It's a Terrible Choice to Make but Also a Necessary One - Exploring Player Experiences with Moral Decision Making Mechanics in Video Games

Sep 4, 2026

Video games offer a distinctive platform for players to engage interactively with morally challenging topics and dilemmas. Despite growing popularity of games that include moral content, research has limited insight into player experiences and the specific mechanics that enable moral decision making. This study identifies key mechanics via literature review and qualitative survey responses (n=30), then examines their effects using semi-structured video-elicitation interviews (n=11). The results culminate in a theoretical framework and design guidelines for future moral decision making games.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research gap and study aim

Contributions and research approach

[eprints@whiterose.ac.uk](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk)[ ](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk)[https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk) Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York Deposited via The University of York. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: [https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/216481/](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/216481/) Version: Published Version Article: Wright, Sophie and Denisova, Alena (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. ISSN: 0747-5632 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108424](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108424) Reuse This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence. This licence allows you to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as you credit the authors for the original work. More information and the full terms of the licence here: [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/) Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [eprints@whiterose.ac.uk](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk) including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. | ‘‘It’s a terrible choice to make but also a necessary one’’: Exploring player experiences with moral decision making mechanics in video games Sophie Wright a, Alena Denisovab,∗
a Department of Computer Science, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK b Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, Heslington, York, YO10 5GH, UK | | | | --- | --- | --- | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | Keywords: Decision making Morality
Video games Design guidelines
Thematic analysis | | Video games offer a unique platform for players to engage interactively with morally challenging topics and dilemmas. Despite the growing popularity of games that offer such content, there is a paucity of research on the player experiences and the specific game mechanics that facilitate moral decision making. To address this gap, this research identifies key game mechanics that support moral decision making through a comprehensive review of related literature and qualitative survey responses from players (n = 30). The effects of these mechanics on players’ decision making processes and their overall impact on player experience were further explored through semi-structured, video-elicitation interviews (n = 11). This research develops a theoretical framework based on the findings from these two exploratory studies, culminating in a set of design guidelines to inform the future development of moral decision making games. | 1. Introduction Video games, as an interactive and expressive form of art, give players and game industry professionals a unique platform to navigate morally challenging decisions and dilemmas. Unlike other traditional media, video games offer a distinctive advantage by providing a safe environment for players to explore and experiment with various scenarios. Despite the prevalence of games offering moral dilemmas, e.g. Mass Effect series (2007–2017) (Microsoft Game Studios, Electronic Arts, 2007), Life is Strange series (2015–2022) (Dontnod Entertainment, 2015) or Detroit: Become Human (DBH) (Quantic Dream, 2018), little is known about how effectively these games support moral decision making or what specific game aspects and mechanics facilitate or hinder players’ ability to make such decisions, as previous work largely focuses on individual games (e.g. Holl and Melzer (2021a, 2021b)) or individual mechanics (e.g. Formosa et al. (2022a), Ryan et al. (2023)). Moreover, the existing literature on morality in games has predominantly focused on the game content (e.g. Consalvo et al. (2019)) and ou

FAQs

What research gap does the paper address about moral decision making in video games?

Existing work mainly focuses on game content and outcomes, with limited attention to players’ lived experiences and to which specific mechanics help or hinder moral decision making. The study targets these missing insights by examining players’ experiences with moral decision making games and mechanics.

How did the authors investigate players’ experiences in the study?

The work uses a two-part approach: an online survey and semi-structured interviews supported by video elicitation. It combines qualitative survey responses (n=30) with video-elicitation interviews (n=11).

What do the findings ultimately provide for game development?

The research synthesizes results into a theoretical framework and concludes with design guidelines intended to support effective creation of positive player experiences in moral decision making games.

Sep 4, 2026

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