The Nerdy Type

I’ve always had a strange interest in the great, philosophical questions posed by the now infamous people who originally created them. The Ship of Theseus, The Swamp Man, The Experience Machine, and above all others, The Trolley Problem. 

In case you don’t know what the Trolley Problem is, it’s a philosophical question first asked by Philippa Foot in 1967. Essentially, there are two train tracks and an unstoppable train rolling towards the junction between them. On one track, there is one person; on the other track, there are five people. All are tied down and cannot escape, so the question posed is this: If given control of the junction, would you rather kill one person to save five, or five to kill one?

Now the lesson’s over, let me introduce you to The Trolley Solution, a game created and developed by ByDanDans. It is a visual take on the Trolley Problem, challenging you to make difficult decisions based on a brief story that appears on screen before each level. It’s all about morality, and you might learn a thing or two about yours by playing. 

Problems only keep getting bigger

The Trolley Solution starts out with that classic ‘one person vs. five’ conundrum, and it’s a pretty easy choice to initially save the five by killing the one, right? But you’re quickly given more difficult choices to make, such as a healthy man vs. five dying ones, or five people vs. the happiness of a single dog. 

These choices might seem like easy ones to make, but you’re also faced with the time crunch of that unstoppable train that’s coming remarkably fast, so you don’t have time to weigh up the pros and cons of each outcome. You have to act, and you have to do it quickly, so you have to go with your gut instinct and to hell with the consequences.

Not all of the levels are entirely serious. One that stands out gives you the chance to save five people, but you make a train full of commuters late to work. You’re told they could lose their livelihood, but I question the manager who would fire someone for a choice that a) they didn’t make themselves, and b) saved five people tied to the tracks. If you have moral questions here, they should probably be toward the manager who would even consider doing something so heinous. 

And also whoever is going around tying people to train tracks. I have some questions about that myself.

Veering off the tracks

While most of the levels in The Trolley Solution are philosophical in nature, some of them veer off the tracks and allow you a break and some breathing room from all of the hard decisions. These levels are difficult in a whole new way, challenging you in ways you may not expect. 

The first takes the form of a Where’s Wally? (Waldo, to the Americans out there) hide-and-seek segment. You need to find the Trolley, in his small hat and glasses, hidden in various scenes. None of them are particularly hard, but the monochromatic, lineart-only nature of the game makes it easy to skip over the Trolley if you’re not paying close attention. Then there’s what I’ve dubbed ‘the Sisyphus level’, in which you have to control everything to get up a hill, all while being inundated with popups.

Perhaps the most frustrating of all the levels are those that are timed. One challenges you to go on a spending spree, while the other has you picking up passengers and taking them elsewhere. In both of those levels, you’re controlling a Trolley of some sort with your mouse, and while the concept is fun, the driving mechanics and control are extraordinarily frustrating. 

Maybe that’s by design, to get you riled up for the following, more philosophically based levels, but difficult driving aside, all of the levels are enjoyable in their own way. 

Facing reality

In a couple of levels, The Trolley Solution goes outside of the game and affects real life. For instance, there is a level that gives you the chance to save five people, but you need to post something ‘controversial’ on your timeline. For anyone who follows me on Twitter (yes, I still and will always call it Twitter), that’s why I proudly proclaimed that I think wearing socks with sandals is a good choice.

On another, you have a choice between mowing down some VIPs or sending the trolley through a group of down-on-their-luck people. To use the lever that would lead to the VIPs, you need to buy a DLC, and the other track will automatically open up the WHO donations page. Either way, you’re giving some money away, but what’s your moral choice here?

At the end of a playthrough, which takes around 45 minutes, you get to see all of your choices laid bare. That would be enough of an eye-opener alone, but you can also compare your own choices with those of everyone who has played. The global stats are available to view from the main menu, and it’s interesting to see what others chose to do in each situation.

The Trolley Solution was released on PC via Steam on September 12, 2025. It’s a short game that poses big questions, and is well worth playing if you want to get a bit philosophical and feel like facing up to some of life’s toughest decisions.