Red Sea Crossing (video game)

Lore & Background

Red Sea Crossing was developed independently by Steve Schustack in 1983 using a Franklin ACE computer in California. Schustack believed Christian video games could be a marketable niche and enjoyed making software for children. He self-published the game and sold it exclusively through a single magazine advertisement by Michael Nason, shipping it with a coloring book and an audio cassette tape recorded by Dale Evans Rogers. The publisher was named Inspirational Video Concepts. Schustack had between 100 and 500 copies manufactured but stopped advertising after very few sales, and he decided against making another Atari game.

Reader's Guide

Red Sea Crossing is significant as one of the earliest Christian video games and the first published console game based on a biblical event. Its extreme rarity—only four copies known as of 2018—makes it a notable artifact of early independent game development. The game's rediscovery in 2007 sparked controversy and verification efforts, culminating in the 2011 finding of an advertisement in Christianity Today. Two copies sold at auction in 2012 for $10,400 and $13,877, reflecting growing media awareness. The ROM image is now readily available online, though the original coloring book and cassette tape remain lost. The game illustrates the niche market for religious software in the early 1980s and the challenges of independent publishing.

Did You Know?

• The game was sold exclusively through a single magazine advertisement in 1983.
• Only four original copies of Red Sea Crossing had been found as of 2018.
• One copy sold at auction in 2012 for $13,877, the highest price recorded for the game.