Bible Adventures

Bible Adventures

Overview & History

Developed and published by Wisdom Tree in 1991, Bible Adventures is a notoriously unique unlicensed NES title that adapted stories from the Book of Genesis and Exodus into platforming gameplay. At a time when Nintendo strictly regulated third-party developers, Wisdom Tree bypassed the official lockout chip by manufacturing games on yellow, pin-compatible cartridges, allowing them to market directly to Christian bookstores and families. The game compiles three distinct episodes: Noah's Ark, Baby Moses, and David and Goliath, each offering radically different gameplay styles, distinct objectives, and varying levels of bizarre frustration that cemented its status as a bizarre piece of gaming history.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike standard action platformers, Bible Adventures heavily emphasizes puzzle-solving and item management. In the Noah's Ark stage, players control Noah as he explores a multi-tiered labyrinth, tasked with capturing and safely carrying pairs of bickering, wriggling animals—ranging from lions to giraffes—back to the safety of the wooden ark while avoiding hazards. The Baby Moses stage shifts the dynamic entirely, casting Jochebed, the mother of Moses, as she navigates reeds and guards to construct a wicker basket and float her baby down the Nile River. Finally, the David and Goliath episode combines frantic item-gathering (collecting rocks for a slingshot) with pastoral exploration before culminating in a final boss encounter against the Philistine giant. Across all stages, characters lack traditional offensive weapons for most of the run, relying instead on lifting, throwing, and stacking objects to manipulate the environment.

Keyboard Controls

• Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move
• Action Keys: Attack / Jump
• Enter: Start / Pause