Yom Kippur is not usually a time for fun and games, but one app is going against the trend - in the name of education, of course.
American non-profit company G-dcast has created Jonah Run, an app which teaches children the High Holy Day story of a rebellious prophet through an infinite runner game.
Over the course of three levels – before sailing from Nineveh, on the ship and in the stomach of the whale – the game uses the biblical story of Jonah to teach players that you cannot outrun your problems.
Sarah Lefton, executive director of the San Francisco-based media production company which tries to improve people’s Jewish literacy, said the app, released last week, was “almost an art piece.”
The game records progress with the biblical measurement of cubits, and greets a player’s demise with the unforgiving message: “You have run from the Lord 1 time unsuccessfully”.
“Everyone laughs when they see that line,” Ms Lefton said. “You can’t win. Just like with any infinite runner. You’ll run more and more cubits but you’ll never escape - you’ll never run away from the Lord successfully, that’s what we’re saying.”
Ms Lefton said the concept came from the very students the app is made for.
“We teach in the local day schools and congregational schools from time to time, and last year we were doing a class for nine and 10-year-olds about game design and how to incorporate Torah into games.
“Each day we’d ask them what their favourite games were. They would always talk about infinite runner games.
“Then one day we had an epiphany: the story of Jonah is perfect. He runs and runs, after all.”
She said that when it comes to getting children engaged with Jewish stories, using games as an entry point was “the best method.
“It really fires them up and makes them excited to see the texts brought to life in a medium they care about. I’ve seen it time and time again, kids in their teens or pre-teens just love it.
“And the game only takes a few minutes to play, so it’s a perfect trigger activity for a teacher if they're going to be talking about a Jewish text.”
Jonah Run can be defeated, though only - appropriately - if you stop running. However, Ms Lefton emphasised that though the game is a useful educational tool, it has its limits.
“No actual halachic atonement is implied, of course. If you were planning to go to Kol Nidre, you still should.”
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