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Persuasive Gaming in Context

Teresa de La Hera Jeroen Jansz Joost Raessens Ben Schouten

9789463728805
264 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview
The rapid developments in new communication technologies have facilitated the popularization of digital games, which has translated into an exponential growth of the game industry in recent decades. The ubiquitous presence of digital games has resulted in an expansion of the applications of these games from mere entertainment purposes to a great variety of serious purposes. In this edited volume, we narrow the scope of attention by focusing on what game theorist Ian Bogost has called 'persuasive games', that is, gaming practices that combine the dissemination of information with attempts to engage players in particular attitudes and behaviors.

This volume offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming, that is, on the process of these particular games being played by players. The purpose is to better understand when and how digital games can be used for persuasion by further exploring persuasive games and some other kinds of persuasive playful interaction as well. The book critically integrates what has been accomplished in separate research traditions to offer a multidisciplinary approach to understanding persuasive gaming that is closely linked to developments in the industry by including the exploration of relevant case studies.
Author Bio
Teresa de la Hera is Assistant Professor of Persuasive Gaming at Erasmus University Rotterdam, where she is member of the Research Cluster Gaming Matters. Jeroen Jansz is Full Professor of Communication and Media at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He holds the Chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media & Communication. Joost Raessens is Full Professor and Chair of Media Theory at the Faculty of Humanities of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Ben Schouten is an artist/designer as well as a Full Professor in playful interaction at the department of industrial design of the Eindhoven University of Technology.