Eight Jewish and Israeli video games you should check out 

A coming-of-age video game with a Jewish character, will be part of Melbourne International Games Week Showcase at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).  But there are many more Jewish games out there.  

To celebrate Melbourne International Games Week from 2 to 11 October, we introduce you to a murder mystery, Israeli comedy, an interactive novel, Holocaust stories and a puzzle about unpacking moving boxes. 

2006 (remastered 2013) · New York · Dave Gilbert / Wadjet Eye Games · Murder mystery 

Rabbi Russell Stone runs a struggling New York synagogue. When a former congregant dies and unexpectedly leaves the synagogue a large sum of money, Stone sets out to discover why. 

The Jewish setting drives the game. Its title refers to the Jewish mourning period; Stone wrestles with faith, conscience and communal responsibility; and players question characters and solve puzzles while investigating the death. 

Creator Dave Gilbert has said the idea developed after time spent in Asia made him newly conscious of being Jewish. Returning to New York, he wanted to make something with a Jewish theme as a way of reconnecting with that part of himself. 

Producer Wadjet Eye promotes The Shivah as a rabbinical murder mystery, complete with “rabbinical conversation methods” and “Talmudic combat”.