The Samaritan – the full game guide

Our game “The Samaritan” retells the well-known parable from Luke 10:25-37 in a new way: not just to read, but to experience for yourself. You walk the dusty road from Jerusalem down to Jericho, meet people along the way, and at the decisive moment you decide for yourself whether to stop or walk on. This guide covers the controls, the eight chapters of the story, the side quests, and a few tips for getting started – without spoiling the decision itself.

What we built is a calm little desert world in hand-crafted pixel art: a bustling marketplace in Jerusalem, a bare road winding past rock and rubble, an inn at the journey’s end, and a tense night scene with robbers lurking by the road. On top of that come eight chapters, four encounters with people on the road, six hidden scrolls carrying real Bible verses, eleven quiet mementos to collect, and eighteen small discoveries in total for anyone who looks closely – animals, little plays of light, and small desert details that are easy to miss.

“The Samaritan” is one of several free browser games we have built around our Bible app, alongside Bible Puzzles, PROJECT 153 and THE 12. Unlike the other three, it does not tell its own invented story but stays deliberately close to the biblical text itself: the trail you follow is the trail from Luke 10.

The game runs right in your browser with no installation at all, in English and German, free and ad-free. It detects your browser’s language automatically, or you can simply open the edition you want directly through its own address. A full playthrough takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on how many of the encounters and discoveries along the road you pick up.

It is not built around a high score or a ticking clock. The game wants to make the parable of the Good Samaritan something you experience, not a contest: there is no score, no error counter and no wrong answer that sets you back – just a story you move through, and a handful of small, quiet rewards for anyone who looks closely.

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Controls: keyboard and touch

The game automatically detects whether you are playing on a computer or a phone, and shows you the matching controls. At the top of the screen you also always see your current goal as a short hint, so you always know where the journey leads next.

On a computer you play with the keyboard:

• Move: arrow keys or WASD
• Talk, examine, pick up: key E
• Open the bag: key I
• Open the journal: key J
• Menu: key Esc
• Sound on/off: key M
• Show/hide the controls bar: key H

On a phone or tablet you play with your finger only: touch and hold the game world, or tap a spot, to walk there. Tap a person or an object to talk to them or examine it. During a conversation, tap the text box to continue and tap an answer to choose it. The journal, bag and menu are reached through the buttons in the top right, and you drag a finger over a list to scroll it. Depending on your screen, the game also shows an on-screen D-pad in the bottom left and an action button in the bottom right for interacting with people and objects within reach.

If you are ever unsure what to do: stand still for a little while, and the game will fade in a hint about your current goal and direction on its own. You never have to search for long.

The settings menu also lets you adjust a few things to your own needs: separate volume sliders for music and sound effects, large text for dialogue and other text, and a reduced-motion option in case the moving characters and effects feel too busy for you. Playing a second time or already know a scene? A small “Skip” button lets you move through any dialogue more quickly.

Getting started: setting out in Jerusalem

The game does not begin on the open road but right in the middle of the bustling marketplace of Jerusalem: people walk by, a child plays near the well, your donkey stands loaded and ready, and the town gate is already in view. There you meet Eli, who gives you the task that sets the whole story in motion: the journey to Jericho.

Before you set out, you pack the donkey: you have three slots for five possible things – oil to anoint the wounds, wine to cleanse them, a bandage to bind them up, water for thirst, and a coin to share or trade along the way. The inn money for later is already packed and does not need a slot of its own. What you choose matters later on: without bandages, first aid on the wounded man in Chapter 5 becomes harder, and without water, the heat on the long road through the desert wears you down faster.

Once you are ready, the town gate opens, the guard steps aside, and the journey to Jericho begins. From here, the road carries you chapter by chapter deeper into the story of the parable.

Story overview: eight chapters on the road to Jericho

The story is told in eight chapters that stay close to the biblical text in Luke 10, which opens with the words: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Here is an overview of the eight chapters, without spoiling every surprise:

Chapter 1 – Setting out

At the marketplace of Jerusalem, Eli gives you the task of travelling to Jericho. You pack the donkey with up to three things and leave the city through the gate, which opens specially for your departure.

Chapter 2 – The descent

The road winds steeply down from Jerusalem toward Jericho, past rock and rubble, through heat and dust. Heat and thirst become constant companions: if you run low on water on the way, it is best to refresh yourself at one of the three wells along the road before exhaustion sets in. Along the way you also meet the first of the four people with small requests described further below in this guide.

Chapter 3 – The trail

A trail of blood and scattered belongings branches off the main road, leading deeper into a remote gorge. This is exactly where the parable’s real story begins: the place where the attack described in Luke 10 happened. The mood shifts noticeably here, as the busy road gives way to a quiet, isolated place.

Chapter 4 – Those who passed by

First a priest walks past, then a Levite – both see the wounded man lying by the road and walk on, just as the Bible tells it: “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” You are the third to come by, and unlike the other two, you stop.

Chapter 5 – First aid

You can examine the man or talk to him first, or decide right away whether to help or move on. If you choose to help, you tend his wounds with whatever you packed: oil, wine and a bandage are simply applied by tapping, with no time pressure, no hit bar, and no score at the end.

Chapter 6 – The night road

You lift the wounded man onto your animal and lead it on through the falling darkness toward Jericho, past the robbers lurking along the way. If they spot you, one of them calls out “Hey, you there! Stop!”, and it is wiser to back away than to put yourself and the wounded man in danger – the game deliberately leaves you the more careful choice here.

Chapter 7 – The inn

You finally reach the inn at the edge of Jericho. The innkeeper takes you in, puts the wounded man to bed, and you stay the night with him, until the wounded man thanks you half-asleep. The next morning you pay the innkeeper two coins for his continued care, exactly as the biblical text describes, with the promise to cover any further cost on your return.

Chapter 8 – The question

In the epilogue, Jesus himself puts the famous question to a lawyer: which of the three – priest, Levite or Samaritan – was a neighbour to the man who fell among robbers? You answer it on his behalf, and with the right answer you hear the parable’s well-known closing line: “Go, and do thou likewise.”

Side quests, scrolls and the desert world

Alongside the main story, you meet four more people on the road with small requests, together counted as “encounters on the road”: a thirsty pilgrim asking for some of your water, a child whose donkey has wandered off behind the rocks, an old man at a well struggling with a heavy jug, and a merchant with a broken wagon wheel hoping for help before nightfall. Each encounter can be resolved in more than one way, and helping usually earns you something small in return.

Share your water with the pilgrim and he thanks you, wishing that someone will stand by you too on your own road; walk on instead, and he still sends you off with a friendly “go with God”. Find the child’s donkey among the rocks and bring it back, and the child hands you something that was lying around at home as thanks. Help the old man pull his jug from the well, and he gives you a scroll that belonged to his father. And give the merchant a bandage or a coin for his broken wheel, and he hands you a scroll from his own cargo as well. None of these encounters is required, but each one makes the desert world feel a little more alive.

Scattered along the road are also six scrolls, small finds carrying their own real Bible verses – among them Leviticus 19:18 (“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”), Matthew 25:35 (“I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink”) and Micah 6:8. Like the encounters on the road, they are a game addition rather than part of the parable itself, but they fit the story’s themes of mercy and neighbourly love closely.

Beyond the four official encounters, there is one very quiet, easy-to-miss scene along the road: somewhere between the marketplace and the inn, you meet a shepherd who has lost a lamb. Finding it and bringing it back has nothing to do with the main story – it is simply a small, self-contained gesture of care that fits the calm mood of the desert world well.

Players who explore closely can also collect eleven quiet mementos – small badges with no score attached, just proof that you did or found something specific. Among them are the “Well finder” for all three wells, the “Scribe” for all six scrolls, the “Donkey friend” for helping the child, and the “Shepherd’s friend” for the returned lamb. The eighteen small discoveries along the road have their own mementos too, for finding twelve, for finding all eighteen, and even for looking up at the starry sky at night.

The whole desert world – marketplace, road, gorge, night road and inn – is an original production in pixel art made specifically for this game, including the characters of the Samaritan, the priest, the Levite, the wounded man and the innkeeper. The music and sound effects, such as the click, footstep and selection sounds, were composed and produced for it as well. Your own donkey stays with you as a faithful companion for the whole journey, from the road to the inn.

Saves, journal and welcome back

You do not have to play “The Samaritan” in one sitting. From the pause menu you can save manually at any time, and at the end of every chapter the game offers to save your progress anyway. You have three separate save slots to work with, each of which you can overwrite or delete on its own – handy if, say, you want one save for yourself and another to play through together with family.

Return to the game after a break and a short “Welcome back!” screen greets you: it shows which of the eight chapters you are in and what is expected of you next, so you never have to find your footing again from scratch. The menu also always has a journal called “Story so far”, which sums up your journey in its own short sentences – for example: “You followed a trail of blood and scattered belongings into the gorge” or “You led the donkey through the night, past the robbers.” That makes it easy to play the story in small stretches without ever losing the thread.

Tips & tricks

• Pack at least one piece of first-aid material (oil, wine or a bandage) – without it, Chapter 5 is harder.
• Drink at every well you find, even if your water is not empty yet – there are three along the road, and knowing all three earns you the “Well finder” memento.
• If you run out of water, a caravan leader will carry you back to the last well – but that costs time and energy, so it is better to plan ahead than to rely on it.
• On the night road (Chapter 6) it pays to avoid the robbers rather than risk them: if you are spotted, you and the wounded man are sent back a little.
• Finds along the road, such as an eagle feather, a desert flower or a silver coin, can be traded with the merchant and the child for useful items.
• Help all four encounters on the road when you have the right items on hand – each one earns you one of the six scrolls and rounds out the picture of your journey at the end.
• Finding all eighteen small discoveries along the way earns you a quiet memento of its own at the end – there are no points for it, just the find itself, so take your time exploring.
• If you simply walk on during your first playthrough: the game always lets you return to the decision or start over from the beginning.
• Already finished a chapter? You can revisit it through the chapter selection in the menu – handy if you missed an encounter or a scroll the first time around.

Frequently asked questions

Is the game free?

Yes. “The Samaritan” is completely free, runs right in your browser and needs no installation.

Do I need an account?

No. You do not need an account or a login. Your save is stored automatically on your device, as long as you keep using the same browser.

Which Bible passage is the game based on?

The game follows the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37, in the King James Version. The encounters on the road and the scrolls are game additions and are not part of the biblical text itself.

How long does a playthrough take?

A full playthrough takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on how many encounters and discoveries you pick up along the way.

What happens if I just walk past the wounded man?

You can play the story the way the priest and the Levite do – the game then shows you what it feels like to walk on, and offers you the choice to return to the decision or begin again.

Can I lose my progress?

Only if you deliberately overwrite or delete a save. You have three separate save slots, can save at any time from the pause menu, and the “Welcome back!” screen reminds you where you left off whenever you return.

Is there a score or a high score?

No. “The Samaritan” does not grade you, not even during first aid in Chapter 5. The six scrolls, the eleven quiet mementos and the eighteen discoveries are optional small goals without a timer and without points.

Is the game suitable for children?

Yes. There is no graphic violence and no combat system: if a robber confronts you on the night road, you simply back away rather than fight. The story is told gently and works well as a way to discover the parable together with children.

Do I need prior Bible knowledge to understand the game?

No. The key passages from Luke 10 are shown to you as short narration before you continue, so you can follow the story well even without prior knowledge. If you want to go deeper, the full Gospel of Luke is available to read, and partly to listen to, on this website.

Can I play it in German too?

Yes. The German edition “Der barmherzige Samariter” is available directly at bibelapp.one/spiele/samariter/, and the game also detects the language automatically from your browser.

Go to the game: The Samaritan