Catholic Gaming

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2019. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church consists of 24 particular churches and almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.

The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church.
The Pope owns a copy of this game.
Western Europe will be Catholic in almost any time period you choose to begin in, and you can rule over a Catholic nation!
Catholicism and medieval gaming go hand-in-hand!
Lots of video games about The Crusades, a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Catholic Church in the medieval period.
Set during The Crusades and makes references to the Catholic Church.
Lots of Catholic content here, but most famously features a boss battle against Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI.
Catholic Zelda clone about a mighty warrior who converts non-believers and battles Satan.
The Catholic Church accepts the teachings of the Old Testament.
Features an analog of the Catholic Church. Dante and Nero fight the Pope in multiple boss battles.
that's right folks it's another papal boss battle
Joan of Arc is a venerated saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
Allows you to serve the Pope. He is infamously hard to please in this game.
Crucifixes, holy water, rosary beads... Do I gotta spell it out to you?
- Players learn about saints and pray for intercession, which does all sorts of miraculous stuff.

- You need to go to Mass, Confession (with 10 hour penances), and tithe. Speaking Latin is an important skill to be levelled.

- You can obtain relics and donate them to cathedrals.

- Saints' feast days are an actual game mechanic.

Examples of Catholicism in gameplay:

- You can pray to St. Aidan to make enemy wolves docile.

- While visiting a noble, a prayer to St. Isidore the farmer causes the player to see a vision of him abusing his peasant farmers.

- While dining with a robber knight, praying to St. Eric caused the knight to tell us he was planning to have us killed. When challenged, he overconfidently sent most of his men away before attacking.

- A small village priest said that the village's patron saint was Simon Magus--and it turns out they're really Satanists. The player is unable to exorcize their altar because we are not sufficiently virtuous to get a prayer to St. Raphael answered.
Features a Catholic priest.
The game's protagonist is a Catholic.
Spreading Catholicism around the world is one of the game's win conditions.
Allows you to become a BioWare Catholic (The Chantry)
The Pope is playable in this one!
Set in a near-future dystopia where the Pope is being influenced by a god-like being of the PSI realm dubbed "Geist".
Arthur can consult with a Catholic nun about his redemption.
The most Catholic video game of all time.
Remake of the most Catholic video game of all time.
Tony Soprano, Christopher Moltisanti and other questgivers in the game are practicing Catholics. The player character's religious status is unknown.
Set during the times of the Holy Roman Empire - this thing's swimming with Catholics! You can even join the Inquisition or become a monk!
Vatican City features as one of the game's levels.
Vatican City features as one of the game's levels.
You can play as Celtic Football Club. (stand-in for all FIFA games where you can play as Celtic).

NOTE: Club Football Manager: Celtic Edition is not in the IGDB database.
idk man just has a catholic vibe imo
Follows a young Catholic student as he delves deep into a labyrinth of Roman catacombs in order to rescue his mentor and brethren from Satan and his demons.
cmon bro
Not sure if the Catholic Church would approve of this one!
In the DOOM novelisations, Doomguy is a practicing Catholic.
The Punisher is a former Catholic who was training to become a priest.
The main character, Dante, is a Templar knight - the Catholic Church's elite military order.
Contains many signifiers of Catholicism, such as deacons, a pontiff and big ol' cathedrals.
fuck the church. also, literally fuck a dragon (?????)
The Church and their Knights Templar are the villains and the final boss is the resurrected son of God.
Father Bitores Mendez was a Catholic priest whose parish constituted an isolated, rural community in Spain. Mendez fell to the influence of bio-weapons developer and terrorist Osmund Saddler, who converted people to his cult as a means of control.
The Catholic Church and Catholics feature prominently throughout the game, which explores the rise of Martin Luther’s teachings and the Church’s response to these changes over the course of the 15th century. The game opens with Latin writings from John, Chapter 1.
The You Testament is a 2008 PC game made by British indie game developer Matt Dickie. Players take the role of a disciple of Jesus Christ and help play out the most crucial moments of the Greatest Story Ever Told.
This 2D remake of the biblical epic puts YOU on the scene of each story, where you can either repeat history or rewrite it! Follow in the footsteps of a prophet as he seeks to enlighten the masses, and find your place among them as the struggle to survive tests your faith...
you literally fight "the patriarch" (a pope) of a religion founded in lost jerusalem in the final fight
Contains Catholic imagery.
The Order of Lumen Sages are inspired by the Catholic Church.
In a surprising turn of events, the remake chooses to emphasise the Catholic origins of Saddler’s cult.

19 Comments


1 year ago

The Punisher canonically went to seminary to become a Catholic priest, so you could include his games as well

1 year ago

Hmm on that note isn't Doomguy supposed to be Catholic?

1 year ago

That's right. I was unsure if supplementary material counted for the purposes of this list, but because it is my list I have decided that it does and have added DOOM and The Punisher.

1 year ago

Dante's Inferno (main character is a Templar), FAITH (main character is a (former?) Catholic priest). dont know if the cathedral of the deep from ds3 qualifies it for this list as a catholic-like church (deacons, a pontiff, big ol cathedrals) or disqualifies it (blasphemous)

1 year ago

Games can blaspheme and still qualify for this list. They just have to acknowledge the existence of the Catholic Church in some way.

1 year ago

heavensward: "fuck the church. also, literally fuck a dragon."

1 year ago

Final Fantasy Tactics - the Church and their Knights Templar are the villains and the final boss is the resurrected son of God

1 year ago

Meu amigo joão indelicato

1 year ago

You should add Pentiment!

1 year ago

You are correct. Pentiment should be here.

1 year ago

Not sure how much you want to include actual Christian works here but stuff like The You Testament, Grezzodue, and Left Behind: Eternal Forces would fit perfectly if you do.

1 year ago

Also The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia

1 year ago

Anything goes, so long as the game acknowledges the existence of the Catholic Church.

1 year ago

xenosaga ii ||you literally fight "the patriarch" (a pope) of a religion founded in lost jerusalem in the final fight||

1 year ago

idk how to spoiler tag feel free to delete my previous comment tee hee

1 year ago

An analog of the Pope being the final boss of a 2000s JRPG is hardly a spoiler

1 year ago

maybe this is a dumb question, but would the game boy king james bible count? I think thats technically a protestant bible but Im sure it gets the job done

1 year ago

The Catholic Church does not recognise the King James Bible.

1 year ago

Messiah, featuring catholic imagery and the roblox oof sound by tommy tallarico (mom proud™ 2023)


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