Abstract: "Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative, stating (in one for-
mulation) that one ought to always act according to a maxim
that can be made universal law, is tempting to procedural-
ize, in the form of a game that literally turns actions into
universal laws. This paper explores diculties that initially
arise in translating that idea to a game design: some of
which been covered in the philosophy literature, and others
of which relate to the diculties in dening what constitutes
a proper rule induction. Then, it discusses several much less
lofty, but ppractical, prototypes that explore what I take to
be the formal game mechanics underpinning the idea: re
ex-
ive game mechanics where breaking a rule implies the free
breaking of that rule for the rest of the game. By analyzing
these prototypes, I attempt to determine if these prototypes
result in either an interesting game mechanics (taken on its
own) on the one hand, or a compelling representation of
Kantian morality on the other hand, reaching mixed con-
clusions."