Other good picks
Below is a quick run-through of ethical/empathy games that either have yet to release or are a bit older but still deserve a mention.
Pig Chase
I have no idea if we’ll ever be able to play Pig Chase, but just hearing about it should make you feel good. Players control a ball of light on their iPad and move it around until they can see the snouts of real-live pigs. When the pig touches the light on a special touch-sensitive display, it emits sparks. If the human and pig move in sync through a goal triangle, then they set off a fireworks show.
What’s different about Pig Chase is that it doesn’t turn an animal into a form of entertainment or educational lesson as much as it encourages a bond between us and a creature we normally consider food. And it looks fun for the pigs.
Above: Novelist, husband, and father Dan Kaplan.
The Novelist
The Novelist by Kent Hudson is an action-adventure game for PC and Mac that was Greenlit on Steam. It asks whether someone can achieve his dreams without sacrificing his relationships with loved ones.
As Kaplan writes the book of his career, he struggles to balance the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Players control a ghost who can help the Kaplans, but every decision has a consequence.
A similar but older game is Gravitation (free), which is about “mania, melancholia, and the creative process” and the pressures of parenthood.
Above: Your virtual city.
Vigilance 1.0
Martin Le Chevallier’s Vigilance 1.0 tasks players with taking care of a virtual city. Players earn points if they stop crimes as they happen and correctly punish wrongdoers, but blaming the innocent deceases the score, and every missed crime adds to the city’s immorality.
Vigilance 1.0, which came out in 2001, is free for PC and Mac.
Above: A father and his son.
That Dragon, Cancer
Chances are you’ve heard of That Dragon, Cancer, an emotional game about two parents raising a child with terminal cancer.
It’s coming exclusively to Ouya next year, and it’s not going to be an easy experience to get through. But the Greens’ story is one of hope, and it sounds beautiful.