Learning Good From Skeletons: Ethical Literacies in Undertale

Abstract

Current studies of game narrative and design, particularly with regard to morality, have focused mainly on direct player engagement. However, this otherwise reasonable perspective omits the other ways in which people experience and engage with games. This project examines the discourse around the game Undertale and how its community engages with the game, as well as the complications that are posed to the player-centric experience by Let's Players and Speedrunners, who transform games into grounds for spectacles on their own terms.