Roblox is one of the most active gaming platforms in the world. There are more than 85 million daily users accessing the platform in more than 180 countries, primarily by an audience aged 9 to 15 years. With the goal of interacting with users, promoting health initiatives, carrying a message of hope, and reaching people in this environment, a team from the South American Division created a game known as Advent City.
The main goal of the game is for it to become a missionary tool by entering into the world of teenagers by using their language and even promoting family involvement. Nina Amado, digital marketing analyst for the South American Division (SAD), shared that Advent City was created with the purpose of offering a “digital, educational, and fun” space within Roblox. Children and teenagers can live out experiences that are related to faith, Christian values, and the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in an interactive way.
Carlos Magalhães, SAD director of digital strategies, explained that the department is constantly looking for “new ways to reach new generations.” According to him, his team regularly assess where their audiences are and what languages they use. “It allows us to develop initiatives that offer more than entertainment, challenging users with a sense of purpose and a message of faith and hope,” he said.
About Advent City
With more than 123,000 visits since its inauguration, the Advent City game on Roblox reflects the need of teenagers for an environment with healthy challenges. The inspiration for the game comes from the concept behind the Pathfinder Club, which aims to develop the physical, mental, and spiritual areas of children and teens, regional church leaders said. The game also provides a virtual experience with Adventist institutions such as schools, hospitals, and missionary projects.
It was prepared with the intention of promoting interaction between players in a safe way, with filtered messages and inappropriate terms automatically blocked, developers explained. “The virtual city seeks to work on Christian values in a natural and engaging way, helping players to not only thrive in the digital environment, but in life,” they said.
Every month new areas and missions are available, providing users with such themes as friendship, trust, solidarity, and other Christian values. “Something that is special when we see children and teenagers inviting their friends to play the game who are not yet Pathfinders,” Amado said. “The game also ended up becoming a missionary tool, because it is much easier to invite someone to play Roblox than to a church event—and within the game, these children end up getting to know Pathfinder clubs and the values it provides in a natural way.”
A Family Game
Amado also mentioned that there are reports of parents playing with their children. “Transforming Advent City into a family activity reinforces our goal: to offer a healthy and purposeful experience,” she said.
Advent City follows all the safety guidelines of the Roblox platform and has been developed with the utmost care to be a positive environment. “Even so, as it is an online space, we reinforce that the best way to live this experience is as a family, with the supervision of parents or guardians,” Amado said.
She also pointed out that the Advent City environment is “free of inappropriate content and has no purchasing capabilities. It is a space designed to promote Christian values and fun, as well as creating a platform were learning is promoted in a healthy and interactive way”.
The opening ceremony of Advent City included a real Pathfinder ceremony, with hymns, prayer, spiritual moments, and live music. “The audience loved it,” Amado said, reporting that there were more than 1,200 simultaneous players, who interacted, sang, and participated in real-time.
The Church in Roblox
“Our greatest interest as a church is to transmit our knowledge, our doctrines, in a way that young people are familiar with,” Magalhães said.
SAD has adopted some rules within the platform, such as language filters and the prohibition of voice chat. These and other actions, such as guidance to parents, provide a safer environment full of fun activities, developers explained. “It helps getting young people closer to Christ and informed by a message of hope,” they said.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division’s Portuguese-language news site.
