Thursday 29 March, 2018

The chaos continues. I sent one of my less reliable officers to training, just in order to spend a little bit of cash. The result was rather irksome; the officer failed all his tests and saw no improvement whatsoever. Once again, I can't escape the feeling that no matter what choice I make, it will backfire in some way. If I choose to let someone take the day off, they become an alcoholic. If I make them stay on the job, they have a heart attack.

Being in a lose-lose situation all the time is definitely a unique gaming experience for me, but I'm not sure how much fun I'm having. Perhaps my choices need to be more calculated, but I've lost officers to such trivial situations that I'm not entirely sure there is a way to play police academy "perfectly" without some deeper insight into the game rules and mechanics.

One aspect of the game I'm really enjoying is reviewing my officer's requests for time off. The situations can be pretty nuanced, and trying to reconcile their general unreliability/reliability with the pettiness/seriousness of their request can be an emotional exercise. In subtle ways, it reminds me of jobs I've had in the past.

Siding with the mob seems like it's paying off. I can't always afford to send officers to run mob errands, but I have yet to see the repercussions of disappointing them multiple times. I keep expecting the unexpected, but it never comes!

Great job! It's important to keep in mind that This is the Police primary goal is not to be fun, but to be a serious game. For that reason many of the decisions are lose-lose situations, so it's interesting to think about what the player may or may not be willing to lose. For instance, when helping the mafia or choosing not to give in to the racist demands to fire all black civil servants, how are you making your decisions? Are you applying Kant's ethics or social contract? Knowing this may help you develop your analysis of the game and your ethics essay.