Ethics and Games Series
Metagame Book Club: Game Studies. "The Ethics and Games Series" by Sherry Jones. Last updated: Jan. 20, 2019.
**This page was first published on the Metagame Book Club.
The Ethics and Games Series
Ethics and Games is an educational live webcast series created by Sherry Jones, and hosted by Kae Novak and Chris Luchs. Each live webcast introduces an ethical theory or a moral philosophy through the study of a digital game. Some live webcasts feature guest speakers who present unique perspectives on the meaning of the digital game being studied.
Each month, an Ethics and Games live webcast is streamed on Youtube and is recorded for later viewing. All video recordings are archived on this page.
Sherry Jones is a philosophy and game studies college instructor who regards games as thought experiments and uses games to explore the meaning and logic of western and eastern philosophies. In each live webcast session, Jones provides an analysis of the possible social and political rhetoric expressed by a digital game and introduces moral philosophy or ethical theory that better describes and/or challenges the game's rhetoric.
The goals of this series are to demonstrate that . . .
- The most popular medium in the world, the video game, does not provide innocuous entertainment, as the medium expresses rhetorical messages that are politically, culturally, and socially charged.
- Video games, which are made by developers from all over the world, can reinforce systems of beliefs and influence player's thinking, and thus one of the goals of education should be to help digital citizens become better informed about the persuasive power of the medium beyond its entertainment value.
- Theories from ethics and philosophy can be used to analyze the sociopolitical situations simulated by video games, and in turn, global perspectives on values can be explored through the game medium.
- We can learn to become more responsible and ethical thinkers by reflecting on the meaning of games as the medium proliferates in our digital lives.
News About This Series
2018 Recorded Live Webcasts
Observer (August 2018)
Detention (July 2018)
To the Moon (May 2018)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (April 2018)
Life is Strange (March 2018)
The Talos Principle (February 2018)
Fallout Shelter (January 2018)
Observer
(August 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features Observer (2017), a first person psychological horror indie game with a cyberpunk theme developed and published by Aspyr. The game story is set in the year 2084 when Chiron corporation establishes and runs the Fifth Polish Republic government, neural hacking and cybernetic body augmentation become legal, and virtual reality and hologram technologies are the new drugs. Daniel Lazarki (voiced by Rutger Hauer) is a neural detective employed by Chiron to investigate suspects by hacking into their brains to access information. The story begins when Daniel receives a call from his estranged son, Adam, who sends Daniel a virtual distress call for help. Daniel sets on an investigation for the whereabouts of Adam, who might not be alive.
Awards and Nominations:
- Best Setting, Game Informer, USA, 2017.
- Best World Runner Up, Giant Bomb, USA, 2017.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for mature players due to the game's depiction of graphic horror and violence.
Moral Philosophy and Theory Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Animalism, David Hume's Personal Identity Theory.
Game Themes Explored:
Body modification (biohacking), neural hacking, plutocracy, corporatocracy, authoritarianism, excessive government intervention, oppression, loss of liberty, government surveillance; resistance, virtual reality, hologram, addiction, personhood, identity.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
Detention
(July 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features Detention (2017, 2018), a first person role-playing survival horror game developed and published by Red Candle Games. The game story is inspired by the actual history of Taiwan in the 1960s, when the Taiwanese government suppressed its citizens using martial law during the "White Terror" period. The game protagonists, Wei and Ray, wake up in an empty school and attempt to leave the school, while encountering a series of horrific events.
Awards and Nominations:
- Famitsu Gold Award, No.1527, Famitsu, Japan, 2018.
- Journey Award, IndieCade, USA, 2017.
- Best Design, Taipei Game Show, Taiwan, 2017.
- Best Narration, IndiePlay, China, 2017.
- Best Narration Nominee, BIG Festival, Brazil, 2017.
- Best Game Award Nominee, IndiePlay, China, 2016.
- Best Audio Nominee, IndiePlay, China, 2016.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for mature players due to the game's depiction of graphic horror.
Moral Philosophy Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Confucian Ethics.
Game Themes Explored:
Mass surveillance; suppressing speech; anti-intellectualism; anti-communism; banning of books; education as means of social control; government oppression; government corruption; informing the government/snitching on neighbors; unjust imprisonment; authoritarianism; martial law; rebellion; retribution; karma; guilt.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
To the Moon
(May 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features To the Moon (2011, 2014, 2017), a first person role-playing adventure game developed and published by Freebirds Games. The game story is about a dying old man who wishes to go to the moon using a dream machine. An animation film adaptation of the game is currently underway.
Awards and Nominations:
- Game, Original Adventure Nominee, National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, 2018.
- Original Light Mix Score, New IP Nominee, National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, 2018.
- Best Story Award, GameSpot, 2011.
- Best Music Nominee, GameSpot, 2011.
- Most Memorable Moment Nominee, GameSpot, 2011.
- Best Writing/Dialogue Nominee, GameSpot, 2011.
- Best Ending Nominee, GameSpot, 2011.
- Song of the Year Nominee, GameSpot, 2011.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for players of all ages.
Moral Philosophy Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism.
Game Themes Explored:
Memory and Identity; Memory Manipulation; Memory Loss and Suffering; Trauma; Self-Determination of Memory; Memories as Programs; Technology vs. Privacy; Falsifiable/Unreliable Memory; Rights of the Dying; Dignity of the Dying; Death and Regret; Denial of Reality; Questionable Reality; Asperger's Syndrome; Art as Expression of the Truth; Responsibility of Remembering.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
(April 2018 Session)
About This Game Presentation:
This presentation features The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014, 2015), a first person horror adventure game developed and published by The Astronauts. The game story explores the adventure of Paul Prospero, an occult detective who has the ability to see past events. Prospero travels to Red Creek Valley to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young boy named Ethan Carter, and encounters a series of supernatural events during the investigation.
Award:
- Best Game Innovation Award, British Academy Game Awards (BAFTA), 2015.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for mature players due to the game's depiction of graphic violence.
Moral Philosophy Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Baruch Spinoza's Monism and Ethics.
Game Themes Explored:
Conformity vs. Individuality, Fantasy vs. Reality, Child Abuse, Trauma, Confronting the Truth, Unreliable Narrator, Fragmented Memory, Memory and Identity, Memory and Truth, Multiple Consciousness, Subjectivity and Reality, Multiplicity of Truth.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
Life is Strange
(March 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features Life is Strange (2015), an episodic graphic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment, and published by Square Enix, Feral Interactive, and Black Wing Foundation. The game story explores the adventures of Max Caufield, an 18 year old photography student at Blackwell Academy, who accidentally discovers that she has the power to time travel.
Awards and Nominations:
Life is Strange has received an impressive 57 awards and nominations. Below lists most recent recognition.
- I'm Not Crying, There's Something in My Eye Nominee, Steam Awards, 2016.
- Game of the Year, Apple's Best of, 2016.
- Game Designers Award, Japan Game Awards, 2016.
- Most Innovative Nominee, The Games for Change Awards, 2016.
- Best Gameplay Nominee, The Games for Change Awards, 2016.
- Most Significant Impact, The Games for Change Awards, 2016.
- Excellence and Innovation in Digital Storytelling, Peabody-Facebook Futures of Media Awards, 2016.
- Story, British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA), 2016.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for mature players due to the game's depiction of graphic violence and profanity.
Moral Philosophy and Mathematics Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence Theory; Chaos Theory; Butterfly Effect; Moral Dilemma.
Game Themes Explored:
Coming of age; Gun Violence; Untrustworthy Authorities; Money and Corruption; Bullying; Religious Dogmatism vs. Choice; Heroism.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
The Talos Principle
(February 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features The Talos Principle (2014, 2015, 2017), a first person puzzle game developed by Croteam, and published by Devolver Digital. The game story is about an unnamed character who tries to complete a series of puzzles designed by a mysterious entity named Yahweh. The unnamed character attempts to understand his purpose for solving the puzzles.
Awards and Nominations:
- Puzzle/Adventure Game of the Year, GameTrailers, 2015.
- Excellence in Design Nominee, Independent Games Festival, 2015.
- Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Independent Games Festival, 2015.
- Game, Special Class, National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, 2015.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for players of all ages.
Moral Philosophy, Ontology, and Mythology Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Determinism vs. Free Will; Transhumanism; Posthumanism; Posthuman; Greek Mythology; Egyptian Mythology.
Game Themes Explored:
Artificial Intelligence; AI Rights; Extended Lifespan; Immortality; Consciousness.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
Fallout Shelter
(January 2018 Session)
About This Session:
This session features Fallout Shelter (2015), a free-to-play simulation game developed by Bethesda Game and Behaviour Interactive, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game objective is to build and maintain a fallout shelter in a dystopian future that is to experience a global nuclear war.
Awards and Nominations:
- Mobile Game of the Year, 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, 2015.
- Best Mobile/Handheld Game Nominee, The Game Awards, 2015.
- Best Mobile Game, 33rd Golden Joystick Awards, 2015.
Game Maturity Rating:
Recommended for players of all ages.
Moral Philosophy and Political Philosophy Applied To This Game Studies Session:
Egoism vs. Altruism; Capitalism; Authoritarianism; Plutocracy.
Game Themes Explored:
Nuclear War; Nuclear Fallout; Counterfactual History; Red Scare; Atomic Bomb; Atomic Age; U.S. History in the 1950s; McCarthyism; Eugenics; Ageism.
Video Recording + Slides Featured in Live Webcast:
More Game Studies?
Want to discover more ways in which games can be studied? Here are some topics covered in the previous game studies sessions.
2014 - 2016 Game Studies Sessions Include:
- What is Game Studies?
- What is a Game?
- Narratology vs. Ludology.
- The Principles of Game Design.
- The History of Interactive Fiction.
- The Rhetoric and Arguments of Games.
- The Gamer Identity & The Representation of Race and Gender in Games.
- The Psychology of Games.
- The Principles of Narrative Design.