Rethinking

Gamification marks a major change to everyday life. It describes the permeation of economic, political, and social contexts by game-elements such as awards, rule structures, and interfaces that are inspired by video games.

Rethinking Gamification

Summary

Gamification marks a major change to everyday life. It describes the permeation of economic, political, and social contexts by game-elements such as awards, rule structures, and interfaces that are inspired by video games. Sometimes the term is reduced to the implementation of points, badges, and leaderboards as incentives and motivations to be productive. Sometimes it is envisioned as a universal remedy to deeply transform society toward more humane and playful ends. Despite its use by corporations to manage brand communities and personnel, however, gamification is more than just a marketing buzzword. States are beginning to use it as a new tool for governing populations more effectively. It promises to fix what is wrong with reality by making every single one of us fitter, happier, and healthier. Indeed, it seems like all of society is up for being transformed into one massive game.
The contributions in this book offer a candid assessment of the gamification hype. They trace back the historical roots of the phenomenon and explore novel design practices and methods. They critically discuss its social implications and even present artistic tactics for resistance. It is time to rethink gamification!

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Publishing Year
2014
Language
English
Pages
344
Print Edition Price
€ 15.00 RRP
Downloads
Cover
License
CC-BY-SA 4.0
ISBNs
978-3-95796-000-9 (Print)
978-3-95796-001-6 (PDF)
978-3-95796-002-3 (epub)
DOI
10.14619/001

The Editors

Dr. Niklas Schrape is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Digital Cultures at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. He holds a double position at the Gamification Lab and the Institute for Advanced Study in Media Cultures of Computer Simulation (MECS). He studied Communications, Psychology and Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin and Social and Economic Communications at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin. He spent an abroad semester at the International Film School of Wales in Newport, UK. In 2011, Niklas finished his PhD thesis in Media Studies at Filmuniversität Babelsberg as a scholarship holder of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In 2012, he published his thesis about rhetoric in games at Campus Verlag. His current research interest encompass the relation between Foucaults concepts of governmentality and self-techonlogies and gamification as well as the role of games in popularizing scientific modeling and simulation techniques.

Niklas Schrape's Author Profile

Paolo Ruffino is a Research Associate at the Gamification Lab, Centre for Digital Cultures (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany). He is also completing a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London and works as Lecturer at the Game Cultures programme at London South Bank University. His PhD research involves a study of the concepts of consumer and producer in video games, the history of the medium of the video game and phenomena such as “modding”, independent gaming, open engines and game art. He is a member of the art collective IOCOSE. Paolo lives and works in London, UK.

Paolo Ruffino's Author Profile

Prof. Dr. Mathias Fuchs studied Computer Science in Erlangen and Vienna (Vienna University of Technology), and Composition in Vienna (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien) and in Stockholm (EMS, Fylkingen). In 2010 Mathias Fuchs received his Doctor title by Humboldt University of Berlin for a PhD thesis on the meaning of sounds (“Sinn und Sound”). He has pioneered in the field of artistic use of games and is a leading theoretician on game art and games studies. He is an artist, musician, media critic, and Professor at the Centre for Digital Cultures at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. He is also Director of the Leuphana Gamification Lab.

Mathias Fuchs's Author Profile

Dr. Sonia Fizek is a game scholar, a digital wanderer and an aspiring game architect. Since 2013 she has been conducting research at the Gamification Lab in the Centre for Digital Cultures (Leuphana University Luneburg). She completed her MA in Electronic Literature at the Institute of English Studies at Lodz University (Poland) and her PhD at the School of Creative Studies & Media at Bangor University (UK). Her most current academic interests focus on gamification, ludic turn, games for science, design, and audio gaming. She is leading seminars in game theory and analysis at Leuphana University and Hamburg Media School. In 2015 she joined the JOURNAL OF GAMING AND VIRTUAL WORLDS as the third Associate Editor. Alongside her academic work, Sonia is also concept designing and producing experimental digital games.

Sonia Fizek's Author Profile