FIVE: Guardians of David - Interview @ PCGamesN

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PCGamesN has interviewed Mike Madden, director of development at Kingdom Games:

Meet Kingdom Games, the Christian developer making an RPG that doesn't "Bible thump"
Five: Guardians of David is a game that tells a Biblical story of faith. Knowing that, it's easy to assume that it will be the kind of thing you were allowed to play in junior school for education value. That image couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, Five is an action RPG that's got a hint of Diablo and Titan Quest about it. Developer Kingdom Games are determined to make a compelling action game that's excitement and story first, and scripture only for those that want it.

Now two years old, Kingdom Games was set up with a very distinct purpose: approaching young people and teaching them about the morals and ethics of Christianity. "Rather than fighting to peel them away from a medium they adore - videogames - we decided to bring our vision to them in that format," explains Mike Madden, director of development. Within two months a small studio was set up and development started. The team involves talent who have previously worked on the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Darksiders, and The Old Republic.

Their first game is Five: Guardians of David, and it releases today. It's the story of King David and his conquering of Israel, with players commanding a party made up of his five generals, swapping between each to make use of their unique combat skills.

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Kingdom Games have struck an interesting balance when it comes to how Five presents its Biblical influences and message. The team don't want to been seen as "Bible thumpers", so much of the Christian elements are layered into the world like lore in an Elder Scrolls game. "It's passive layers, you can get as much out of it as you want," Madden explains. "It's all there, down to Bible passages, but you can also walk right by it if you choose to."

Instead, the faith-influenced messages come through in design choices. "Do we want to put in achievements like most games do for killing x amount of y enemies? No we don't, that's totally against what we want to do. Everyone here is looking at making sure we practice what we preach," says Madden. [...]​