Critical digital literacy for Catalan high school students: Co-design of an educational module around an indie video game

According to annual reports by Edelman (2025) and DataReportal (Kemp, 2025), Western societies are experiencing an upswing in both polarization and digital media consumption  a trend particularly pronounced in Spain. This paper outlines a co-design process involving 139 students and 20 video game experts to develop guidelines for an educational module on critical digital literacy. It offers insights into Catalan students’ preferences for educational content (short, creative, visual content) and expert recommendations on essential approaches for teaching critical digital literacy (discursive and iterative lessons). The findings show that students are eager to engage in this kind of participatory research. The study identifies four areas of student interest/weakness that can serve as entry points for teaching critical digital literacy (brainwashing tools, creativity, immigration, and what is real), together with four video games deemed suitable for educational use (Brawl Stars; Papers, Please; The Stanley Parable; What Remains of Edith Finch). Finally, the paper provides an exploratory, locally grounded yet ecologically valid perspective on how to start integrating indie games into high school curricula.