ABSTRACT: Advergames have been appearing alongside digital games since the very beginning. Although they had been originally created as marketing tools, their gaming nature has made from them an important part of digital-gaming industry heritage. At the same time, advergames, which persisted over time, may represent significant advantages for the brands they promote. The aim of the study is an examination of advergames’ timelessness based on a theoretical framework and a qualitative-quantitative content analysis of advergames released across their history up to 2000, taking into account aspects of both digital games’ and advertising timelessness. Besides general popularity, archetypal character, current playability and preservation, the analysis also focuses on the advergame design and brand implementation forms.
KEY WORDS: advergames, digital games, iconicity, history, participation, preservation, timelessness.
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