The presentation discusses the ethics of the mobile game Fallout Shelter, highlighting its narrative set in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world and its gameplay centered around managing a vault and its inhabitants. It explores the moral implications of the player's role as an overseer who can engage in both ethical and unethical actions, reflecting themes of capitalism, authoritarianism, eugenics, and ageism. The analysis raises questions about the motivations of the overseer and dwellers, as well as the societal values the game promotes.

1. Ethics & Games:
Sherry Jones
Philosophy & Game Studies
Twitter @autnes
Fallout Shelter

2. About this Presentation
This presentation was featured at the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) Games and Simulations Network live webcast on Jan. 28, 2018.
The live webcast video was recorded and made available on Youtube, as well as
made available in this presentation.
Please feel free to watch the video while exploring the presentation.

3. Recorded Live Webcast
“Ethics and
Games: Fallout
Shelter” (live
webcast
recorded on Jan.
28, 2018)

4. What is Fallout Shelter ?

5. Mobile Game Based on Fallout Series
❖ Fallout Shelter (2015) is a free-to-play simulation mobile game by
Bethesda Game Studios and Behaviour Interactive, a spin-off based
on Fallout game series.
❖ Released on Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, XBox One.
❖ Simulation of a post-nuclear apocalyptic America.
❖ Gameplay involves building and maintaining a fallout shelter, growing
population size, and completing quests to obtain resources for
sustaining the population.

6. Story of Fallout Series
❖ Set in alternate history of U.S. 1950s atomic age when technologies
were powered by nuclear energy.
❖ 13 commonwealths ruled U.S. until capitalism and plutocracy
corrupted U.S. into a fascist police state.
❖ Surveillance, torture, experimentation, and public execution became
du jour citizen control methods.
❖ Great War (2077) led to global nuclear apocalypse (U.S., China, USSR,
and other nuclear capable nations launched weapons for 2 hours).

7. Story of Fallout Series (Cont.)
❖ 1000 survivors lived in 122 Vaults built by govt. contractor Vault Tec.
❖ Vaults conducted unethical social and scientific experiments, e.g.
mutating residents via psychopathic drugs, virus, or radiation.
❖ Surface, aka The Wasteland, became completely irradiated. Surface
survivors became irradiated “ghouls.”
❖ Vaults were not opened until the year 2097 and later.
❖ It is not clear exactly when Fallout Shelter falls on the timeline.

8. Game Design Inspired by the 1950s

9. 1950s Culture of Fear
❖ U.S. Sentiments During 1950s Post WWII (1939-1945) Era: National
and racial destiny, national solidarity, fear of degenerates, fear of
outsiders, paranoia, expansion of military power,
infallible/unquestionable leaders, authoritarianism, racism, sexism.
❖ Red Scare: Campaign to identify secret communist traitors in U.S.
❖ McCarthyism: Launch accusations of treason without evidence.
❖ Fear of Atomic Bomb and U.S. Nuclear Fallout Survival Guides.

10. Source:
“Facts about
Fallout” (1955),
document
released by
National Archives

11. Source:
"Two-story wood frame house at
5,500 feet (from blast site), May
5, 1955," released by National
Archives

12. Source:
"A few minutes after detonation
the atomic blast in Operation Cue
looked like this, May 5, 1955,"
released by National Archives

13. Source:
"Two-story wood frame house at
5,500 feet after the blast, May 5,
1955," released by National
Archives

14. Source:
"Photograph of the Office of Civil
and Defense Mobilization exhibit
at a local civil defense fair. ca.
1960", released by National
Archives

15. Source:
"Photograph of a display of
survival supplies for the well-
stocked fallout shelter, ca.1961."
released by National Archives

16. Source:
"Photograph of a basement
family fallout shelter" (1957)
(with 14 days food supply),
released by National Archives

17. "About Global
Fallout" by Center
for Disease Control
and Prevention
(CDC) (2018)

18. "How Global
Fallout Can Affect
Your Health" by
Center for Disease
Control and
Prevention (CDC)
(2018)

19. “KI (potassium iodide) blocks
radioactive iodine from entering
the thyroid. When a person takes
KI, the stable iodine in the
medicine gets absorbed by the
thyroid. Because KI contains so
much stable iodine, the thyroid
gland becomes ‘full’ and cannot
absorb any more iodine—either
stable or radioactive—for the next
24 hours.”
-- Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) (2018)

20. "Chernobyl: New
Tomb Will Make
Site Safe for 100
Years" by Claire
Corkhill, The
Conversation
(2016)

21. Fallout Shelter as a Curious Game

22. Mobile Game as a Curiosity
❖ In Fallout series, the player takes on the role of a dweller who leaves a
Vault-Tec Vault (for survival or escape). However, in Fallout Shelter,
the player takes on the role of an Overseer who maintains a Vault-Tec
Vault.
❖ Since Vaults were sites where unethical social and scientific
experiments took place, it is curious that Bethesda Game Studios
would make a mobile game about building and maintaining a Vault.
❖ What would be the motivation to survive in a nuclear apocalyptic
wasteland where all things are irradiated and threaten life?

23. Good Question, Fallout Shelter !

24. Two Ways to Play the Game
Play with Complicity
❖ As Overseer with absolute power
over the lives of Vault dwellers,
the player can perform ethical or
unethical acts at will.
❖ Fallout Shelter enables us to
experience what it is like to be
complicit in performing
unethical acts. ex. Evict dwellers
for the sake of caps (money).
Play with Resistance
❖ As Overseer with absolute power over
the lives of Vault dwellers, the player
can consciously avoid performing
unethical acts.
❖ However, game rules encourage
unethical play, and punish ethical
play. ex. Player sacrifice chances to
earn caps (money) by refusing to evict
dwellers.

25. Game World

26. The Vault

27. The Vault: Barrack Room

28. The Vault: Nuka Cola Room

29. The Vault: Hair Salon Room

30. The Vault: Overseer Room

31. The Wasteland

32. The Wasteland: Red Rocket

33. The Wasteland: Super Duper Mart

34. Characters

35. Dwellers

36. Mister Handy

37. Dwellers Working with Mister Handy

38. Bottle (Mascot from Nuka-World)

39. Cap (Mascot from Nuka-World)

40. Mechanics

41. Dwellers Stats and Jobs

42. The SPECIAL Skill System

43. Outfit and Skills

44. Junk for Weapon and Outfit Forging

45. The Wasteland Journal

46. Fighting to Obtain Resources in the Wasteland

47. Speak to Strangers via Branching Narratives

48. Quests

49. Main Quests

50. Side Quests

51. Exploring the Wasteland (Kill + Scavenge)

52. Revealing Cultural Narrative Decisions (Cram)

53. Enemies

54. Radroaches

55. Radscorpions

56. Mole Rats

57. Ghouls

58. Deathclaws

59. Raiders

60. Game Rhetoric: Job, Productivity, Efficiency

61. Vault Conversations: Working = Happiness

62. Vault Conversations: Hard Work is Happy Work

63. Vault Conversations: G.O.A.T.

64. Vault Conversations: Production

65. Vault Conversations: Maximum Efficiency

66. Vault Conversations: Humans Are Inefficient

67. Game Rhetoric: Omniscient Overseer Deserves Praise

68. Vault Conversations: Who is the Overseer?

69. Vault Conversations: Overseer is Smart

70. Vault Conversations: Overseer is Great

71. Vault Conversations: Overseer Will Protect Us

72. Game Rhetoric: Surveillance

73. The Vault: Armory Room with Surveillance Camera

74. The Vault: Weapons Room with Monitors

75. Vault Conversations: Overseer is Listening

76. Vault Conversations: Overseer and Double Shift

77. Vault Conversations: Overseer is Watching Us

78. Game Rhetoric: Authoritarianism & Hive Mind

79. Vault Conversations: Follow Authority

80. Vault Conversations: Honeycomb (Hive Mind)

81. The Vault as a “Honeycomb” or “Ant Farm”

82. Game Rhetoric: Nuclear Energy and Radiation

83. Wasteland Conversations: Sanity of Irradiated Ghouls

84. Vault Conversations: Atomic Energy, Again

85. Vault Conversations: Managing Radiation

86. When Mr. Handy Explodes

87. Game Rhetoric: Privilege and Naiveté

88. Wasteland Conversations: Dusting

89. Wasteland Conversations: Fire the Maid

90. Wasteland Conversations: Life Was So Simple

91. Wasteland Conversations: Adventure is a Lie

92. Game Rhetoric: Doubting Reality

93. Vault Conversations: Is Everyone Happy?

94. Vault Conversations: Is the Vault Safe?

95. Vault Conversation: Can We Leave the Vault?

96. Wasteland Conversations: Must Maintain Optimism

97. Game Rhetoric: Awareness of Fantasy vs. Reality

98. Wasteland Conversations: Humans’ Fault

99. Wasteland Conversations: Being Watched

100. Wasteland Conversations: Am I a Pawn?

101. Game Rhetoric: Difficult Life

102. Vault Conversations: Cram, Cram, Cram

103. Vault Conversations: Asbestos

104. Vault Conversations: Crossword Question

105. Vault Conversations: Crossword Answer - Vault

106. Wasteland Journal - People Actually Live Out Here?

107. Game Rhetoric: Death and Meaninglessness

108. Wasteland Conversations: Death Everywhere

109. Wasteland Conversations: Way to Die

110. Wasteland Conversations: Countless Human Deaths

111. Wasteland Conversations: Losing Track of Time

112. Game Rhetoric: Eviction and Resistance

113. Wasteland Conversations: Leaving on Free Will

114. Wasteland Conversations: Skepticism of Future

115. Wasteland Conversations: Rue the Day

116. Game Ethics: Values that the Game Espouses

117. Game Values: Capitalism and Authoritarianism
❖ Maximizing profit is the raison d’etre.
❖ Profit should be valued over social good.
❖ Providing social good is justified if and only if the act enables humans
to provide labor that increases profit.
❖ A human life is good insofar as it can perform efficient labor for
increasing profit.
❖ Human value is measured by the profit it can generate.
❖ Authoritarianism is good because it maximizes profit.
❖ Authoritarianism requires surveillance and oppression of the
citizens.

118. Game Values: Efficiency Warrants Eugenics
❖ Eugenics (greek for “Good Birth”) is a social philosophy, originated
from Plato, that contemplates on how to create better societies via
selective breeding (for eliminating undesirable human traits).
❖ Most countries have ended eugenics-based policies, but U.S. still
implements some policies, such as the ban of incestual marriages.
❖ Fallout Shelter gameplay promotes eugenics based practices:
➢ Overseer (player) can selectively breed dwellers.
➢ Consequent children will carry the genetic traits of the parents.
➢ Children can inherit SPECIAL skills of the parents (when the
parents are equipped with certain items).

119. Vault Breeding: One Man Fathers Several Children

120. Game Values: Capitalism Justifies Ageism
❖ Fallout Shelter gameplay promotes ageism based practices:
➢ Overseer (player) can evict any dweller from the Vault at will,
without offering any justification to the dweller.
➢ Once a dweller reaches level 50 (max), the dweller can no longer
generate any caps (profit) for the Overseer.
➢ To raise efficiency and profit, the Overseer can evict the level 50
dweller, and train a younger dweller to replace the older dweller.
➢ Upon eviction, the dweller is stripped of weapons and armor that
could protect him/herself from the Wasteland.
➢ A dweller’s level could represent age. The eviction of the level 50
dwellers could be interpreted as an ageism-driven act.

121. Applying the Ethical
Theory of Egoism to
Examine the Game,
Fallout Shelter

122. What is Egoism?
❖ In philosophy, Egoism (latin. “Ego” means “I”) is an ethical theory
that presents either a descriptive or a normative position that an act
can be moral or rational if the act maximizes one’s self-interest.
❖ 3 Types of Egoism:
➢ Psychological Egoism: A descriptive position (and a metaethics)
that a person desires/is motivated to act only to maximize her
own self-interest.
➢ Ethical Egoism: A normative position that actions are morally
right if the actions maximize one’s self-interest.
➢ Rational Egoism: Claims that actions are rational if the actions
maximize one’s self-interest.

123. Egoism vs. Altruism
❖ For the Psychological Egoist, Altruism (the belief that one would or
should act for the sake of others) is unnatural for the individual, who
desires to act solely for her own welfare.
❖ Example Scenario: A fireman rushes into a burning building to save a
child, even though he knows that the building will likely explode within
minutes due to a gas leak. The fireman was able to save the child’s
life, but he dies soon after due to 3rd degree burns and carbon
monoxide poisoning.
How would an Altruist vs. an Egoist respond to the above scenario?

124. Egoist’s vs Altruist’s Response to a Scenario
❖ An Altruist would say that the fireman acted altruistically to save the
child’s life, while foregoing his own. The fireman rushed into the
burning building, knowing that it was about to explode, because he
acted for the sake of the child.
❖ An Egoist would say that the fireman acted in self-interest when he
saved the child’s life, because he only acted for the sake of upholding
his own reputation. The fireman rushed into the burning building,
knowing that it was about to explode, because he wanted to
showcase his heroism. His death was unfortunate, but it preserved
his honor as a fireman.

125. The Egoism of the Overseer
❖ In Fallout Shelter, the Overseer (the player) can make ethical or
unethical acts at will, without any intervention from the dwellers. The
Overseer has absolute power over the dwellers and the Vault.
❖ The Overseer asks the dwellers to perform various jobs, all for the
purpose of maximizing his/her self-interest, which is to gain profit.
❖ The Overseer maintains the Vault to secure the dweller’s lives,
because dwellers are needed to complete jobs and maximize
production. He/She is motivated to protect the Vault and the dwellers
to benefit his own welfare.

126. Question about the Dwellers
❖ Q. Through the lens of Egoism, how would we
understand the motivation of the dwellers in
working for the authoritative and oppressive
Overseer?

127. Presentation by:
Sherry Jones
Philosophy & Game Studies SME Lecturer,
Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
ISTE Games and Simulations Network Leader
http://about.me/sherryjones
Twitter @autnes
sherryjones.edtech@gmail.com