Vatican Wars on Facebook increases desire to attend church - honest!

Just when we thought we've seen every kind of Facebook "Wars" game, we get Vatican Wars, and to top off a new height in Facebook gaming nomenclature, the 9-month beta for the game was originally called PriestVille. And get this -- it's not created by Zynga. In fact, the actual creators, SGR Games (who named themselves after Saint Genesius of Rome) spells out on their website that they "are not affiliated with FarmVille or the company that makes FarmVille" (or the "Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican or the Holy See").

And the fun doesn't stop there, SGR claims that playing Vatican Wars increased people's desire to attend mass and join the priesthood. Their proof is a two-part survey of 461 players, part one of which, was released last November. Due to such a positive response from its players, SGR relaunched PriestVille as Vatican Wars, a title that better fits its gameplay, which involves increasing your diocese and taking stands on controversial topics such as abortion, birth control, clerical celibacy, the definition of marriage and more.

So, ready to defend the true teachings of Christ? Grow some ideology instead of crops? So far, Vatican Wars has amassed a small, but dedicated fanbase that claims the game is educational, and SGR welcomes non-Catholics to join in as well. For more info, you can also check out the game's official Facebook fan page.

Play Vatican Wars on Facebook now >

[Title image via Wikipedia]