Ludo-epistemology: Playing with the Rules in Citizen Science Games

Abstract

In their chapter, Glas and Lammes critically investigate the limitations of citizen science game design when it comes to having amateurs playfully participate in the production of scientific knowledge. Moving away from the traditional distance between the scientist as expert and the citizen as layperson, and between science as serious and play as trivial, they argue for a recognition of play as fundamental to the scientific endeavor and see rule breaking and bending as an essential part of this process. From this perspective, they consider an approach to citizen science game design that includes playing with the rules as a more critical way of having citizens think about and participate in science.