Educational Game Club: Discussion of Socrates Jones

November's Game is Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher (2013)

We'll be discussing Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher (2013), a game about critical thinking and philosophy. Players explore the nature of morality by debating historical philosophers, from Euthyphro to John Stuart Mill.

Thoughts on the game before the event? Share them on 💬 the forum.

Housekeeping

• Playing the game before the event is encouraged but not required. The event is dedicated to discussion.
• The event is open to everyone so feel free to invite others.
• Suggest an educational game or prototype for a future event.

Questions? Comments? Email EducationalGameClub @ gmail.com.

About Socrates Jones
Socrates Jones was primarily developed by Connor Fallon and Valeria Reznitskaya with advice from Andy Norman, a philosophy professor at Carnegie Mellon University. It takes inspiration from Andy's reason-giving game, a model he developed for rational discourse. It borrows mechanics from the courtroom trial game Ace Attorney and applies them to philosophical debate.

The game's primary developers published reflections about the game's design:

• Making a Debate Game: The Design Challenges of Socrates Jones by Connor Fallon (2013)
• Socrates Jones: Education and Hobbyist Game Design by Valeria Reznitskaya (2013)

The Wikipedia page for Socrates Jones is another good source about the game's origins and design.

The sequel to Socrates Jones, Pro Philosopher 2: Governments & Grievances (2024), uses the same format to explore various foundational political ideas. Through playtesting, they discovered the most difficult chapter was often the debate against the ideas the player agreed with the most!

About Educational Game Club
It’s like a book club but for educational games. Each month we pick one, play it, and then meet to discuss it.

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