Game gets a godly makeover

A BUSINESSMAN who is a fan of Top Trumps trading cards has laun­ched a version that features Old Testament characters instead of TV heroes and sports stars.

Steven Strongman, the promoter of Testament Trumps, is quoted as saying his card game is “fun, but has a serious message”. Many young people who are fans of Top Trumps, he said, are unfamiliar with the Bible and its teaching, and his cards “address that issue”.

Top Trumps cards, laun­ched in the 1970s, feature football clubs, and subjects ranging from Star Wars to The Da Vinci Code. Players compare the values of sets of num­bers on the cards, and try to trump their opponents. Early versions of the cards have become collectibles.

Testament Trumps, on the other hand, features cartoon versions of Old Testament figures such as Aaron, Elisha, Daniel, Pharaoh (depicted as a gangster), and Delilah (a hairdresser).

The characters are rated in four categories: strength; obedience; the number of times they are named in the Bible; and their date BC. A memory verse is on each card; and a Gold Card challenges players to name the Ten Commandments and the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

Press reports have implied that Testament Trumps is from the same stable as Top Trumps, but a spokes­man for Winning Moves UK Ltd, which bought Top Trumps from Waddingtons in 1999, says this is not so. “It is not something we’ve been involved in. It’s something we neither endorse nor reject.”

Mr Strongman told the Sunday Express: “We launched the cards in May, and so far we have had a lot of positive feedback. They teach chil-dren the basics of ethics and faith on a level they can understand.”