Purpose The research described here presents an approach to gamification for the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether students would perceive the gamification activities in a positive light. Previous research has contended that students need a positive mental attitude for effective learning. The core question was to examine student attitudes to gamification, not the success of the gamification itself. Design/methodology/approach Based on a survey of the gamification literature, and particularly drawing on the work of Groh (2012), this system is designed with three key principles in mind: relatedness, competence and autonomy. Classroom activities and associated software were designed and implemented. Almost 200 students were surveyed to determine their attitude to the gamification. The survey included both Likert-scale and qualitative responses. Findings A majority of the students reported that they found the gamification useful and enjoyable, only a minority of students (around 15 per cent) disagreeing with such statements. However, only a minority of students perceived a relationship between the gamification activities and games. The authors conclude that well-designed gamification systems can be well-received by students and suggest that the success of gamification projects may not lie in their ability to recreate the experience of a video game, but in the strength of the relatedness, competence and autonomy of the student experience. Research limitations/implications The research is limited by the nature of the participants, who were drawn from videogame and media units and who may be predisposed to game-like activities. Originality/value This research demonstrates that students are able to perceive value in gamification in the classroom.

This article explores the concept of interactivity through a close reading of the 2007 video game Bioshock (2K Boston & 2K Australia 2007). By analyzing the interconnections between the game's storyline and ludic mechanisms I argue that Bioshock's narrative twist can be read as a powerful deconstruction of the notion of player agency (cf. Ruch, this issue). I therefore offer an analysis of this game as a problematization of traditional understandings of choice. By highlighting the role of pedagogy in Bioshock I reveal the importance of processes of training in the medium of video gaming. I conclude by drawing upon a post-structuralist framework to suggest that the subjectivity of the video game player is constructed through the play experience.

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Rules are often cited as one of the defining features of games; however, few precise definitions of rules exist and those that do are often self-contradictory and/or reductive. This article seeks to reconceptualize rules for both traditional and digital games, not as a series of restrictions to which the player must submit but rather as a relationship of power that functions through the player and through processes of construction. I argue that the restrictive model of rules is embedded within the liberal humanist paradigm, where power is understood as an external force operating on the subject. Building upon poststructuralist theorizations of power, I demonstrate that rather than operating through restriction, rules construct the possibility of the game, producing the game world and norms of play practice. Through this, I show that rules should not be understood in opposition to player agency, but rather as a contributor to, and product of it.

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