Moral Decision-Making Mechanics in Video Games
Introduction
Video games offer a unique platform to engage interactively with morally challenging topics and dilemmas.
There is a lack of research on player experiences and specific game mechanics that facilitate moral decision making.
This research identifies key game mechanics and explores their impact on player experience through surveys () and interviews ().
A theoretical framework and design guidelines are developed to inform the future development of moral decision-making games.
The study contributes an overview of game mechanics, examines players' receptivity, and discusses the experiences these mechanics promote.
Related Work
Player Morality
Morality is influenced by societal and personal values, guiding decision-making and actions.
Moral decisions are essential for attaining eudaimonia, representing the highest human good through virtuous and rational living.
Video games offer a safe environment to explore moral dilemmas, fostering ownership of actions.
Players often use their own morals in games, but moral disengagement theory explains how they may distance actions from internal values.
Game design shapes players’ morality by using cues like dehumanization to induce moral disengagement.
Ryan et al. (2019) stress designing games where players exercise their own morality, encouraging reflection and agency.
Games like The Walking Dead (TWDG) use character relationships to challenge perceptions of right and wrong.
Moral Decision-Making Game Mechanics
Timers
Timers emphasize the burden of decision-making by creating time pressure.
They appear in various genres, serving as a narrative tool to prompt instinctive decision-making.
Studies show players adhere to moral codes even under time constraints, reinforcing ownership of actions.
Quick Time Events (QTEs)
QTEs introduce time pressure through cinematic sequences requiring specific button presses within a time limit.
They focus on reflexive actions tied to physical execution, with limited decision-making variations.
QTEs can engage players in action-based moral decisions but are divisive and criticized for testing reflexes rather than morality.
However, cinematic games like Until Dawn blur the distinction between cutscene and gameplay.
Dialogue Choices
Dialogue choices allow players to select dialogue options, impacting the story in branching narratives.
They can explore game lore or enhance relationships between the PC and NPCs.
Dialogue is crucial for player immersion, but repetitive or careless dialogue can break this immersion.
NPC Feedback
NPCs judge player actions based on their beliefs, with judgments weighted on an approval scale.
Explicit systems like in Dragon Age: Origins show approval rankings, while hidden systems indicate approval through pop-up messages.
Players often develop emotional attachments to NPCs, suggesting character approval mechanics can enhance player interaction.
Morality System
Morality systems evaluate the morality of players’ decisions using a weighted moral scale, categorizing decisions as ‘Good’ or ‘Evil’.
Consequences affect the game world, such as the PC’s clothing, dialogue, and storyline outcome.
Receptivity is divided, with criticisms for lacking nuance and not considering the wider context.
Some players use the meter to guide decisions, while others ignore it, relying on personal values.
Ryan et al. (2019) argue that morality meters risk encouraging players to focus on scoring points rather than genuinely considering the morality of their decisions.
Meta Choices
Meta-choices place the decision directly on the player, challenging them to consider the consequences of their actions both inside and outside the game.
Unlike standard choices, meta-choices engage players on a profound level by challenging them to consider the consequences of their actions both inside and outside the game.
The most commonly discussed example is from Spec Ops: The Line, where the game addresses players directly, suggesting they stop playing to prevent further atrocities.
Research suggests that players generally do not cease playing when faced with such decisions.
Value of Player Experience
Examining player experiences is crucial for creating games that effectively engage the target audience.
Games that excel in promoting moral decision making often do so by encouraging players to immerse themselves in diverse roles, fostering empathy, and prompting reflection on the consequences of their actions within the game world.
Recent research has explored the emotional impact of video games, with studies by Bopp et al. (2016), Cuerdo et al. (2024), Denisova et al. (2021), and Peng et al. (2020) shedding light on the diverse emotional experiences elicited when playing video games.
Difficult decisions are seen as valuable, enhancing the relevance and meaningfulness of the game experience.
Meaningful experiences are considered eudaimonic, eliciting a wider range of emotions, including complex feelings such as sadness and nostalgia.
Players experience deep engagement with the story and characters, forming strong emotional connections.
Understanding how players experience moral decision making games can guide the creation of environments and narratives that effectively use specific mechanics.
Methodology
The study addresses research gaps concerning player experiences with moral decision-making mechanics in video games.
Research Questions:
RQ1: How do video games facilitate moral decision making?
RQ2: What are players’ experiences and perceptions of game mechanics that facilitate moral decision making?
Research Approach
Two complementary studies were conducted: an online survey and semi-structured interviews.
The survey gathered broad quantitative data, while interviews facilitated in-depth qualitative exploration.
An extensive review of related literature examined specific mechanics facilitating moral decision making.
The survey asked participants to provide examples of video games featuring prominent moral decision making components and to discuss the specific mechanics that facilitate these decisions (RQ1).
The survey also aimed to gather initial insights into the experiences of players with these mechanics (RQ2).
Based on the collected data, well-known games like Detroit: Become Human and The Walking Dead were selected for video elicitation and interviews.
Questions for semi-structured interviews were developed, informed by insights gained from Study 1.
Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to explore themes in both studies.
Coding employed deductive (for game mechanics) and inductive (for individual experiences) approaches.
The analysis was done by the first author who first familiarised themselves with the dataset by reading it multiple times, during which initial notes regarding data items of interest were created to aid with the coding process.
The data from each study were analyzed separately.
The themes from each study were reviewed for overlap and consistency, with findings merged based on conceptual similarity and research objectives.
Common themes were unified, while unique themes were retained to provide additional context.
Study 1: Survey Method
Participants
Participants were recruited via personal contacts, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit.
Criteria included having played at least one game featuring moral decision making.
A total of 30 participants completed the survey.
Participants ranged in age from 18 to 44, with the majority of participants in the 18 to 24 age category.
They had spent an average of 16.9 years gaming.
The most common video game recommended by participants was Detroit: Become Human (10) followed by the Walking Dead series (9) and Until Dawn (8).
Survey Design and Procedure
The survey included demographics questions followed by questions about experiences with games featuring moral decision-making elements.
Participants provided examples of games with prominent moral decision making aspects and reasons for their choices.
They described a personal experience of a morally challenging decision, providing context, game mechanics, and their feelings.
Study 2: Interview Method
Participants
A total of 11 participants were recruited for the interview part of the study.
Two participants were recruited through the email address they had provided in the survey and the remaining participants were recruited via Reddit.
Interview Design
The interviews followed a semi-structured format, enabling specific questions related to the research questions, as well as further exploration of participants’ responses (Goldman, 2020).
The research questions and the data and themes from the survey guided the development of 24 interview questions
Interviews lasted approximately one hour.
Video Elicitation
The interviews were an adapted version of the video elicitation interview method.
Video clips portrayed gameplay from RDR2, TWDG, DBH, and Spec Ops: The Line.
The choice of video clips used in this study was informed using the findings from the survey.
The video clips were also chosen based on the mechanics featured during the clip.
Red Dead Redemption 2
The clip depicts a player encountering a man attacked by wolves and choosing to help or harm him, influencing a morality meter.
Mechanics depicted in the clip: a morality meter and an in-game choice prompt to aid the NPC.
The Walking Dead
The clip features characters locked in a room during a zombie apocalypse, deciding whether to kill a heart attack victim to prevent reanimation.
Mechanics depicted in the clip: dialogue options, button mashing, timer.
Detroit: Become Human
The clip shows an android tasked with hunting rebellious androids and making a timed decision to shoot or spare one of the deviants, affecting NPC approval.
Mechanics depicted in the clip: QTEs, timer, NPC feedback.
Spec Ops: The Line
*The clips showed a player using white phosphorus on enemy soldiers, then discovering they also killed civilians, followed by the game suggesting the player stop to avoid the war crime. This scene depicts the meta-choice mechanic.
Mechanics depicted in the clip: meta-choice.
Interview Procedure
Interviews were conducted on Zoom or Discord, audio-recorded, and transcribed.
Participants were briefed on the procedure and asked questions about moral decision making games.
Video clips were screen-shared and followed by specific questions regarding each clip.
Thematic Analysis of Moral Decision Making in Video Games
Thematic analysis revealed key themes describing participants’ experiences and perceptions.
Themes include: Mechanics Facilitating Moral Decision Making, Contexts for Moral Decision Making in Gameplay, Factors Influencing Moral Decision Making, Perception of Mechanics and Their Influence on Decisions, and Player Experiences with Moral Decision Making Mechanics.
Themes 1 and 2 address RQ1, while Themes 3, 4, and 5 address RQ2.
Mechanics Facilitating Moral Decision Making
Strategic Decision Mechanics
Participants encountered morality systems, NPC feedback, and choices made in dialogue.
The survey participants did not mention meta-choice in their responses.
Rapid Response Mechanics
Participants faced time pressure with timer mechanics heightening urgency, and QTEs were described as emotionally charged.
Contexts for Moral Decision Making in Gameplay
Life or Death
Life or death decisions that players have to make that result in homicide or fatal violence were central.
Save or Sacrifice
This involves an instance in which they had to make a decision to either save or sacrifice an NPC.
Virtue of Vice
Decisions involving helping or harming other characters, choosing between violence or peace, and deciding whether to commit a non-violent crime.
Factors Influencing Moral Decisions
Acting virtuously based on personal morals
Most participants reported relying on their personal morals to guide their choices in both studies.
Exploring different endings and choices
Exploration of different story outcomes and endings was a prevalent factor, driving playstyles.
Roleplaying
The decision to choose a moral pathway in the path of another character was found to be a motivator.
Character relationships and attachment
Attatchment to different characters drove how users playerd the campaigns.
Context and narrative
The setting of a story (such as a war-zone) was found influence what was morally acceptable in the game.
Perception of Mechanics and their influence on Decisions
*Out of all the mechanics depicted in the video clips, participants were most supportive of mechanics related to characters and narrative, particularly praising the NPC feedback mechanic for its nuanced approach to moral consequences.
Player experiences with moral decision making mechanics
*This theme explores players’ receptivity to and experiences with moral decision making mechanics, including any issues encountered, player preferences, and willingness to engage with the demonstrated mechanics.
Sense of Agency
*Players highlighted the influence of decisions on the game world and NPC relationships and the importance of genuine choices influencing the game’s narrative.
Realsim and Immersion
*This theme explores player experience and its need for total and deep immersion in the narrative.
Reflection on Moral Decision
*This section details how the user comes to terms, and evaluates their actions after intense, tough game decision.
Interactive Moral Decision-Making Framework
Moral Decision-Making Mechanics
Timer
*Participants responded positively to the inclusion of the timer mechanic, finding it realistic and enhancing immersion by replicating real-time pressure and physical actions. They also induced stress and anxiety and promoted instant decision making.
Quick Time Events
Morality System
*Overall, participants found the morality system to be immersive due to its tangible impact on the game world and NPC relationships, enhancing the sense of influence and liveness within the game world. Consistent with previous research (Ryan et al., 2023), the morality system proved helpful in navigating ambiguous situations.
NPC Feedback
*This allows a user to more deeply feel their choices, and creates more dynamic gameplay.
Dialouge Choices
*This is the direct interaction and response within the dynamic in-game world.
Meta Choices
Context for moral decisionsThis allows a user to more deeply feel their choices, and creates more dynamic gameplay.
*The study helps establish design principles for future iterations of video game design involving user moral choices.
*Furthermore, we believe the study will help with future research involving interactive, simulated, decision making environments.
Design Guidelines
These design guidelines emphasize maintaining harmony between narrative, environment, and mechanics.
Prioritize the NPC feedback mechanic
*Participants had a strong receptivity to the NPC feedback mechanic. They particularly enjoyed the nuanced moral weighting of this mechanic, tailored to individual NPCs’ personalities and moralities rather than adhering to a simplistic ‘good’ or ‘bad’ weighting system.
Only include QTEs that relate to the narrative
QTEs have to mesh and feel congruent to the game being played.
Facilitate replayability through branching narratives
This expands game life for the user.
Facilitate replayability through branching narratives
This provides more intense player immersion.
Allow for nuance in morality system weighting
A balance must be found, but allow moral choices to be tough and require reflection.
Implications
This research produced a series of design principles anchored in the authentic experiences of players.
These guidelines are tailored to accommodate players’ unique preferences, offering a pathway for them to engage with these games on their own terms.
Limitations and Future Work
Scope limitations due to the number of participants.
*To enrich our understanding of the moral decisions made by players across a broader array of games, future research would benefit from a larger and more diverse participant pool. A prevalent feedback from interviewees was the lack of sufficient context behind the player’s motivations in the provided video clip, hindering their ability to make informed judgement about the morality of the depicted decisions.
Conclusion
*The study concludes that by utilizing nuanced moral choices, and a immersive enviornment, a player can create their own deep narrative and dynamic gameplay experience.
*We put forth guidelines in order to help create such high quality game design to facilitate this dynamic.