Lets start with the first level. The upper group have 2 subjects consist of a sick one and a life-saving one. As clearly stated in tutorial level, average score is 5, but I did not tell players what average’s definition is. For sick one I would rate as 4, he had a contagious disease and will infect others. For the lifesaving one, considering he saved hundreds of lives, I would go with 7. And in lower group there are a subject with rich family. She is a student and an instagram influencer. I would go for 5 or 6. The level is for tutorial as well, the description are clear – sick, good and the beauty.
Then level 2, a classic variant of the trolley problem – 1 versus 5. But now it’s a poor 1 with educated 5. I let the gap become broader than before. For utilitarian they should rate as system asked. But for players who refuse to go like this, this will be their first try to manipulate the system. Rate 5 subject low when they are actually valuable to human society.
Level 3, also a classic problem – will the player save their kin? Sister versus two strangers. In this level I will always choose my sister even though I created the situation. Because I do have a little sister in reality and I don’t want her to receive any kinds of damage, even in a game. You can say that I fail the test.
As a conclusion, I gave players 3 health points in the beginning, and for some players, the first 3 levels are all they can get. So it is selected from all 6. First tutorial, second and third classic. That’s my plan for the first three levels.
Lets go with level 4, It is a classic criminal case happened in 19th century in England. It is called Mignonette Ship 1884 or R v Dudley and Stephens. The press would call it Cannibalism at sea: the starving Victorian sailors who ate a cabin boy. Did 2 starving man with family ate a sick boy a crime? That is highly debated among centuries. Consent, justice and many other views are thriving through the case. So I put it in levels: will you sacrifice a boy to save the other two with family?
Level 5 is the one who raise player as a god. They will choose whether to kill a will-be father of a serial killer in the future. That is simply player’s choice that I would not judge.
Level 6 is my favorite. Player will choose whether to end Sisyphus’s endless work or keep on with it. For hitting by the car the concept, it would better to use Prometheus as his liver was eaten and reborn every day. But I prefer Sisyphus’s because endless and meaningless work seems more tragic than physical pain. I wonder whether player would end a god’s pain by killing another innocent. In future development, Sisyphus might lure player to do so by supplying items or resources or to persuade players to kill him and save the mortal. Either can be possible.
For the difficulty design, I left it all with the time limit. Even though health points can also be a way to make the game harder but I wish player to see the first three level even they choose hard mode.