| _version_ | 1866902110255185920 |
|---|---|
| author | paduano, ivan |
| author_facet | paduano, ivan |
| contents | <p>Over the last decade, the inexorable push towards digitization and the need to develop new audiences (audience development) have led cultural institutions to embrace the practice of "gamification" with methodological and financial fervor. The basic assumption, widely promoted by the tech industry, seemed indisputable: by applying game mechanics and reward systems to cultural heritage, greater engagement would be generated, especially among younger demographics. However, contemporary empirical analysis, corroborated by extensive interdisciplinary critical literature, reveals a landscape marked by structural failures, user rejection and early obsolescence of implemented systems. This research report, written for Curator: The Museum Journal, investigates the root causes of this paradigmatic collapse, identifying the systemic error in the reduction of the playful act to mere extrinsic reward dynamics (points, badges, rankings). Such reductionism gave rise to the phenomenon critically known as "chocolate-covered broccoli" (Bruckman, 1999), a construct in which learning and play remain dissonant entities. Through the lens of Deci and Ryan's Theory of Self-Determination (SDT) and Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow" Theory, the paper analytically deconstructs the failures of high-budget applications, such as those of the Louvre and the British Museum, highlighting the issues of cognitive overload and object dislocation explored by Vom Lehn and Heath. Subsequently, the research explores the ways out of this impasse, analyzing the RECIPE framework for a "Meaningful Gamification" (Nicholson, 2015) and unequivocally successful case studies in which the videogame medium abandons the mechanics of the prize to embrace pure storytelling and implicit learning, as demonstrated by Father and Son (National Archaeological Museum of Naples), Nubla (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and The Voyage (Australian National Maritime Museum). Finally, the essay traces the future horizon of the Playable Museum, analyzing the use of competitive gaming for dark heritage and the emergence of new professional figures such as the video game curator, sanctioning the transition from instrumental gamification to an integrated gaming ecosystem.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_20281427 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Museum gamification: why we failed. Analysis of a road far from being found paduano, ivan <p>Over the last decade, the inexorable push towards digitization and the need to develop new audiences (audience development) have led cultural institutions to embrace the practice of "gamification" with methodological and financial fervor. The basic assumption, widely promoted by the tech industry, seemed indisputable: by applying game mechanics and reward systems to cultural heritage, greater engagement would be generated, especially among younger demographics. However, contemporary empirical analysis, corroborated by extensive interdisciplinary critical literature, reveals a landscape marked by structural failures, user rejection and early obsolescence of implemented systems. This research report, written for Curator: The Museum Journal, investigates the root causes of this paradigmatic collapse, identifying the systemic error in the reduction of the playful act to mere extrinsic reward dynamics (points, badges, rankings). Such reductionism gave rise to the phenomenon critically known as "chocolate-covered broccoli" (Bruckman, 1999), a construct in which learning and play remain dissonant entities. Through the lens of Deci and Ryan's Theory of Self-Determination (SDT) and Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow" Theory, the paper analytically deconstructs the failures of high-budget applications, such as those of the Louvre and the British Museum, highlighting the issues of cognitive overload and object dislocation explored by Vom Lehn and Heath. Subsequently, the research explores the ways out of this impasse, analyzing the RECIPE framework for a "Meaningful Gamification" (Nicholson, 2015) and unequivocally successful case studies in which the videogame medium abandons the mechanics of the prize to embrace pure storytelling and implicit learning, as demonstrated by Father and Son (National Archaeological Museum of Naples), Nubla (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) and The Voyage (Australian National Maritime Museum). Finally, the essay traces the future horizon of the Playable Museum, analyzing the use of competitive gaming for dark heritage and the emergence of new professional figures such as the video game curator, sanctioning the transition from instrumental gamification to an integrated gaming ecosystem.</p> |
| title | Museum gamification: why we failed. Analysis of a road far from being found |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20281427 |