"It's a terrible choice to make but also a necessary one": Exploring player experiences with moral decision making mechanics in video games

In short

Many games ask players to make difficult moral choices, but little is known about how players experience them or which game mechanics support them. We combined a literature review and a survey with video-elicitation interviews.

In games

Games in the study

In the paper

Detroit: Become Human

2018

Shown as a video clip in the interviews, and the game survey respondents mentioned most (10).
In the paper

The Walking Dead

2012

Shown as a video clip in the interviews, and mentioned by 9 survey respondents.
In the paper

Red Dead Redemption 2

2018

Shown as a video clip in the interviews.
In the paper

Spec Ops: The Line

2012

Shown as a video clip in the interviews.
In the paper

Until Dawn

2015

Mentioned by 8 survey respondents.

How the study worked

Literature review: A review of related literature on moral decision making in games
Survey: Qualitative responses from 30 players who had played at least one game with prominent moral decision making
Interviews: 11 semi-structured, video-elicitation interviews
Video clips: Red Dead Redemption 2, The Walking Dead, Detroit: Become Human and Spec Ops: The Line. All participants watched all clips, in the same order.

Moral decision making mechanics

The framework the paper proposes, with each mechanic in the paper’s words.

Timer
“Participants faced time pressure in decision making, with a timer mechanic heightening urgency.”
Quick time events
“Cinematic sequences that the player interacts with by pressing specified buttons within a time limit.”
Morality system
“Tracks the morality of players’ decisions using a weighted moral scale.”
NPC feedback
“NPCs judging player actions based on their beliefs, with judgements weighted on an approval scale.”
Dialogue choices
“Allow players to select dialogue options from a list.”
Meta-choice
“Offer an unusual way to present moral decision making by placing the decision directly on the player.”
Context for moral decisions
“Players’ views of the morality of the decisions were shaped by the broader narrative context of the depicted games and the NPCs involved.”

Key findings

A survey with 30 respondents identified game mechanics that support moral decision making.
Interviews with 11 players showed how those mechanics shaped their decisions and overall experience.
The result is a theoretical framework and design guidelines for future moral decision-making games.

What shapes moral decisions

Context
Life or death
“Decisions that players have to make that result in homicide or fatal violence.”
Context
Virtue or vice
“Decisions involving helping or harming other characters, choosing between violence or peace, and deciding whether to commit a non-violent crime.”

Factors influencing players’ decisions

Personal morals
Exploring endings
Roleplaying
Character relationships
Context and narrative

Player experiences

Sense of agency
Realism and immersion
Reflection on moral decision

In players’ words

It’s a terrible choice to make but also a necessary one
Interview participant 9
The first thing I try to do in any game is try to help
Interview participant 1
Not enough time to really think through all the implications
Interview participant 3

Design guidelines

Five guidelines for developing moral decision making games.

Prioritise the NPC feedback mechanic
“Emphasising the NPC feedback mechanic holds promise for enhancing immersion and engagement with the game’s moral decisions.”
Only include QTEs that relate to the narrative
“It is recommended to integrate QTEs and button-mashing mechanics as integral narrative features.”
Facilitate replayability through branching narratives
“It is strongly recommended to incorporate branching moral decisions.”
Use timers to emphasise stressful decisions
“If the objective is to foster moral reflection instead, the use of timers should be avoided.”
Allow for nuance in morality system weighting
“Eschew simplistic numerical ‘good’ or ‘bad’ morality systems.”

Read and cite

PDF (accepted version) Publisher's version (DOI)

APA citation

Wright, S., & Denisova, A. (2024). "It's a terrible choice to make but also a necessary one": Exploring player experiences with moral decision making mechanics in video games. Computers in Human Behavior, 161, 108424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108424