goodenomics™

Journey 8 of 9 · Week two · 09:00 · The school hall

The Court

What do people deserve?

The first scene of The Court, as the game draws it: Week two. The valley has no judge, so the shelters chose you. The school hall is your court.
A scene from the game, as it is drawn: one handwritten line at a time.

The water is going down and the anger is coming up. The valley has no judge, so the shelters chose you. One rule is posted on every door: steal from the food depot and you are locked up for ten days. Jonah took two sacks of flour for his three children. Two drivers skipped the same brake check; one truck came home, and the other killed a woman. Three hundred people outside want a name.

Seven calls about what people deserve: need, luck, mercy and what a crowd demands. The rule is the same when the next case is your brother, and when the last is you.

Play The Court Free. No account. Your place is saved on your device.

How it opens

The first scene, in the game’s own words. In the game each line is written into the drawing as you tap.

  1. Week two. The valley has no judge, so the shelters chose you. The school hall is your court.
  2. The rule on every door, which I have from the teacher who chalked it: steal from the food depot and you are locked up for ten days.
  3. The first case. Jonah broke into the depot at night and took two sacks of flour.
  4. His three children had not eaten for two days. The queue ran out before his turn, twice.
  5. Looting doubled last week. The hall is full, and everyone is watching what you do.

What is your ruling?

The seven calls

After the first, each call changes one fact, and one of them turns the question on you.

  1. Two sacks
  2. He is back
  3. Two drivers
  4. The tea
  5. The crowd wants a name
  6. Your brother
  7. You were lucky

The long night

When you have finished the journey you can play it whole: all twelve calls. These are the other five.

It happened

The valley is invented. This is not: R v Dudley and Stephens (1884): is necessity a defence to murder?

What the research says

The scenes in this journey are new dilemmas written for the game. No study is claimed for them, and no numbers about how people answer.

Play The Court Free. No account. Your place is saved on your device.

Next journey: The Review What would change your mind?