The Last Scribe
Story scene · The Life of Jesus · Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6
Feeding the five thousand as a game: the loaves, the fishes and the baskets
Cross the sea of Galilee to a desert place where a great multitude waits. Meet the lad with “five barley loaves, and two small fishes”, and gather up what remains, as Matthew, Mark and John tell it.
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
One evening by the sea of Galilee, told from the boat to the mountain
You arrive as a Scribe, sent to witness the story and write it down. The feeding of the five thousand is told from three passages at once, Matthew 14, Mark 6 and John 6, and the scene is one map you can walk end to end. Six stand on it: an apostle, Jesus, Philip, Andrew, the lad with the loaves and a man in the multitude. Each speaks only from their own verses. Jesus is met and spoken with, never played.
Six things wait to be found and read: the landing place where Jesus came by ship to a desert place apart, the crowd that were “as sheep not having a shepherd”, the two hundred pennyworth of bread that would not be enough, the five barley loaves and two small fish, the ranks on the green grass “by hundreds, and by fifties”, and the twelve baskets of fragments. The quest follows the passages in order: where the apostles had come from, why Jesus had compassion, the question He asked Philip, the lad and his loaves, the multitude sitting down, the fragments gathered up, and what the crowd wanted to do with Him.
The end of the meal is told as John tells it: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” When you have seen it all, step into the quiz zone and twenty questions ask what you saw.
The story, in order
The quest, What Are They Among So Many?, has seven steps, and they follow the passages in order. Nothing is added to the text; the steps are a way of making sure you miss none of it.
- Hear where the apostles had come from.
- Learn why Jesus had compassion on the crowd.
- Hear the question Jesus asked Philip.
- Meet the lad with the loaves and fish.
- See how the multitude sat down on the grass.
- Gather up the fragments that remain.
- Hear what the crowd wanted to do with Him.
Who you meet
Six people and voices stand in the scene. Each speaks only from their own place in the passages.
- An Apostle — one of the twelve, back from their work, who tells you of the boat to a desert place and the crowd that ran ahead on foot.
- Jesus — met and spoken with, never played, who tells His disciples to rest a while, then to give the people to eat.
- Philip — the disciple Jesus asked, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”, who counted what two hundred pennyworth would buy.
- Andrew — Simon Peter’s brother, who found the lad and asked what five loaves and two fishes were “among so many”.
- The Lad with the Loaves — the boy with five barley loaves and two small fishes, who saw Jesus give thanks and share them out.
- A Man in the Multitude — one of the crowd, who said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”
What you find
Walk up to any of these and the game reads you the verses it comes from, in the King James Version.
- The Landing Place (Matthew 14:13)
- Like Sheep Without a Shepherd (Mark 6:34)
- Two Hundred Denarii (Mark 6:35–37)
- Five Barley Loaves and Two Small Fish (Matthew 14:17–18)
- Ranks on the Green Grass (Mark 6:39–41)
- Twelve Baskets of Fragments (John 6:12–13)
Five loaves, and twelve baskets left over
“And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.” John 6:11–13, 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 passages and checked against our doctrinal rules before release. The about page says plainly how we read the Bible.
Try five of the twenty
Feeding the Five Thousand quiz questions, with answers
Five real questions from the Feeding the Five Thousand quiz, in the game's own words. In the game the options are shuffled every time, and you need 70% to pass.
1. Why did Jesus invite His disciples to come aside to a deserted place?
- To hide from Herod
- To rest a while
- To fish
- To pray all night
Show the answer
B. To rest a while There were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.”
2. Whom did Jesus ask, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”
- Peter
- Judas
- Thomas
- Philip
Show the answer
D. Philip He said it to Philip to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
3. What kind of loaves did the lad have?
- Wheat loaves
- Honey cakes
- Unleavened cakes
- Barley loaves
Show the answer
D. Barley loaves Five barley loaves and two small fish.
4. How did the people sit down on the green grass?
- In ranks, in hundreds and in fifties
- In families around fires
- In twelve tribes
- In a great circle
Show the answer
A. In ranks, in hundreds and in fifties He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
5. How many baskets of fragments were taken up?
- Five
- Twelve
- Seven
- Forty
Show the answer
B. Twelve They took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained — more than they had at the start.
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.
Story facts
- 39
- verses from Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6, every one covered by something you see, hear or read
- 20
- quiz questions, each tied to a verse
- 6
- people and voices to speak with
- 6
- 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
- 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.
- Play the short intro story in the Archivery, the library where the Scribe finds the Book. It is free and takes a few minutes.
- Open the world map and choose Feeding the Five Thousand. 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.
- Walk the map, speak with everyone, read everything, then step into the quiz zone.
Free, and with a subscription
Feeding the Five Thousand is one of the 14 story scenes, in the series The Life of Jesus. It is part of the subscription ($9.99 a month or $79.99 a year), and the story scenes are open from the first day of it: they do not wait on the road through the books. 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
- Before: The Sermon on the Mount — Climb the mountain in Galilee and sit among the multitude, where Jesus “opened his mouth, and taught them”.
- After: The Transfiguration — Climb an high mountain apart with Peter, James and John, and watch Jesus pray until “his face did shine as the sun”.
- Every chapter and story with a page: the list of what you can play.
Sit down upon the green grass.
The feeding of the five thousand takes about twenty minutes alone, a little longer with friends in a room.
Start with the free chapters