Useful Links

The internet is home to many diverse websites. Listed here are some useful or popular sites that can help you find more information about the topics discussed throughout God Minded Gaming.

Content Warning Sites

People don't like bad surprises, and it often seems like today's entertainment is just bursting with them. This has led to creation of websites that check different forms of entertainment for possible issues, reporting on them in a spoiler-free way. Most of these websites also focus on a specific type of content.

If you like the "Concerns and Issues" sections of my reviews, you might be interested in these other websites.

Does the Dog Die?

Does the Dog Die is a community-built database focused on movies and tv shows. Each entry features a list of questions about the work in question (such as "does a dog die?") and provides a "yes" or "no" answer. Users may also leave comments to give extra context, should it be needed. The questions asked cover a large range of offensive content, so if there's something you personally don't want to see, it's worth checking this website before making plans.

Trigger Warning Database

A "trigger", in this context, refers to "trauma triggers"; situations or content that may cause a trauma victim to have flashbacks or otherwise be re-confronted by a traumatic event in their past. Unlike the other entries on this list, the Trigger Warning Database focuses exclusively on books, providing a spoiler-free warning about anything you're planning on reading.

Unconsenting Media

Everything we watch presents a message, and one of the messages that's been cropping up in many recent tv shows and movies is that we should be perfectly okay with ignoring other people's boundaries or wishes when it comes to sex. Unconsenting Media keeps track of which movies and tv shows do - and importantly, don't - consider sexual violence to be a laughing matter.

Gaming Websites

Most gaming websites out there provide reviews, news, or simply let fans enjoy sharing their hobby with others. There are a few however, that provide useful information about video games, such as these two gems.

Can I Play That?

This website answers a question many of us never thought to ask: can a person with a disability enjoy this video game?

Games usually expect fast reflexes, quick thinking, and some degree of literacy, but what if someone has trouble moving their hands? What about deaf or dyslexic players? Are they able to enjoy games like the rest of us?

Often, the answer seems to be yes - at least with modern mainstream titles - but if you have any sort of imparment, then I'd suggest checking this website before you go shopping.

How Long to Beat?

Gaming is an expensive hobby, and I don't just mean that in the sense that it costs a lot of money - gaming also eats up a lot of your time. This was less of a problem in the early days, when you needed to be very skilled to play for more than a few minutes, but many of today's games take more than twelve hours to complete, and some can even take weeks. That's also assuming you're even trying to complete the game, which isn't always true.

As its name suggests, How Long to Beat is a handy resource that can give you a rough estimate of how much time you'll need to finish a game. Most entries also break these estimates down into more detail, such as how long it takes to complete the story, earn the achievements, or reach 100% completion.

Christian Websites

Interested in learning more about Christianity or would you prefer some useful resources for Bible study? Here are a few of my suggestions.

Bible Gateway

To start this list, let's begin with the most essential resource of all. Bible Gateway provides easy access to scores of translations of the Bible online. If you ever want to look up a verse or simply read the Scriptures yourself, this is the best place to do it. Also included are various commentaries, though some of those require a subscription to the website.

Bible Study Tools

As the name suggests, this site provides a wealth of different tools for going deeper into your study of the Bible. One feature that's especially useful is the interlinear Bible, which allows you to view the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Important words are also rendered as links to their entries in the site's online lexicon, allowing you to see more details than you might expect.

Catholic Bridge

Although the two biggest branches of Christianity agree on many things, there's a lot of bad blood between Catholics and Protestants. Catholic Bridge attempts to help remedy this problem by explaining Catholic beliefs and practices in a manner that makes sense from a Protestant viewpoint. While Protestants like myself might not agree with everything taught by the Catholic Church, we can make an effort to understand where each other is coming from.

Moody Radio

The Moody Bible Institute provides a lot of good material for learning about Christianity, and one of the ways they provide this information is via their official radio station. You can listen to their past and present broadcasts online, which is a great way to get some Bible-based education while you relax with a quiet video game. Of their programs, Treasured Truth with Pastor James Ford Junior is easily my personal favorite.

Christian Entertainment

In addition to the websites listed above, there are some other Christian websites aimed at providing a little wholesome entertainment for a Christian audience.

Coffee with Jesus

Although it's fairly short, this four panel webcomic features numerious people taking some time out of their day to spend some time with Jesus and chat over a cup of coffee. Despite its sort run, it makes a lot of powerful points about how we spend our lives and is worth taking the time to read through.

Christian YouTube

YouTube is a popular website these days, and while there is a lot of content on there that's not particularly wholesome, there are channels that provide excellent religious content. Here are three of my favorites, along with links to some of their videoes that I felt were noteworthy.

Bible Illustrated

This beautiful youtube channel explores Christian theology from the prospective of a young Russian Orthodox man. As he talks about his faith, he draws wonderful artwork themed around his current topic. At one point, his goal was to illustrate the entire Bible, but this seems to have been placed aside in favor of open discussions, which I think was a better idea.

He also has a great sense of humor, which can be seen in this video where he talks about the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

Brian Holdsworth

If I wanted to point someone to a great selection of religious YouTube videos, Brian Holdsworth's channel would be at the top of my list. In his videos, he talks about recent events or answer specific questions from the viewpoint of an everyday Catholic, often referencing the works of notable theologians or the Church herself. In my opinion, his video about the nature of Hell should be required viewing for anyone struggling with the problem of eternal punishment.

Lutheran Satire

On the Protestant side of things, you have channels like Lutheran Satire. This channel uses animations or puppets to teach about Christianity - usually by making fun of poor theology or less than Christian behaviors. Any questionable behavior is fair game, be it Catholic, Protestant, or something else. Their "I don't care" music video pretty much sums up their channel.