Trolley Problem, Inc. Review (PC)

How many people is it acceptable to potentially kill so that the world can potentially deal with climate change once and for all? This kind of thought experiment is a fun starting point for a debate between friends. It can also lead to real-world progress through examination of its assumptions, potential answers, and how various groups of people react to it. If you think you can make good ethical choices under pressure then Trolley Problem, Inc. is the kind of game you should take a look at.

The title is developed by Read Graves and published by Yogscast Games. I engaged with it on Steam on the PC. As the name clearly shows the game focuses on the well-known thought experiment and presents more ethical conundrums for gamers to work through.

Despite the focus on dilemmas the title actually has a narrative. The protagonist moves from the classic trolley set up to work in a hospital, dealing with transplants and vaccines. From there it's on to a company working on self-driving cars, then the military, and then in even more improbable situations. The story barely holds together but it has an absurdist edge I enjoyed. There’s a lot of writing in this game and it manages to be clear when it lays out the parameters of a choice and slyly funny and ironic at times. Trolley Problem, Inc. has plenty of moral choices to present but I suspect plenty of players will be a little disappointed with where it ends up.

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The gameplay is so limited that many people will probably not even consider it a videogame. A scenario is presented, with a preamble before the actual parameters are laid out, and then the player has a limited time to make his choice. The developer adds more commentary as the timer ticks down. The game then moves to a results screen, offering more critique about the choice and comparing it with those made by other players. Maybe you will unlock a present. And then it is time to move to a new thought problem and a new set of binary choices.

The biggest issue with the game, which is one it shares with many of the more popular thought experiments, is that answering requires a ton more details and information than is usually provided. The knowledge of entire professional classes is required to actually make informed decisions, which is why many real-world ethical issues are debated by those who have or can acquire information while also having a stake in the problem.

Another issue with many of the situations is that they are not in the decisions space of the individual and any choice made can only be implemented if the resources of larger entities are involved. Philosophers and anyone who has studied ethics will find plenty of other issues with the proposed thought experiments.

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With those caveats, Trolley Problem, Inc. is fun to engage with on its own terms, suspending some critiques if necessary. It ramps up its scenarios in interesting ways and the game, when playing cooperatively with someone else, can serve as a great conversation prompt. Gather your gamer friends, show them one of the choices, and try to find out why they choose the way they do. A run-through of the entire experience is easy to complete in around 2 hours. Make a party of it.

The game also offers a solid reading list, allowing anyone who was fascinated by the choices and their difficulties to get more information. I would have loved to see more of it actually incorporated into the gameplay.

Trolley Problem, Inc. has a clean yet striking presentation, with a focus on presenting the moral problems with plenty of visual detail to complement the text. Some nice and subtle manipulations are included. Make sure to turn off the wiggle and CRT effects. Jan Ravens, the voice actress that delivers all the lines in the game, is one of the highlights of the experience, managing to imbue the relatively dry writing with wit and irony where needed. The rest of the sound design is pretty forgettable.

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