Punk gamification

This paper aims at proposing an alternative take on gamification, based on bottom up approaches and critical design. In the first part of the paper, several issues concerning gamification are reviewed: the claim that it is exploitative, the problematic definition of game elements as well as gamification’s connections to power and discipline and the utopian stance on games that is generally adopted. The second part of the paper is dedicated to overcoming these issues by situating gamification in the larger context of play and to trace its roots in the ludicisation of culture. The last part of the paper proposes the institution of a punk gamification, as an ideological alternative to mainstream gamification that focuses on freedom more than rules, is bottom up, critical and, sometimes, unpleasant.