The author reflects on a conversation with their 12-year-old son, a devoted Minecraft player, about the evolving nature of childhood, learning, and social connection. While expressing concern over rising prediabetes and reduced physical activity among youth, the author acknowledges that today’s kids socialize and learn differently.
Read MoreIf earning rewards like cash or vouchers motivated you to pick up litter, reduce energy use, or take public transport, you’re already part of a growing trend called the gamification of citizenship. This approach uses game elements—points, badges, leaderboards—in apps that encourage pro-social behaviors with real prizes, such as LitterLotto and BetterPoints.
Read MoreAccording to the International Chess Federation, 25 million kids play competitive chess worldwide, gaining valuable skills for the classroom and beyond. Chess promotes interdisciplinary learning, like literacy and math, and transversal skills such as critical thinking and analysis.
Read MoreThe POUR framework—Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust—offers a practical guide for making educational games accessible and effective for all players. It emphasizes designing content that can be perceived through various senses, ensuring controls are usable for diverse input methods, maintaining clarity and consistency, and building games that function across platforms and assistive technologies.
Read MoreNepal has a large youth population, yet youth voter turnout remains low due to a lack of engaging civic education. Traditional approaches have failed to connect with young people, especially in rural areas. Project Abhaya addresses this gap through gamified civic learning, using simulation games based on Nepal's laws and constitution.
Read MoreMonopoly, patented in 1935 by Charles Darrow, is more than a board game—it’s a cultural and economic allegory rooted in real-world inequality. Its origins trace back to Lizzie Magie’s The Landlord’s Game, an anti-monopolist critique of capitalism.
Read MoreLearn the best ways to gear for Karazhan in WoW TBC Anniversary. Discover dungeon farming, reputation rewards, crafting, and fast gearing strategies.
Read MoreOn June 14, the Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhopal, held interactive sessions as part of its Summer Nature Study Programmes — Green Cub and Green Teen — to promote environmental awareness. Green Cub participants played educational games on topics like waste segregation and water conservation, led by Dilip Kumar Chakravarty.
Read MoreGame designers in Cornwall, in collaboration with Falmouth University and the ATTUNE project, are developing Ace of Hearts, a “serious” video game aimed at helping young people process adverse childhood experiences such as poverty, bereavement, and substance abuse.
Read MoreTextArena is an open-source platform developed by A*STAR and IBM to test and improve large language models (LLMs) through over 24 competitive, text-based games. Designed to assess soft skills like negotiation and empathy—areas where LLMs traditionally struggle—the platform promotes real-time evaluation in dynamic environments.
Read MoreA study by ESPOL found that gamifying STEM education—specifically using weekly leaderboards—helped improve students' exam scores but did not boost their motivation or confidence in problem-solving.
Read MoreSingapore’s government is embracing gamification to boost civic engagement and community participation. Through platforms like CrowdTaskSG, initiatives such as the SG Youth Plan Quest and Great Budget Meal Hunt incentivize citizen input via surveys, tasks, and games, rewarding users with virtual coins, XP, and prizes.
Read MoreArlington residents are invited to play Growing a Better Arlington, an interactive board game designed to engage the community in city planning. Hosted at the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library, the game helps players explore growth scenarios by simulating decisions on housing, jobs, and public amenities using private and shared funds.
Read MoreTo address challenges in training over 3,000 nursing students across nine sites, a demonstrator project integrated game-inspired elements with active, reflective learning. Instead of gamifying for attention, the design used narrative, challenge, feedback, and exploration to foster clinical reasoning and engagement.
Read MoreUK higher education is seeing a 6% decline in enrolment, prompting universities to adopt gamification and game-based learning to boost student engagement and retention. Gamification uses elements like badges and leaderboards, while game-based learning involves immersive simulations.
Read MoreIn Gaming Cancer, Jeff Yoshimi explores how video games can support real-world scientific research, particularly in cancer treatment. Citizen science games like Foldit and EteRNA allow players to solve complex biological puzzles, contributing to discoveries like RNA vaccine design.
Read MoreSince 2020, McKinsey's Game-Based Innovation Lab (GBIL), formed after acquiring Imbellus, has been developing digital games for recruiting and professional development. Their first game, Sea Wolf, is part of the Solve assessment, used to evaluate analytical thinking in over 300,000 candidates annually.
Read MoreMinecraft Education engages students across subjects through immersive, game-based learning that promotes creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Aligned with educational standards, it supports instruction in coding, AI, science, math, history, and more.
Read MoreRevenge on Gold Diggers, China’s first interactive anti-scam video game, follows Wu Yulun, a man seeking revenge after falling victim to a love scam. The game, which explores pig-butchering scams, went viral after selling over a million copies, praised for realism but heavily criticized for misogynistic portrayals of women.
Read MoreDraw the Night Sky is an educational video game developed by Kennesaw State University students in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Designed to teach real-time constellations using data from the Yale Bright Star Catalog, the game allows players—especially children—to interactively explore and draw constellations guided by a celestial character named Stella.
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