Designing Ethics in Video Games

Designing Games for Ethics: Models, Techniques and Frameworks. (Eds. Karen Schrier and David Gibson. IGI Global. (2010) (Book)

The Videogame Ethics Reader (ed. Jose Zagal) (2012) (Book)

Sicart, M. The Ethics of Computer Games, MIT Press (2011) (Book)

Zagal, J.P. (2011) “Heavy Rain: Morality in Inaction, the Quotidian, and the Ambiguous”, Poels, K. and Malliet, S. (Eds.), Vice City Virtue: Moral Issues in Digital Game Play, pp 267-286, Acco Academic, Belgium

Zagal, J.P (2010) “Manhunt: The Dilemma of Play”, Davidson, D. (Ed), Well Played 2.0: More Perspectives on Video Games, Value and Meaning, ETC Press: Pittsburgh

Murphy, J., Zagal, J. P., (2011) “Videogames and the Ethics of Care”,  International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations 3(3):69-81 

Jose P Zagal. “Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas and Gameplay” Proceedings of the Digital Interactive Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2009) (2009)

Fable and Other Moral Tales: A Study in Game Ethics  By Peter Rauch:  (Part OnePart Two) (2007)

Ethics 101: Designing Morality in Games (2010)

Playing with Fire: Ethics and Game Design (2010)

Marcus Schulzke, Moral Decision Making in Fallout, The international journal of volume 9 issue 2 computer game research November 2009

Erica Neely, The Ethics of Choice in Single-Player Video Games (2019)

Schumann PL, Scott TW, Anderson PH. Designing and Introducing Ethical Dilemmas into Computer-Based Business Simulations. Journal of Management Education. 2006;30(1):195-219.

The morality systems of Black and White and Fable (2006)

Why don’t we feel guilty in video games?: Guilt and remorse are near-universal human emotions, but their role in narrative games is minimal. Isn’t it time this changed? (2015)

Will Fable’s Morality System Work in 2020? (2020)

Black or White: Making Moral Choices in Video Games (2009)

Now It’s Personal: On Abusive Game Design

Moral calculus in videogames: Some ways it is and might be done (2006)

Ethics Of Game Design (2004)

Peter Christiansen, “Designing ethical systems for videogames”, FDG ’17: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital GamesAugust 2017 Article No.: 21 

Ethical Reasoning and Reflection as Supported by Single-Player Videogames

Uganda’s Road to Peace May Run through the River of Forgiveness: Designing Playable Fictions to Teach Complex Values (2011)

Elizabeta Toma, “Self-reflection and morality in critical games. Who is to be blamed for war?, Journal of Comparative research in Anthropology and Sociology: Vol. 6(1), Summer 2015

Project Horseshoe 2009 Group Report: Choosing Between Right and Right: Creating Meaningful Ethical Dilemmas in Games

Gotterbarn, D. The ethics of video games: Mayhem, death, and the training of the next generation. Inf Syst Front 12, 369–377 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-009-9204-x

Young G, Whitty MT. Should gamespace be a taboo-free zone? Moral and psychological implications for single-player video games. Theory & Psychology. 2011;21(6):802-820. doi:10.1177/0959354310378926

A Buddhist game to help teach ethics (2007)

The Witcher 3 – Can there be too much (moral dilemmas)? (2015)

What’s the Point of an RPG Without a Main Villain? How Ultima IV Changed the Game (2015)

The Multifaceted Good: Morality in Ultima 4 (2016)

The Story Behind Ultima’s Morality (2018)

Spec Ops and convenience over ethically right decisions. (2015)

What is the best video game morality system?