YaHero is a Flash-based online game targeting the tween demographic. We had chance to play around in the world last week. This week we had a chance to catch up with Communications Director for YaHero, Marta LoFranco.
ICE: What was the inspiration for YaHero; how did the project begin?
Marta: The YAHERO project was initiated by the Canadian Bible Society, in response to their desire to create something for Bible engagement for children. My husband Dale and I began developing the YAHERO project two years ago. We first conducted research to determine the demographic and then focus groups with kids to select the character and world “look”. It didn’t take us long to realize that that there wasn’t much for the Christian tween market, and we know that the tween age is critical for reaching kids for Christ before the teen years.
We have always wanted to create something for Christian kids that would be on par with what the secular market was offering and so we prayed for the right team to be brought together. We have found incredible favor in the creative marketplace. Animators that animate leading kid’s programs, game developers, graphic designers, professional voice talent and writers have embraced this project and they have cut their rates sometimes in half to make the world of YAHERO a reality.
We have four children of our own that range in age from 12 to 26 and we also have 3 grandchildren. We have found that the battles in our lives are often over the generations in us, and over what God wants to accomplish through us to reach them. We worked hard to instill a love for God’s Word into the lives of our children and we know from a difficult family experience, that it is God’s Word that will touch their hearts and make them strong.
In 2005, our 17-month-old granddaughter was diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer called neuroblastoma. On a very harrowing journey into the world of pediatric cancer for 14 months, we spent many hours pouring God’s Word into her young heart. When she could hardly open her mouth, because of sores from chemotherapy, she would point to the CD player and whisper, “man” (it was a man that was reading the Scripture). We quickly realized that she preferred it to other children’s CD’s that we’d been playing for her. We watched as God’s Word literally fed her spirit daily. Today, Mia is 5.5 years old; she is cancer free and still listening to the “man” reading Scripture to her at bedtime. Mia is a living testimony to what God can do when we stand firm in faith – not believing what we can see but knowing what we believe. That’s really our heart’s cry – knowing what we believe to be true about God and the promises found in His Word.
It is no wonder that God has placed a passion in our hearts to share the Bible with children in a format that they will love and understand. We have learned that we must always be building things for those who aren’t even there yet, like our own grandchildren. If we keep this in mind, we will have the vision to prepare the way for those babies still in the nursery that will one day become Yaheroes. It is our goal for kids to have fun in a safe online environment that is rich with story line – instilling a life-long love for following Yahweh so that kids can become heroes of His Word.
ICE: The overall story of YaHero is supposed to be in allegorical form. Can you explain the main message that will be imparted...without spoilers?
Marta: Hovering above the earth, in a hidden location, the world of YAHERO exists as a chain of floating islands called Light City. Light City was designed by Yahweh himself to be a safe place where players explore to become heroes of His Word. Light City’s gleaming main island, Zioden, is where the River of Zioden flows endlessly and where the Tree of Zioden rises majestically toward the sky – a hub for all inhabitants to fellowship when they are not engaged in quests.
Quests are commissioned in Light City to challenge and encourage Yaheroes to become strong in their faith and to increase their understanding of God’s Word. Between quests, Yaheroes engage in a wide variety of mini-games, contests and other activities to hone their skills. Through it all, players link the wisdom learned within the YAHERO world, to the power of the Bible in the real world. The main thing to remember is that the world of YAHERO is always growing and evolving, and what it grows into may be different than what anyone expects!
(More initial story details are outlined in the Hero Hub on the website.)
ICE: Will there be player vs player (PvP) action in the game? If not now, perhaps in the future?
Marta: We don’t have player vs. player planned as of yet, but we are planning for community events for teams of players to do things together to enhance the user experience and camaraderie among the Yaheroes.
ICE: What expansions to the game are planned for the future?
Marta: Each week, something new and exciting is released. Every month, a whole new YAHERO quest is released along with a new zone. Each island has nine zones. Six zones are open when an island launches and then each month a new quest and a new zone open up. Every fourth month, a totally new island with a total of nine zones opens up (six zones are always open upon the launch of a new island).
ICE: Social games like Farmville are extremely popular. Any plans on making YaHero a Facebook App game?
Marta: We want to learn about our players first. If a Facebook app will help children engage with the Bible, and also help kids and parents connect to the Bible together, we will look at it. It's always going to first be about the child's engagement. Our first inclination is that we will look to have games on other sites and we will seek to help parents with a Facebook parent connection app (where updates about my child's progress will update my facebook page). We’ll have to see.
ICE: There are organizations like the Association of Christian Entertainment (ACE) and Christian Game Developers Conference (CGDC) that allow Christian game developers to have a centralized meeting point. I noted that several were surprised at the announcement of this game (including myself). Do you keep in contact with any of the other Christian game developers like Brethren and Digital Praise?
Marta: We have been extremely focused on getting to launch with the amazing YAHERO team that we have in place. From here, our goal is to get to know as many like-minded developers as possible, listen to and respond to feedback, and to enjoy the ride together.
We have some exciting plans for the future and we will be seeking partners who will help us achieve our goals through the gaming environment, however right now our focus is on growing Yahero.com
ICE: What do you think the role of "Christian games" should be?
Marta: We believe that first of all Christian games must be fun or kids aren’t going to play them and they will look elsewhere. We know that if we can provide a fantastical foundation for deep truths, like others have done using allegory, then kids will become engaged with the game and ultimately with God’s Word. It’s the same way that comedy and political cartoons wield so much power by redirecting the attention, not the lesson being learned. It’s all about the format, in which it’s presented, and YAHERO meets kids with a format they are used to and a format they already enjoy.
Research tells us that children are spending an average of 23 hours per week online. Because of this, we know that we must meet them there with a safe place where they can have fun. Kid’s love to play mini-games and so we have combined this platform with role-playing quests to bring in story lines that are allegory to the Bible – bringing God’s Word to life with characters that kids will want to look up to.
ICE: I note that YaHero purposefully does not have any violence of any type. While I realize this is probably due to the target demographic being tweens, what do you think about violence in games in general?
Marta: The reality is that we are all to be heroes of God and of His Word. The conversation shouldn’t be about whether or not a game has violence; rather, it’s about whether or not players are having a positive experience. YAHERO does have "violence," just not combat. In Araway's Archery you must shoot down the Malizek devices. Violence in the purest sense of the word denotes conflict between good and evil. We do have that, we're just not playing off it as a main draw to the game like many other worlds, choosing instead, to focus on puzzle-based and adventure-based gaming. But we are not completely avoiding the essence of "violence," and future games and portions of the YAHERO story will reflect it.
ICE: As YaHero expands might there be enemies with some form of non-graphic combat? What about comic violence like in Nintendo games or Christian video games like Eternal War or Axys Adventures: Truth Seeker?
Marta: We shall see! In a player's ongoing quest to become better and better Yaheroes, there's no telling what adventures they'll experience!
ICE: Thanks, Marta, for taking the time to answers our questions!
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