The proposed work will address the problem of encouraging and nurturing digital take-up amongst older citizens who have not previously had access to digital technology. The target group (over 55 years and not digitally literate) typically consists of individuals who have reached an advanced stage in their lives without learning to use any digital technology. Our approach will use touch-table games to introduce such individuals to digital interaction that provides confidence motivation and skills that can subsequently support exploratory-based learning of other digital technologies. The approach will be to pilot and validate a new approach to learning digital skills that targets affective barriers to technology adoption as well as the cognitive and physical process of learning and skill acquisition. Progression from initial exploration of a table-top application through the practical comprehension of system principles to automatic competence and full literacy can be achieved through a combination of playful exploration and light guidance through engagement with games. Players motivated to engage with games are effectively engaging in incremental learning about, for example, the behaviour of digital objects, the principles of object and area selection and the relationship between analogue metaphors and degrees of movement on digital space. Helping and persuading participants to overcome reluctance is a priority as facilitating the cognitive progress of learning, and the playability, engagement and sociality of games is key to this strategy. The use of the social dimension weakens resistance to educational activities that learners may be reluctant to engage in. For older users this includes reversing a social stigma when contemplating digital technologies (where there is a sense of disenfranchisement, a sense that it is not ‘their’ technology). The overlay of a sense of social activity through gaming is likely to produce behaviour change. The mission of organisations such as The UK and numerous regional online centres in the UK is to provide an environment that supports a positive approach to technology, as well as more instrumental help in overcoming difficulties.A threshold of 210 users and 35 individuals engaged in mentoring users in day centre environments will take part in two round of studies using touch-table games, followed by longitudinal monitoring of their progression to use of a wider range of digital utilities, principally using tablets. This will lead to the generation of a best-practice guide for promoting the approach to inspiring digital adoption for older users. This will disseminated in the three partner countries and trans-nationally through organizations concerned with promoting digital adoption for excluded citizens.The EU acknowledges the need for every citizen to have at least basic digital skills in order to participate in the modern society. Although the percentage of people online has increased rapidly in recent years we are now faced with the fact that there remains a percentage of people who for a combination of reasons are harder to reach and more difficult to provide with digital skills. Acquiring initial digital literacy involves learning basic manipulations, translating thoughts and intentions into specific input actions. This is a skill that is learned through adoption, exploration and repeated practice. The WIMP interfaces that are typical of the second generation of interactive systems have proved difficult to learn for many citizens. Therefore our approach is to provide pathways to digital literacy that has playful and social interaction as a key first phase. The gentle introduction gradually encourages exploratory learning of tools such as social network and communication, and more task-based applications such as e-mail, form filling and manipulating security features. This may be by transferring learned and practiced competence not interaction with tablets (in order to exploit touch and manipulation skill acquired through game play). This segmentation of the learning process allows the acquisition of key interaction and exploratory-learning skills based on ludic engagement. This will build up digital confidence and familiarity with touch interfaces, and removes the stigma associated with digital technology, using ludic engagement to positively reinforce familiarity and confidence the technology. Furthermore it helps to redefine the role of those who are charged with mentoring and helping those individuals, by redefining the nature of learning. It is anticipated that the work will disseminate best-practice through its relationships with practitioner organizations established at EU level and in three of the partner countries (UK, Austria, Slovenia) where organizations targeting wider digital participation already exist. It will also promote and provide grounding for establishment of similar initiatives in Macedonia and other EU countries.