The aim of this paper is to shed light on the dynamics of civic participation, media agency, anddata practices. To do so we analyse an investigative journalism story run by The Guardian that combinedopen data, crowdsourcing and game mechanics with the purpose of engaging readers. The case studyhighlights how data can be made accessible to people who usually do not have access; how game mechanicscan be deployed in order to foster civic participation by offering users a sense of autonomy, competence andrelatedness; and how crowdsourcing can organise a large group of people into achieving a common goal. Thecombination of these three elements resulted in a case for civic participation in the digital era.