Online Games, Play and Gamification
UndergraduateCUR-WEB3102023
Course information for 2023 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Delve into a world of gaming and play. Explore the interplay between commerce and game mechanics. Check in on ongoing debates about gaming. Critically analyse everything from casual and social games through to massively multiplayer online games.
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Online Games, Play and Gamification
About this subject
At the completion of this subject students will be able to:
- analyse the interrelationship and application of play and game theory practices and technology
- critique the changing role of games and play in contemporary networked culture
- evaluate and assess concrete examples of gaming and gamification in diverse online and cultural settings
- communicate the various contexts in which games are produced and consumed and how these intersect with contemporary media and communication.
- Introduction: Games and Play
- Evolution of Digital Games
- Games Go Online
- Social and Casual Games
- Mobile Games, Apps, and Locative Media
- Virtual worlds and MMORPGs
- Competitive Online Gaming and eSports
- Global Games
- Gaming and Gender
- Trolls, Gamers, and Game Culture
- Industry, E-learning, and Gamification
- Indie Games and Development
- Further Information: List of topics is indicative and subject to minor change prior to the start of each Study Period.
This subject was previously known as Web Play, Online Games and Gamification.
This subject explores the broader spaces and nature of play online, and how it relates to the development of digital forms of gaming. The nature of immersion is questioned and the role of interactivity investigated, along with critical perspectives on the popular but controversial notion of 'gamification'. It examines a series of gaming tropes and themes, games as texts, and the ways that games enter social frameworks to convey, refract, engage with, and resist power structures. An ongoing focus is on the function of rules in framing play, particularly in relation to how players cheat, hack and mod their games to break those rules.
Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the Academic Integrity module.
- Creative Artefact Exercise (35%)
- Case Study (40%)
- Essay (25%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Prior study
To help set you up for success before you start this subject, we suggest completing or having equivalent knowledge in:
one of
- CUR-WEB101-Web Communications
CUR-NET11 (Not currently available)
Others
Students who have completed WEB309 Web Presence previously are still able to complete the new subject WEB310 but please note that this subject will count as an elective in their degree.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Arts (Digital and Social Media)
UndergraduateCUR-NET-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design)
UndergraduateCUR-DIG-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design) (Digital and Social Media)
UndergraduateCUR-DDI-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design) (Fine Art)
UndergraduateCUR-DDF-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital and Social Media) (Professional Writing and Publishing)
UndergraduateCUR-ICP-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design) (Visual Culture)
UndergraduateCUR-DDV-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) (Digital and Social Media)
UndergraduateCUR-FAI-DEG
Bachelor of Arts (Digital and Social Media) (Visual Culture)
UndergraduateCUR-ICV-DEG
UndergraduateCUR-COM-DEG
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