Summary:
The PLAYMUTATION project started in 2022 with the purpose of analyzing the use of digital games to inform about the evolution of viral genomes, transmission, and mutations, as well as to promote self-care and infection prevention in youngsters.The digital game Mutation Madness was born.
During the testing phase and observing its success in schools, the team wondered whether involving the youngsters in the process of making games and co-creating media would better address the process of learning. The PLAYMUTATION has evolved with the development of ‘Game-It-Yourself’ activities and other products came along, such as the short movie ViralMutation and the Virtual Reality Game ‘Virulent Odyssey’.
Back to school initiatives to test these mentioned products, we noticed that some of the information and bias that youngsters had were based on the social media, being vulnerable to infodemics, misinformation/disinformation, conspiracy theories, and manipulation techniques. The project is now acting upon this scenario, using gamification as a media co-creating technique.
