Ethical Reasoning and Reflection as Supported by Single-Player Videogames

Ethically notable games are those that provide opportunities for encouraging ethical reasoning and reflection. This chapter examines how games can encourage rational and emotional responses. By examining ethically notable videogames, I illustrate a few of the different design choices that can be used to encourage these responses and the effects they have on players. I also identify five challenges toward creating ethically notable games and examine each in the context of commercially released videogames. Each of these analyses serves as a framework not only for reflecting upon and understanding ethics and morality in games but also for outlining the design space for ethically notable games.