The course aims at contributing to a wider understanding of gaming phenomenon and its sociocultural relevance in contemporaneity and at introducing students to the concept of gamification. Games have been asserting themselves as digital media and its impact has been evident, as demonstrated by the appearance and consolidation
of gamification strategies, focused on the implementation of games’ characteristic elements in non-gaming contexts.

Throughout the classes students are expected to understand games’ characteristics and what makes them appealing, so as to be able to reflect on the application of some of these elements in different contexts. At the end of the Course, students should have developed skills that allow them to recognize the main games’ mechanics and their potential to be implemented in several areas aiming at mobilizing and engaging the audience, as well as to develop an applied gamification project.