More from an instrumentalist perspective: examining digital games from an instrumental rationality perspective

Although digital games are used for entertainment and educational purposes, the characters and designs often influence players’ behaviors and thought processes. The concept of the pedagogical agent in digital games allows for an analysis of game characters’ roles. However, in some games, these characters may create adverse effects by promoting harmful behaviors rather than fostering positive learning experiences. The instrumental rationality approach seeks to explain this situation and suggests that moral values or ethical concerns can be disregarded when pursuing success. This research aims to examine the characteristics of the characters in popular ten games (Fortnite, Brawl Stars, Call of Duty (CoD), Clash of Clans, League of Legends (LoL), Minecraft, Overwatch, PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds), Roblox, Valorant) from the perspective of instrumental rationality and to analyze how these characters function as pedagogical agents. The study evaluates whether the values presented to players by these in-game characters lack ethical and moral considerations. The research was conducted as a qualitative document analysis study. In this context, the characteristics of the characters displayed on the official games’ websites were analyzed using the content analysis method. The study assessed how these characters were structured as pedagogical agents and their potential adverse effects on players. By employing content analysis, the focus was placed on how the characters’ features were reflected to players and whether these features pursued an educational purpose. The study’s findings reveal that the characters in these games function as pedagogical agents, but these agents negatively affect players. The instrumental rationality perspective exposes how these characters are designed solely to achieve goals while disregarding factors such as ethics and values. This study demonstrates that the characters in digital games serve entertainment purposes and play a more profound educational role, which can have negative impacts.