What would it mean to think of life as a game? Are games merely pastimes between serious endeavors, or is it an approach to life oriented around unnecessary obstacles and enjoyment? We touch on ideas about the meaning of life, happiness, and life as something useful versus life as something to be enjoyed. Human flourishing is ultimately found in graceful abundance, in which all we can ever really do is pursue meaningful activities (and play games). Perhaps God does indeed play dice with the universe.

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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?

We consider that games might be training us to win over other people, instead of being more loving and kind. Does love exclude winning? Yet much of life is about improvement, and even heaven must include aspects of winning and loss. Some board games use different mechanics and win conditions such as "sandbox" and "kingmaker" type games, and others are social deduction games where players deceive and lie. How do the words of Jesus (the last shall be first) relate to ideas of winning and losing?

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. How do board games and play in general create accessibility so everyone is welcome to be themselves? Games are partly about winning, but also about being satisfied with your game play and everyone being able to have a good time. We discuss ADHD-Inattentive and neurodiversity, play as protest, and games that create deep presence and community. We share thoughts on parenting, Geoff Englestein's book GameTek, play as a fundamental part of human life and a fundamental human right, play as a protest against hierarchy and monetary valuation, the films Life Is Beautiful and Jojo Rabbit, and we recommend the games Pandemic, No Thanks, Azul, A Gentle Rain, and Charterstone as particularly accessible games.

Follow Chelsey Hillyer through her website, Amateur Efforts (https://amateurefforts.com).

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We make a new attempt at an episode opening – an improv skit with pirates playing Carcassone! We discuss Carcassone a bit, lionize the word "eschew" and life points in general, and wrestle with Bernard Suits' definition of a game: "the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles" (p. 43). Games require buy-in from participants who must agree to its rules, desire to best their competitors, and strive to be efficient within the games required inefficiencies. So how appropriate is it to conceive of God engaging in play and games? Kevin attempts to quote the Quran in thinking through God's delight in obstacles and complexities, and Daniel points to delight and grace. Shout out to @jtaultesq on Instagram for correctly identifying Concept in our Instagram quiz!

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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. We discuss Caverna, Bibleopoly, the forgotten didactic orgins of Monopoly, magic circles, and the controversial game Train.

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Our very first guest! Ali Karar (@karar2k) joins us to discuss hobby board gaming as a Muslim in Saudi Arabia. We discuss board games as a catalyst for socializing, religious limits to board games, and the role of board games in families. Ali discusses his transition from video games to board gaming, board gaming cafes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Islam's traditional prohibition aginst dice because of its association with gambling. We cap it all off by listing our most beloved games and praising Clap On technology.

Toothsome questions abound. Are $5K board gaming tables worth it? Are there deeper implications of Clap-On technology? And what do we make of Bernard Suits' book The Grasshopper ch. 1, where the Grasshopper gladly dies in the winter for having played too many games? Can one game on the Sabbath, and why aren't there more games in the Bible?

After naming some recently revisited games, Daniel discusses some lessons learned at a recent conference on play. Is play essential to the human experience? How can we games be more inclusive? How does play shape our early childhood in important ways, and can this include Minecraft? The discussion moves into play as a means of grace, and that play according to rules might be an analogy of grace and law. Pop culture jokes include the clap-on lamp from the 80s, and dad jokes include a can of diced tomatoes that secretly contains bookoo dice. Next episode: the book The Grasshopper by Bernard Suits. And a happy Easter, Passover, and Ramadan!

Daniel & Kevin have … a list show! We trade our top 3 ways that board games can be spiritual and authentically human. Our lists are different, but not completely, and then there's a bonus round for a bit of hilarity. Let's hear it for new board game burps. (Also, the game Kevin cannot think of during the podcast is This War of Mine.) Many thanks to Eljiah Hilty for our theme music.

To what extent does entering the magic circle of a game, where humans play games and temporarily care about bits and bobs, define our humanity? How do games impact people of religious faith?