How to play Moral Dilemma Machine
Each of the 12 dilemmas puts you in charge of a runaway trolley with an impossible choice: pull the lever or let it roll, and live with whatever follows. The twists are absurd on purpose, there is no right answer, only your judgment, and every choice leads to a different outcome. Play through all twelve and the game gives you a verdict on your moral record, including how many times you chose mercy.
There is no score to chase and no way to win; the fun is arguing with yourself over each one. Try playing it twice with opposite instincts, always pull, then never pull, and compare the verdicts. And if a friend is nearby, read one out loud: the dilemmas are short enough to argue about, and the argument is half the game. At the end you will see exactly how many times you chose mercy, so the verdict is a number you can argue with, not just a feeling.
Two ways to think about it
Philosophers usually argue about the trolley problem in two ways, and this game lets you try both. The first way counts outcomes: pull the lever if it saves more than it harms, and do not pull if it does not. The second way asks about duty: is it ever right to take an action that harms someone, even if doing nothing harms more people? Most dilemmas in this game are built to make the two ways disagree, so a choice that looks obvious by counting can feel wrong by duty, and the other way round. Try one run on numbers alone, then one run on duty alone, and compare the verdicts.
What is the original trolley problem?
The original problem comes from philosophy, not from this game. A runaway trolley is heading toward five people tied to the track, and you can pull a lever to switch it onto a side track where it will hit one person instead. Most people say pull, but when the choice is changed to pushing one person in front of the trolley to stop it, most people say no, even though the numbers are the same. That gap between the two answers is what philosophers have argued about for decades, and this game is a silly version of the same question, with badgers, jugglers and a humming robot standing in for the five people and the one.
Playing with friends
One phone, one reader, everyone else votes. The reader reads the dilemma out loud without saying which button they would press, and each friend calls out red or blue before anyone taps. Keep a tally on paper: after all twelve, compare the group's mercy count with the verdict the game gives, and argue about the three dilemmas where the group split most evenly. Those three are the ones worth keeping, because a split vote means both sides had a case.