The sun plays hide-and-seek, while the wet leaves and grass of the garden of Mantova's Museo Diocesano form the set for the upcoming event.

Adrian Hon, game designer and author of the book You've been played is about to take the audience on an in-depth journey into the world of videogames and the exploitation of their core mechanisms in everyday life. The principle is simple. Based on the old methods of carrot and stick, gamification becomes the new tool that menaces the collective and individual perception of the human mind and decision-making. Gamification is nothing more than the use of elements and tools usually found in a videogame (such as levels, points, achievements, badges, …) in different environments to influence human behaviour. These tactics, which first emerged in the entertainment industry, are being progressively exploited by the big corporations of the Silicon Valley, government, but also by local realities and small businesses.

This new approach raises theoretical, practical and moral questions, as well as provoking debate around the benefits and potential downsides. In the logic of gamification, do humans differ in any way from laboratory rats? As Hon explains, this process is not inherently bad. In fact, schools, factories, workplaces, educational and fitness apps are already using gamification in every interaction with users. Gamification, as originally developed in the videogames of the 1980s, can help track user progress to improve skills and performance, but it can also help develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving capabilities.

The important thing is not to use digital devices and software as machines of control, used to spy on children, workers, loved ones, just because they give us the power to do so. According to Han, people are unlikely to completely surrender to the gamification dynamic, especially in democracies where the tools of participative decision-making are available to everyone. The author points out that late-stage capitalistic, post-modern problems are likely to follow after this initial gamification phase.

So, just like in a videogame, characters must take the initiative to change the situation!