What The Church Can Learn From Canabalt
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you might have noticed me tumbling to my death or being blown into a fine mist every now and then. The source of my destruction is a very simple game called Canabalt. In a nut shell, Canabalt is a game where the goal is to jump from roof top to roof top for as long as possible before dying. Only one button is used to jump. That’s it.
It’s a simple game with simple mechanics, simple graphics, and a killer soundtrack. And, like most things I come across, I believe the church can learn a few things from Canabalt and its developers.
1. It doesn’t have to take 7 months to execute a good idea.
Canabalt was created in seven days! I’ll let someone else talk about how important building the right team, communicating effectively, and managing milestones is to pulling something like this off, but if you aren’t starting with a good idea, you may just be spinning your wheels.
I once attended a film production weekend workshop where the speaker, an eccentric character, told a story about how he had all these people telling him about their screenplays. He’d hear stuff like,
“I’m a screenwriter! I’ve been working on my screenplay for four years and I’m almost to the third act!”
His response to this was something along the lines of,
“Four years! Whatever you’ve been doing for the last four years, it hasn’t been writing.”
He went on to say that if you have a good story, three weeks of solid writing should get the job done.
Think about that the next time you’re dreaming up new ways to implement technology in your ministry or working on the new church web site design.
2. Simple is good.
When Canabalt was built for the Kyles’ Experimental Gameplay Project, the theme for that month was “bare minimum.” In an interview the games’s creator, Adam Atomic, says he had just finished revisiting Super Mario Brothers for the NES and realized that,
“You pretty much hold right and B, and hit A at the right time to hop obstacles.”
The game he came up with took the best things from Super Mario Brothers and condensed it into an easy to pick-up-and-play game. Brilliant! But what can the curch take away from this?
Take a walk through your church’s bulletin. Is it simple? Does it clearly communicate what the intent of the church is? Do the events and programs promoted in the bulletin coincide with that intent or is it just a bunch of fluff and stuff to keep your church members busy?
When I’m playing Super Mario, like Adam, I’m enjoying my run the most when I ignore the Goombas and Koopas, pay no attention to the power-ups, and simply run for my life towards the flag at the end, getting there as fast as possible. Chew on that metaphor for a minute!
3. You don’t need a huge budget to do things well.
One of Canabalt’s best features is its sound design. In the previously linked to interview, it is mentioned that many of these sound effects were recorded on the built-in mic of a laptop! Amazing!
You may not have the best equipment or the biggest budget, but with a little resourcefulness and know-how, you can still do it well.
4. Don’t betray your mission.
The creator of Canabalt says,
“…it makes a lot of sense to start with something simple, purify it, then figure out how you can expand on it within your time limits and budget without betraying it or messing it up.”
I couldn’t agree more. We often heap so many features, ideas, words, images, etc. into what we are working on that we lose sight of the original goal.
5. Observe, adjust and repeat for maximum awesome.
Canabalt takes advantage of something called “procedurally generated content.” In a nut shell, the game is constantly monitoring how you are playing the game and then adjusts the game so that the next obstacle provides the best balance of fun and challenge. Genius!
By constantly observing, adjusting and repeating the process, we could maximize our effectiveness in and outside the church.
How effectively does your communications team handle incoming projects? Get feedback from your team and those who work with them. Adjust. Observe. Get more feedback! Do the same for all communication vehicles, small groups, visitor relations (great source of feedback there), anywhere!
By the way, go play Canabalt. It’s a good time.
