Laura Sheahen was shocked to find herself burning in hell.

        Of course, she had been playing fast and loose with her life. Just before her death, she was fooling around with a variety of mortal sins, then she casually bet her future on a single roll of the die.

        No luck. It led to a somber message: “Death in mortal sin. Go to hell.”

        “There was some frustration about how easy it was to go to hell, but it also was really funny that my life could end up like that so quickly in this game,” says Ms. Sheahen, an editor at New York-based Beliefnet.com. The interfaith Web site recently started reviewing spiritual board games.

        The wages of some of these games mirror the believer's game of life: paradise or eternal punishment.

        It's a small miracle that spiritual board games are thriving in the digital age. In the 1990s, video games overwhelmed their low-tech cousins. But old favorites like Monopoly and Scrabble have remained popular, even experiencing a resurrection.

        In 2000, U.S. video game sales dropped 6 percent to $5.1 billion while board game sales rose 11 percent to $423 million. Board game sales for children jumped 23 percent to $145 million.

        Sales in the Tristate have been modest, with expected jumps in sales during the holidays.

        “We usually sell more at Christmas,” says Lisa Wilson, a saleswoman at Family Christian Stores in Clermont County's Eastgate Crossing. The store carries several board games, including Bible Madcap, Bibleopoly and Bible Trivia.

        Beliefnet's game reviews are online, with more to come, says Ellen Leventry, who helped produce the first reviews.

        Because many of these games aren't produced in large numbers, shoppers won't find them in big department stores. The Internet is the perfect medium for these innovative games.

        “We found games from every major religion,” Ms. Leventry says. “I have to say that we had an amazing time playing these games to do these ratings. It was a lot of fun.”

        Beliefnet reviewers gave high marks forGo Goddess Girl!, called the “Xena Warrior Princess of board games” for its spunky mix of pop mythology and girl power. Instead of points, players earn colorful beads to build goddess bracelets and learn which ancient goddesses they resemble.

        Some designers of religious games hope to tap into built-in audiences with new versions of evergreens like Bingo or Trivial Pursuit.

        Abe Blumberger, co-founder of Jewish Educational Toys in Chicago, launched Kosherland 15 years ago, where the gumdrops and lollipops of the classic Candy Land become the latkes and gefilte fish of an observant Jewish home. It is the company's top seller.

        Sometimes, kids think religious education is a little dull, Mr. Blumberger says. “But this game is an opportunity to have fun and learn something about being Jewish in a nonthreatening way.”

        In other cases, board games are spinning off hot spiritual franchises.

        In the Left Behind game, based on the apocalyptic novels by Tim Lahaye, players come face-to-face with the Antichrist as they move around the board. It's instant death if the tall, black playing piece lands on someone.

        Despite that sinister possibility, game designer Greg Cynaumon says his goal is wholesome, family fun. “There's almost a renaissance of families sitting around a kitchen table with a board game. You don't need a TV; you just need the dice.”

        Another spinoff is a new line of Chicken Soup for the Soul board games, based on the line of inspirational books. The series' down-home values have been repackaged in four age-appropriate board game editions. The fifth edition, aimed at tweens, is to be released this year. To win, a player must collect six Life's Ingredients cards (Joy, Faith, Love, Happiness, Peace and Hope).

        The game's generic approach and popular brand name have won it a rare honor among spiritual games: shelf space at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and JC Penney.

        In contrast, some game developers are aiming at a more orthodox market.

        The Muslim game Race to the Kabah (islamicity.com/bazar/), challenges players to move toward a picture of the Kabah, the sacred building in Mecca. To win, players must memorize the 99 names of Allah, such as “the Beneficent” or “the Glorious,” as recorded in the Koran.

        Translating religion to a board game may have started in ancient India. Modern chess began as a battle game called Chaturanga, based on the Hindu epic poem “The Mahabharata.”

        Leela, another Hindu-based game, is a modern edition of the Indian classic Snakes and Ladders, known in this country as Chutes and Ladders.

        Says Ms. Leventry of Beliefnet, “Sometimes people take religion very seriously and they forget that it can be fun as well.”

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