NEXT BERLIN.

Online games are big but there is still plenty of potential for growth by targeting new demographics and using pervasive techniques to appeal to people who would otherwise be too busy or otherwise engaged to play games.

This presentation will provide an overview of the field using old and new games and sites with game elements and shed light on new developments and social trends that are starting to play a role in the gaming landscape.

Furthermore the field of gamification for engagement and how to do it well with a specific focus on dating and relationship sites. With examples and analysis of games old and new, own work and best practices from the field.

Alper Çuğun M.Sc. (1981, Amsterdam) is a designer, developer, theoretist and publicist active on the focal point of technology, design and society. Graduated from Delft, University of Technology with a Masters in Media and Knowledge Engineering he started TipiT, a crowd-funding startup that contributed to many online initiatives among which Wikileaks. After this he started Monster Swell, the first Dutch agency for data and visualization in which field he is among the leading thinkers and makers in the Netherlands. Besides managing his own agency he duals as CTO at Hubbub, a leading Dutch game studio. At Hubbub he conceives and creates pervasive games for social and organizational change. Alper is also on the board of Hack de Overheid (Hack the Government) a foundation that removes institutional friction by means of functional provocations. In that facility he has helped shape open data policy in the Netherlands, organized hackathons and created the Apps for Amsterdam contest

What is the shape of the rapidly growing niche of love and relation games. Who are the new demographics entering the online game market? What are key mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics for games in this niche? What are things to avoid? How to engage people in the attention starved online environment?