BOSTON -- The "crazy, crazy Jewish fun" of Kosherland looks a lotlike the board game Candy Land, except gefilte fishing substitutesfor visits to the Ice Cream Sea.
In Catholic-opoly, like Monopoly, the job is to bankrupt youropponents. The difference is it's done "in a nice, fun way."
And role-playing can get pretty realistic with the BiblicalAction Figure of Job, which comes complete with boils.
The market for religious board games and toys like these is tinyand a bit quirky. But sales numbers indicate demand is growing asfamilies demand wholesome entertainment, selections expand and theInternet gives greater access to retailers.
Abe Blumberger of Jewish Educational Toys said people are muchmore willing to buy religious toys since he helped create Kosherlandin 1985. His game is now offered on UrbanOutfitters.com.
"I think there's a recognition there's a small niche out there,"Blumberger said.
The games and toys cover a variety of faiths, from Islam toMormonism, and include Risk-style games such as Missionary Conquestand talking plush dolls, including the smiling and sneaker-wearingPray-With-Me-Mantis.
In the Muslim "Race to the Kabah," players advance by learningthe meaning of the 99 names of Allah. Kosherland teaches aboutJewish dietary laws, requiring, for instance, that players movebackward if they mix milk with meat. In the Mormon game Mortality,good decisions help a player acquire "testimonies," which strengthenhis faith and help him endure life's trials.
Statistics on sales of religious games are hard to find. However,retail sales of inspirational gifts and merchandise, which includesreligious toys and games, were an estimated $1.9 billion in 2005, an11.8 percent increase from the previous year, according to an Aprilreport by Packaged Facts, the publishing arm of MarketResearch.com.
The report projected 26.3 percent growth to $2.4 billion in salesin the gifts and merchandise sector by 2010.
Rebecca Sachs Norris of Merrimack College in North Andover andNikki Bado-Fralick of Iowa State University co-authored a paper onreligious games and toys, which they say can be a powerful part ofinstilling values.
But they also worry about whether children can handle some of themore serious and complex messages the games try to send.
"These aren't trivial," Norris said. "They really aren't."
In some games, for instance, the losers don't reach enlightenmentor Heaven, Norris said. Missionary Conquest awards extra points toplayers who are martyred by stoning as they try to establishmissions in the Middle East.
Many of the games were made by people with little or no toymakingexperience who were inspired by deep religious conviction and anidea that wouldn't let go.
Cliff Rockwood of Tyngsborough developed "Holy Huggables" becausehe wanted a doll for his daughter that reflected his family'sspiritual values. Using informal gatherings with friends as marketresearch, he and his wife developed talking Esther, Moses and Jesusdolls, and have sold "tens of thousands," though Rockwood declinedto be more specific.
Thasneem Ahmed, creator of the Muslim board game "Race to theKabah," wanted to promote family life after being deeply affected bythe 1999 Columbine massacre. She paid $40,000 to produce 2,500copies herself in 2001. Last month, she sold the last game of thatbatch.
"I felt this was really important for children and families," shesaid. "That's what it came down to."
Rockwood said his dolls' sayings portray what the Bible says in away a child can understand. The popularity of Holy Huggables is moreevidence to him that manufacturers are ignoring a bigger, religious-oriented market.
"There's a population that would like to have these kind ofproducts, and no one wants to make them," he said.
That may be because retailers are just going with what they know.
According to Anita Frazier, a toy industry analyst for NPD Groupmarketing research company, the major concern of toymakers about newproducts or markets is where and how they'll distribute it. They'reoften forced to find lesser-known, alternative distributors for newproducts because mass retailers largely choose to stock theirshelves with proven brands.
Kosherland's Blumberger said his game has had short rides on theshelves of major stores, including Wal-Mart. But his hopes for amega-marketing deal for Kosherland seem slight.
"I don't think any of the other game companies have to worryabout us taking over the market share," he said.
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