The Last Scribe

Daniel 1 · 21 verses · The court of Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 1 as a game: the king’s table, the ten-day test and wisdom from God

Stand in Babylon when Daniel and his three friends are young captives, given new names and the king’s own food. See Daniel purpose in his heart, ask for ten days, and stand before the king.

Play free Try the quiz questions

No download. Plays in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Revelation 1 and the Baptism of Jesus are free to try first.

What you will see

Three years in Babylon, told from the siege to the king’s hall

You arrive as a Scribe, sent to witness the chapter and write it down. Daniel 1 is one map you can walk end to end, and the people of the chapter stand on it: Daniel, his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Ashpenaz the master of the eunuchs, Melzar the steward, King Nebuchadnezzar, and a guide who explains the chapter. Each speaks only from their own verses, so what you hear is the chapter, in order.

Four things wait to be found and read. See the vessels of the house of God, carried to Shinar and put in the treasure house of a Babylonian god. Find the tray of the king’s meat and wine, the plain bowl of pulse and water, and the scroll of Chaldean learning the four were set to study for three years. The quest takes you through them in the chapter’s order: the vessels, the king’s command to Ashpenaz, the four friends, the refusal, the request to Melzar, the gifts God gave, and the day they stood before the king.

The test is told as Daniel asked it: “Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days.” At the end their faces were “fairer and fatter in flesh” than the rest, and God gave them “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom”. When you have seen it all, step into the quiz zone and fifteen questions ask what you saw.

Daniel 1 in the game: the map of the chapter with its people standing where the passage puts them
The game itself, not a mock-up: Daniel 1.

The chapter, in order

The quest, Purpose in Your Heart, has seven steps, and they follow the chapter in order. Nothing is added to the text; the steps are a way of making sure you miss none of it.

  1. See the temple vessels of Jerusalem in Shinar
  2. Hear Ashpenaz’s commission from the king
  3. Meet Daniel and the three Hebrew friends
  4. Refuse the king’s delicacies with Daniel
  5. Propose the ten-day pulse-and-water test to Melzar
  6. Witness God give knowledge and skill to the four
  7. Stand with Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar

Who you meet

Six people and voices stand in the chapter. Each speaks only from their own place in the chapter.

  • Daniel — the young captive of Judah who tells you of the siege, his new name, and why he “purposed in his heart” not to eat the king’s meat.
  • Melzar, the Steward — the man set over the four, who agreed to the ten-day test and then gave them pulse.
  • Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — Daniel’s three friends, renamed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who stood with him at the king’s table.
  • Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon — the king who besieged Jerusalem, chose the young men for his palace, and found them “ten times better” than his wise men.
  • The Interpretation Angel — a guide who points out that “the Lord gave” Judah into Babylon’s hand, and why a choice about food mattered.
  • Ashpenaz, Master of the Eunuchs — the officer who chose the captives, gave them new names, and loved Daniel but feared the king.

What you find

Walk up to any of these and the game reads you the verses it comes from, in the King James Version.

  • Temple Vessels in the House of Nebuchadnezzar’s God (Daniel 1:2)
  • Tray of the King’s Delicacies (Daniel 1:5, 8)
  • Bowl of Pulse and Water (Daniel 1:12–16)
  • Chaldean Scroll of Learning (Daniel 1:4, 17)

The verse at the king’s table

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8, King James Version

Every verse the game quotes is the KJV. Where a character speaks in their own words, the dialogue is written from the chapter and checked against our doctrinal rules before release. The about page says plainly how we read the Bible.

Try five of the fifteen

Daniel 1 quiz questions, with answers

Five real questions from the Daniel 1 quiz, in the game's own words. In the game the options are shuffled every time, and you need 70% to pass.

1. Who is credited in Daniel 1:2 with giving Jehoiakim and the temple vessels into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand?

  1. The prophet Jeremiah
  2. Pharaoh Necho of Egypt
  3. The Lord
  4. Nebuchadnezzar’s own army
Show the answer

C. The Lord “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God.” Babylon did not take Judah — God gave Judah into Babylon’s hand, exactly as Jeremiah had prophesied.

Daniel 1:2

2. What did Daniel purpose in his heart he would not do?

  1. Bow down to the image of Marduk
  2. Defile himself with the king’s delicacies and wine
  3. Change his name to Belteshazzar
  4. Speak the Chaldean language
Show the answer

B. Defile himself with the king’s delicacies and wine “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” The king’s food was likely unclean by Mosaic law and had first been offered to idols.

Daniel 1:8

3. How long was the test Daniel proposed to Melzar?

  1. Ten days
  2. Seven days
  3. Forty days
  4. One year
Show the answer

A. Ten days “Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.” A short, reasonable test — and Daniel trusted God with the result.

Daniel 1:12

4. How much better than all the magicians and astrologers in Nebuchadnezzar’s realm did the king find these four?

  1. A hundred times better
  2. Just slightly better
  3. Ten times better
  4. Twice as good
Show the answer

C. Ten times better “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” Faithfulness in the small test of the diet led to unmatched excellence in the great examination before the king.

Daniel 1:20

5. Until when did Daniel continue in the Babylonian/Persian court, according to Daniel 1:21?

  1. Until the fall of Jerusalem
  2. Until the death of Nebuchadnezzar
  3. Until the rebuilding of the temple
  4. Until the first year of King Cyrus
Show the answer

D. Until the first year of King Cyrus “And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.” Daniel was carried captive around 605 BC and served under Babylonian and Persian rule for more than sixty-five years — outliving the very empire that had conquered him and seeing the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s seventy-year prophecy.

Daniel 1:21

Right answers pay 10 XP each and a perfect score pays 50 more. In a room, everyone answers the same quiz and sees how the others did. More on how the quiz works.

Chapter facts

21
verses, every one covered by something you see, hear or read
15
quiz questions, each tied to a verse
6
people and voices to speak with
4
things to find and read
1–6
players in a room; solo play is fine too
KJV
every verse quoted from the King James Version

How to play it

  1. Open the game in your browser and make an account. A child under 13 gives a parent's email instead of their own, and the parent confirms before the child can play with anyone else; see the page for parents.
  2. Play the short intro story in the Archivery, the library where the Scribe finds the Book. It is free and takes a few minutes.
  3. Open the world map and choose Daniel 1. To play with others, start a room and share its code, which looks like SCRIBE-7K4P2Q; up to six people can join from their own devices.
  4. Walk the map, speak with everyone, read everything, then step into the quiz zone.

Free, and with a subscription

Daniel 1 is part of the subscription ($9.99 a month or $79.99 a year). Chapters open in Bible order along a road through the books, era by era, so Daniel 1 opens when you reach Daniel on that road; nobody skips ahead. See pricing.

Free forever, for every player: the intro story, Revelation 1, the story scene The Baptism of Jesus, and four open lands to walk with other players: the City of the Last Days, the Garden of Eden, Judea in the days of Jesus, and Patmos and the Seven Churches. Revelation 1 is a good first chapter to try before you subscribe.

More to play

  • After: Daniel 2 — Stand in Babylon when the king has dreamed a dream he cannot remember and no wise man can tell.
  • Every chapter and story with a page: the list of what you can play.

Purpose in your heart.

Daniel 1 takes about twenty minutes alone, a little longer with friends in a room.

Start with the free chapters