The DOI matches its Crossref record; 17 of the 17 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas and Gameplay
Open accessAbstract
In what ways can we use games to make moral demands of players and encouraging them to reflect on ethical issues?In this article we propose an ethically notable game as one that provides opportunities for encouraging ethical reasoning and reflection.Our analysis of the videogames Ultima IV, Manhunt, and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn highlights the central role that moral dilemmas can play towards creating ethically notable games.We discuss the different ways that these are implemented, such as placing players in situations in which their understanding of an ethical system is challenged, or by creating moral tension between the player's goals and those posed by the narrative and the gameplay of a game.We conclude by noting some of the challenges of creating ethically notable games including ensuring that the ethical framework in a game is both discernable and consistent as well as ensuring that the dilemma is actually a moral one and that the player, rather than the game characters, is the one facing it.
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“The diference between these types of media and video games is that in the former the viewer is only a spectator whereas in a video game, the player becomes an active and moral actor [47,50].”
From “I Don’t Want To Shoot The Android”: Players Translate Real-Life Moral Intuitions to In-Game Decisions in Detroit: Become Human (2022) · cites this paper as [50]
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Cited by
EPIC: a framework for using video games in ethics education
Schrier, K. “. (2015) · Journal of Moral Education · doi:10.1080/03057240.2015.1095168 · Cited by 84
Shliakhovchuk, E., & Garcia, A. M. (2020) · Educational Sciences Theory & Practice · doi:10.12738/jestp.2020.1.004 · Cited by 68
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The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management: Industry Perspectives and Challenges
Sparrow, L. A., Gibbs, M., & Arnold, M. (2021) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3411764.3445363 · Cited by 54
‘It’s only a game’ — ethics, empathy and identification in game morality systems
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Metadata
- Authors
- Zagal, J. P.
- Affiliations
- DePaul University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zagal, José P.
- ORCID
- Zagal, José P.
- Venue
- DiGRA Digital Library
- Published
- 2009-01-01
- Volume
- 5
- ISSN
- 2342-9666
- OpenAlex
- W2097546648
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 8.32
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Digital Commons-DePaul (DePaul University) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Games Research Association Conference
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Keywords
- ethical dilemmas, video games, moral reasoning, gameplay, manhunt, ethical reflection
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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