America's Army

Propaganda Games - Ethical Game Design - Extra Credits

The primary purpose of this analysis is to examine how video games function as tools for ideological influence, distinguishing between overt propaganda and the more insidious risks posed by lazy, unexamined game design.

• Video games function as powerful tools for ideological influence because the sense of agency and choice inherent in gameplay encourages players to internalize the worldviews presented by the game mechanics.
• The most significant risk to players is not overt propaganda, such as the recruitment tool 'America’s Army' or the extremist 'Zog’s Nightmare,' but rather 'lazy design' in mainstream titles that subtly normalizes prejudice.
• Mainstream games often utilize Skinner box techniques to mechanically incentivize the killing of specific ethnic or religious groups, effectively training players to accept harmful stereotypes through repetitive reward loops.