Gaming as Media Literacy in 2025
Introduction
In 2025, students encounter a digital environment saturated with AI-generated headlines, deepfake videos, and algorithm-driven feeds. Navigating this landscape requires more than traditional literacy skills; it demands media literacy, the ability to critically evaluate, interpret, and respond to information across multiple platforms. Video games have emerged as powerful tools for teaching these skills, offering immersive experiences that simulate misinformation and encourage critical thinking.
Games as Tools for Media Literacy
Interactive games provide students with practical, hands-on experience in identifying misinformation. Titles such as NewsFeed Defenders, Bad News, and Harmony Square place players in scenarios where they must evaluate credibility, recognize manipulation tactics, and understand the consequences of spreading false information. By stepping into these roles, learners move beyond passive consumption and actively engage with the mechanics of misinformation (Filament Games, 2025).
For example, NewsFeed Defenders tasks players with moderating a simulated social media feed, requiring them to flag suspicious posts and verify sources. Bad News flips the perspective by allowing players to run a fake-news empire and exposing them to six core disinformation tactics. Harmony Square demonstrates how selective facts and fake expert quotes can polarize communities, showing the ripple effects of misinformation in real time. These experiences provide immediate feedback, reinforcing critical thinking skills that students can apply to their own media habits.
Academic Perspectives on Game Literacy
Scholars argue that games should be treated as multimodal texts within education. Research conducted in Finland highlights how game literacy can be integrated into multiliteracy learning environments, encouraging students to analyze, reflect, and design games as part of their education (Pavloff‑Pelkonen, Hakkarainen, & Korhonen, 2025).
This approach emphasizes five perspectives of game literacy: functional, interactive, narrative, sociocultural, and procedural. By engaging in these dimensions, students learn not only how to play games but also how to interpret their cultural and communicative significance. Such practices align with broader educational goals of fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and creative meaning-making in digital contexts.
The Broader Landscape of Media Literacy Games
Beyond classroom applications, media literacy games are increasingly recognized as essential tools for 21st-century competencies. A thematic analysis of 100 media literacy games revealed that most focus on topics such as fake news, digital privacy, and personal media habits. These games frame media literacy as a set of knowledge, skills, and competencies required to use and interpret media effectively (Glas et al., 2023).
This growing ecosystem demonstrates the potential of games to address urgent societal challenges, from misinformation to polarization. By combining entertainment with education, media literacy games provide accessible pathways for learners of all ages to strengthen their digital citizenship.
Conclusion
Gaming in 2025 is more than entertainment; it is a pedagogical tool for media literacy. Classroom titles like NewsFeed Defenders and Bad News give students practical experience in spotting misinformation, while academic frameworks highlight the importance of treating games as cultural texts. As misinformation continues to evolve, games offer a dynamic and engaging way to prepare learners for the complexities of the digital age.
References
Filament Games. (2025, September 22). Classroom games to teach media literacy in 2025. https://www.filamentgames.com/blog/classroom-games-to-teach-media-literacy-in-2025/
Glas, R., van Vught, J., Fluitsma, T., De La Hera, T., & Gómez‑García, S. (2023). Literacy at play: An analysis of media literacy games used to foster media literacy competencies. Frontiers in Communication, 8, 1155840. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1155840
Pavloff‑Pelkonen, E., Hakkarainen, K., & Korhonen, T. (2025). Educational design and implementation of game literacy in a multiliteracy learning environment. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2025.2487284