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A jam submission

The Baby GameView project page

A roleplaying game about the consequences of consequentialism
Submitted by ebshu — 3 days, 13 hours before the deadline
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The Baby Game's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Popular winner#15.0005.000

Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

What work(s) of philosophy does your piece take as its primary source(s)?
Mill, John Stewart. Utilitarianism.

Please tell us about your piece.
A roleplaying game about the consequences of consequentialism.

What other sources have you used in your piece?
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-089

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Comments

Jam JudgeSubmitted

I really like this game. The set-up is easy to understand and I can see how students can have a lot of fun with this. The Calamity Table is hilarious, it must have been really fun to come up with the different calamities. And, lest not forget the design of the document, it's neat, minimalist and stylish. (I feel embarrassed for putting zero effort into design of my own game manual)

I'm thinking a bit about the restrictions you impose on the consequentialists. Is there a particular reason why you decided to have these restrictions? After all, if they are supposed to be true consequentialists (i.e. not rule consequentialists) then they should make the parents give up the baby by any means necessary, right? But perhaps it's about preventing the game and the players become a bit hostile towards the parents?

Developer

I'm glad you like it! You are right about the Consequentialists--but actually, I set it up that way so that the Loving Parents are given an opportunity to make their decision for purely consequentialist rather than self-interested reasons. If they choose to be, the Loving Parents are the real consequentialists--or not, if they hold out!

Jam JudgeSubmitted

This is really cool! Especially like that you gave folks the opportunity to recreate it in-class. Do you have any experiences playing it with students that you would like to share? I'm curious to hear which argument(s), if any, a consequentialist gave convinced Loving Parents to give up Baby.

Developer

It's certainly a lively classroom experience! The Calamity Table is a result of play-testing an earlier version with students that did not include that mechanic. In that version, I let the Baby Eaters come up with all of the consequences themselves, which was fun for them, but I found they escalated too quickly. Then the Loving Parents would become nihilistic... the world is already ruined, it's not like it can get any worse, et cetera... Another thing I found interesting was that some of the arguments students found most compelling were not, strictly speaking, consequentialist arguments; many of them had to do with what an unsacrificed Baby would think of the Loving Parents' decisions and of themselves when they grew old enough to comprehend what their parents had let happen. 

Jam JudgeSubmitted

I appreciate the production quality and clarity of your document. As you indicate in the teacher's supplement, the game could be used or adapted to explore a number of different ethical theories in addition to Mill's utilitarianism. Divine command theory in particular comes to my mind, considering Plato's Euthyphro and Kierkegaard's discussion of the binding of Isaac in Fear and Trembling.

Do you think the consequentialists' arguments may change or even challenge each other depending on their particular readings of Mill and/or consequentialism in general? I wonder what the responses to various calamities would look like with one "rule consequentialist" and one "act consequentialist," for example.

Developer(+1)

Thanks! I think your connection to divine command theory is particularly fun. Brings a whole new meaning to the problem of evil. Interesting point about different understandings of consequentialism; I don't introduce my students to those distinctions in much depth, since I use the game in a very general intro class, not a class devoted to ethics in particular, but if I did, it would be a great follow-up activity to make them reflect on how adhering to one reading or the other might change their conduct in the game.

Host (1 edit)

Hi, there! It should become possible for you to vote if you click this link.

Please give only one 5-star rating to a single project -- that is, please vote only once, for your very favorite project, that isn't your own. This is to ensure that the popular winner doesn't go to the project that happens to be rated the most times.

Voting will close when the counter on the jam page reaches zero, at 23:59/11:59PM CET/GMT+1 on December 12th, 2022! Your vote will not be made public until the full results for the competition are announced on December 15th on the jam page and on the jam community board.

While you can only vote for one submission, please leave as many comments as you like on all the submissions that strike your fancy! This goes for anyone who entered the jam or who stumbles upon it on the site, even if they didn't submit anything or can't vote! It'd be wonderful to get some good discussions going. If you're not sure where to start with evaluating projects, I've prepared a list of questions to ask yourself as you explore and reflect upon your experiences with each one here. I hope they're helpful to you!

As always, if you have any questions, please either reply to this message or post on the jam's FAQ here. Thank you!