Video games were supposed to be entertainment. They kept me occupied in the basement if the weather was bad, or quiet for long stretches.

What I didn’t expect was how much they would teach me about life. Like books, the creators of these games infused stories jam packed with ethical quandaries, moral tales and lessons to ponder.

No, not all of them even made an attempt to resemble that amount of depth. Shallow games were the original smart phone app – something to keep you distracted so you wouldn’t feel the pangs of boredom.

While growing up, Nintendo was the dominant force of video games. However, Nintendo of America had strict guidelines of what was allowed into a game. Games being developed, or translated from Japanese to English, needed to have religious language and symbols removed, as per the guidelines.

However, trying to omit the religious metaphors in a video game was on par with hiding stacks of jelly under your mattress. You can keep pressing down on it, but it’ll leak out the sides.

Here are the games I played and a list of what I learned about religion from all of them.

Actraiser

You are a sky god floating around in your cloud temple when an angel wakes you up. Evil has taken over the land and the people need your help to restore it.

Your spirit is summoned down into the statue of a warrior, where you fight to clear the land of evil. Then, you are taken to a civilization building screen, where your avatar, the angel, directs your actions.

You set paths for people to build homes, help solve disputes, send the elements and seal demon lairs.

At the end of the game, when all evil has been vanquished, the people completely ignore you and stop visiting your temple.

Earthbound

A quirky role playing game where you set out to find some friends to help you unite the sacred places of the Earth in order to prevent catastrophe.

At the final showdown, the enemy is too powerful for you to defeat. One of your characters gets an option to “Pray” when that realization sets in.

Upon praying, everyone you encountered throughout your travels gets the sudden urge to pray for you. United, the prayers of the people around the world defeat the final enemy.

Final Fantasy

A fantasy role playing game where you can select different classes of characters to create a party and set out to save the world.

This game coined the term, “White Mage.” A class you should always have in every party because their purpose is to heal and protect. They rarely get offensive capabilities, but the ones they do get are devastating.

Their powers come from their devout worship.

Xenogears

This branches off from Nintendo and into the Playstation realm, where the religious overtones were front and center.

It was so front and center in this game as the main villain didn’t want to take over the world. He wanted to kill God and needed the help of your character.

Civilization 4

A computer game where you build a civilization and attempt to win through different means: military might, cultural dominance, democratic victory by becoming leader of the United Nations, first to build a spaceship to Alpha Centauri, etc.

This particular iteration introduced religion into the game. Religion could increase happiness, produce great leaders and send missionaries into other civilizations to convert them to yours.

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While I don’t have the time or luxury to play as much anymore, the threads of religion intertwine themselves in today’s games.

Based on my experience and observations, here’s what video games have taught me about religion:

• People flock to religion when there is trouble
• They ignore it when everything is well and things are good
• Attempts to kill it require larger than life tactics and are never successful
• It can be useful and a force for good, especially with its disciples of good intention
• When united, it brings friends from around the world together to achieve peace
• It can be used as a front for manipulative purposes
• As a result, it can blind people to the reality at hand
• It adds an element of culture that makes a civilization interesting

Not bad messages to learn.