199

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08838151.2015.1029128