Before I wrap up, I’d like to explain why I think any of this is important. It should go without saying that morality is the soil in which society grows and survives. Consciously or otherwise, it guides the behaviour of almost every individual on the planet, and so defines the nature of our most important institutions, including government and religion. Our capacity for moral judgement is therefore one of the most important faculties we possess, and yet it is almost completely ignored in formal education. Politicians and pundits rail endlessly about the so-called decline in moral standards, but seldom work towards their maintenance.

Smug finger-wagging is not enough: if you want people to develop their ethical sensibilities, then you need to provide them with opportunities to do so. Obviously there’ll always be people who act immorally, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to encourage the opposite. To do otherwise seems almost unjust – like we’re punishing people for failing to utilise skills they were never given a chance to cultivate in the first place.

Aside from the social benefits of moral education, there’s also the fact that using a game to teach morality could only mean good things for gaming’s tarnished public image. As I said before, videogames have been accused of moral bankruptcy for over two decades now, and despite a paucity of supporting evidence, these accusations have gained considerable political mileage with policy-makers and the general public. But if we can show that games are not totems to moral destitution, that they can in fact play a valuable role in the development of moral character, then maybe we can leverage that for the benefit of the medium as a whole. I know it sounds vaguely utopian, but if there’s anything that games have taught me, it’s that it’s good to have goals – and even better to achieve them. So I guess this is going to be my goal.  

Wish me luck?