Contents
Identity, Participation, and Learning
While gaming is often associated with young people, it has become a widespread and intergenerational cultural practice. Adults in their 30s, 40s, and beyond — many of whom grew up with early consoles and PC games — continue to play, now often engaging with more complex, narrative-rich, or strategic genres. The rise of casual mobile games, online multiplayer communities, and immersive role-playing platforms has broadened the appeal of gaming across all age groups. Already in 2014, 40 percent of 16-74-year-old Europeans used the internet for games, music or movie streaming or download (during the last three months of the poll). The tendency points upward (Eurostat tin00032).
Europe's Video Game Players
53%
...of the population aged 6-64 years old plays video games.
75%
...of video game players are 18 years or older (up to 64 years old).
31 years
...is the average age of a video game player in Europe.
124 million
The number of video game players in Europe is 124.4 million (in five major European markets).
Source: Video Games Europe (2023). European Key Facts
However, it is important to recognise that gaming is a central part of youth culture: it represents not only entertainment but also socialisation, identity play, and learning. Games are embedded in wider digital platforms like Twitch, Discord and YouTube, becoming spaces of community, debate, and cultural expression.
In 2023, a remarkable 83% of young people aged 11–14 played video games, along with 79% of those aged 15–24 — a 3% increase from 2022. Even younger children aged 6–10 showed a consistent participation rate of 70%. Among young adults (25–34), 62% engaged in gaming, reflecting a 2% increase.
These figures confirm that video games are a deeply embedded part of daily life and identity formation for younger generations.
Role for emotional regulation
According to the Power of Play 2023 global survey, players across 12 countries (ages 16+) report three primary reasons for playing video games:
- “to have fun,”
- “to pass the time,”
- “stress relief/relaxation.”
More than half of players say that gaming “provides them with a healthy outlet, helps them feel happier and helps them navigate difficult times in their lives.” This data highlights how gaming goes beyond mere entertainment—serving as a means for emotional regulation, social connection, and coping with everyday challenges.
Video gaming is no longer viewed solely as entertainment; they have evolved into a complex cultural and social phenomenon that intersects with youth identity, education, and social dynamics. From one perspective, video gaming represents a vibrant form of youth culture, offering young people a space to explore creativity, test boundaries, and shape digital identities. This includes participation in online communities and cultural production, where players engage with and contribute to shared narratives, styles, and rituals. Gaming also functions as a space, where players find meaning beyond mainstream norms. These spaces can serve as counter-narratives to dominant values, enabling experimentation with activism, gender roles, or alternative forms of social order. For example, some games provide settings where rules are suspended, authority is challenged, or different identities can be explored safely.
Gaming as Educational Tool
Gaming also holds significant educational potential. It is being integrated into formal and non-formal education as a tool for skill development, simulation, role-playing, and engagement. Game-based learning leverages intrinsic motivation, feedback, and interactive environments, and has been applied to contexts from early education to professional training. Platforms like Minecraft or tools like Twine are used to develop spatial, narrative, and problem-solving skills. The core value of this approach lies in its ability to foster experiential, inquiry-based learning—providing learners with immersive environments where they can experiment, reflect, and build critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Grounded in constructivist pedagogical principles, game-based learning supports autonomy, motivation, and emotional engagement, while promoting competencies such as collaboration, creativity, and civic awareness. It allows learners to learn by doing, fail safely, receive instant feedback, and engage with complex real-world issues through simulation. As such, video games can be successfully applied in formal, non-formal, and informal education contexts (Woessner, 2023).
Video games, when purposefully integrated into educational settings, offer a powerful and engaging method for learning.
Minetest
An open-source game engine, exemplifies the potential of game-based learning in promoting sustainability and future skills. Through collaborative world-building, learners engage in creative problem-solving embedded within narrative frameworks. For instance, in a workshop for the Goethe-Institute in India, adolescents were tasked with creating a sustainable world while practicing German and developing the 6Cs of deep learning (communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, character, and citizenship). They addressed global issues such as clean water, renewable energy, and sustainable cities, documenting their progress with screencasts. By connecting the virtual world with real-world challenges, Minetest enables a deep, transformative learning experience. The platform can be used in both formal settings (e.g., language or geography classes) and non-formal learning environments such as youth centers or civic education workshops.
This War of Mine
Offers a compelling example of using commercial games for civic and human rights education. As a “persuasive game,” it immerses players in the harrowing choices of civilians trying to survive in a war-torn city. The game prompts moral reflection, empathy, and system thinking, making it a powerful medium for discussing the human cost of war and the complexities of survival and ethics in extreme conditions. Educators can tailor its use based on learners’ sensitivity levels—some can play, others can observe and analyze decisions. Its application spans subjects like history, political science, and media studies. Learners can explore the impact of war, analyse narrative design, conduct mock trials, or even create alternate reality games to explore peacebuilding. This approach enhances learners' civic consciousness and helps develop critical engagement with contemporary global issues.
The Sims 4
A popular life simulation game, is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for diversity and inclusion education. Its open-ended gameplay allows learners to experiment with gender identities and sexual orientations in a safe and creative environment. In an educational project, students create Sims with diverse identities and document their experiences through Instagram posts using hashtags like #genderexperience or #sims4diversitychallenge. Learners reflect on gender norms, emotional responses, and social roles while practicing empathy and self-awareness. This method promotes inclusivity, reduces prejudice, and allows for exploration of identity in a low-risk setting. Because of its flexibility, The Sims 4 can be effectively used in classrooms, workshops, or informal peer-education contexts, especially with learners aged 12 and older. This box has been developed based on the work of Stephanie Woessner
Gaming, Gambling and Gamification
It is essential to distinguish between “gaming, gambling and "gamification". While – as explained in advance - gaming can foster deep engagement and learning when integrated meaningfully, the pervasive gamification seen in many apps driven by commercial and behavioural nudges — mainly not the complex video games we refer in this section - can promote compulsive behaviours. Especially when game mechanics mimic gambling, they may condition users to engage in reward-seeking loops that prioritize data extraction over meaningful interaction.
Loot boxes
are in-game features that offer players randomized virtual rewards — such as weapons, outfits, or power-ups — often in exchange for real money or in-game currency. Players do not know what they will receive until after purchase, making the mechanic similar to a game of chance. This randomness, combined with visual and audio effects that mimic slot machines, makes loot boxes psychologically comparable to gambling. Many games popular with youth include these mechanics, often without clear age restrictions or transparency.
Educators should be aware that:
- Loot boxes can normalize gambling-like behavior, especially in younger players.
- They may encourage impulsive spending and risk-reward thinking.
- They are designed to be emotionally engaging and habit-forming.
Including discussions around loot boxes in media education is key to helping young people critically understand monetization strategies, identify manipulative design, and make informed choices in gaming environments.
The potential of games and play is transferred increasingly to other contexts.
Gamification
The implementation of game elements in other social interactions. The game mechanics and gameplay encourage players to act in line with behavioural expectations (e.g. competition and consumption), or shape incentives to encourage certain behaviour (by “nudges”, badges, scoring, bonuses, or leaderboards...).
Referring to Huizinga, one could point out that gamification seeks to utilise the human play-mood as the extraordinary emotional experience in order to enrich the user experience somewhere else, for instance in an app: “The play-mood is one of rapture and enthusiasm, and is sacred or festive in accordance with the occasion. A feeling of exaltation and tension accompanies the action, mirth and relaxation follow” (Huizinga, 1949, p. 132) . Therefore, a lot of apps and data extraction mechanisms include gamification elements which users are usually not aware of (Pirker, 2020, p. 60).
References
Huizinga, Johan (1949). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-element in Culture, London.
Koberg, H. (2023). For Play’s Sake: What makes us play and how we can fight it. In N. Koenig, N. Denk, A. Pfeiffer, T. Wernbacher, & S. Wimmer (Eds.), Freedom | Oppression | Games & Play (pp. [insert pages]). University of Krems Press. https://doi.org/10.48341/TTMB-RZ82
Pirker, G. (2020). Culture, Art, Digitalisation. Smart City, Smart Teaching: Understanding Digital Transformation in Teaching and Learning. Democracy and Human Rights Education inEurope, Brussels
Springer, N. Kapusta N. and Schoof, N. (2019). The Importance of Being Playful. Addiction Prevention in the Context of Online Gaming, in Wilfried Elmenreich, René Reinhold Schallegger Felix Schniz, Sonja Gabriel, Gerhard Pölsterl Wolfgang B. Ruge Hrsg. (eds) Savegame. Agency, Design, Engineering. Springer VS, Wiesba-den, Germany.
Video Games Europe. (2023). Power of Play: Global report 2023.
Wössner, S. (2023). Let’s Play for a Better Future: Exploring the Potential of Future-Oriented Learning with Games to Foster Freedom, Democracy, and Tolerance. In N. Koenig, N. Denk, A. Pfeiffer, T. Wernbacher & S. Wimmer (Eds.), Freedom | Oppression | Games & Play (pp. [insert pages]). University of Krems Press. https://doi.org/10.48341/TTMB-RZ82
Elisa Rapetti
Researcher and learning facilitator with a PhD in Social Research Methodology. She works in research, training, and project design, focusing on youth participation, Global Citizenship Education, and digital transformation at Democracy and Human Right Education in Europe (DARE).
Email: elisa.rapetti.at.dare-network.eu
Handbook: More than Go with the Flow
- A handbook on Digital Citizenship Education, created in the frame of the project DIYW-ROAD/Competendo. Digital Youth Work - rights-sensitive, open, accessible, democratic.
- Unless otherwise stated, authors and editors of the methods published in the project are Elisa Rapetti, Markus José Plasencia Kanzler, and Nils-Eyk Zimmermann
