Game jams—fast-paced game creation events—are easy for libraries to host and require minimal resources. They help patrons create tabletop RPGs, offering an accessible alternative to complex, costly systems like Dungeons & Dragons. Librarians highlight that collaborative storytelling gives players agency and supports community needs.
Read MoreMath anxiety is common among students, often resurfacing each fall as they struggle with foundational skills lost over the summer. To address this, the teacher introduces game-based learning tools like Prodigy, which adapt to students’ levels and turn math practice into low-stakes, engaging play. Students become more curious, confident, and willing to participate, while their skills..
Read MoreThe Troubles tabletop simulation offers a powerful medium for teaching Northern Ireland’s conflict through Historical Memory Education. By providing an immersive, narrative-based environment, it enables participants to think critically about complex socio-economic and historical contexts while safely exploring a sensitive period.
Read MoreLente Cuenen, a 25-year-old Dutch game designer, lives on a 50-foot boat near Amsterdam, where she created Spilled!, a cozy game about cleaning polluted waterways. Drawing on her lifelong connection to boats and sharing her seafaring lifestyle online, she built an audience for the game, which has sold nearly 100,000 copies on Steam and earned her over $250,000.
Read MoreThe author recounts participating in Together at Last, a romantic larp inspired by Hang the DJ and The Lobster, set in a dystopian matchmaking program where players navigate three assigned relationships. Originally an online pandemic larp, the in-person version emphasizes intimacy, consent, and emotional complexity.
Read MoreA McGill University clinical trial found that older adults who completed 30 minutes of BrainHQ training daily for 10 weeks showed significant cognitive benefits. Among 92 participants aged 65+, those using BrainHQ demonstrated improved cholinergic function—linked to memory, attention, and decision-making—restoring it to levels seen in people 10 years younger.
Read MoreThe University of Cádiz has launched its first University Teaching Games Library to promote active, game-based methodologies in teacher education. Led by Professor Marina Camino Carrasco, the project provides faculty and trainee teachers with educational games that support innovative, experiential learning.
Read MoreMars First Logistics is a relaxed physics-based sandbox game where players build customizable rovers to transport objects across a semi-procedural Martian landscape. Though simple to pick up, its core appeal lies in creativity: designing whimsical machines to solve increasingly complex logistics challenges.
Read MoreClimate-themed board games like Daybreak turn the overwhelming challenge of climate change into collaborative, hopeful play. By simulating real-world feedback loops and requiring cooperation, these games mirror activism and encourage collective problem-solving. Titles such as CO₂: Second Chance, KEEP COOL, and Catan: New Energies blend education with engagement, helping players grasp....
Read MoreSeif El-Nasr, a long-time scholar of serious games, virtual environments, and AI, has watched game studies grow from a nonexistent academic field to a robust area examining narrative, engagement, and social impact. Now UC Santa Cruz’s Presidential Chair, she leads initiatives that teach educators and students about AI, emphasizing human-centered integration and...
Read MoreKenyan schools are increasingly using games to advance skill-based education, transforming learning beyond traditional rote methods. Through game creation and play, students develop essential capabilities such as logic, coding, design thinking, storytelling, and project management — skills increasingly valued in the modern world.
Read MoreSusan Rivers, executive director of iThrive Games and keynote speaker for the 2025 Games for Good conference, emphasizes the importance of play in adolescent development. She argues that games help teens explore new skills, build confidence, and develop social-emotional capacities.
Read MoreDungeons & Dragons (D&D) exemplifies “serious leisure,” a skill-based, immersive hobby that fosters creativity, problem-solving and strong social bonds. FIU researcher Emily Messina studies how D&D supports identity-building, offering players a safe space to explore new personas and express themselves without real-world consequences.
Read MoreThe Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Sofia University held workshops in September and October to showcase the Media Masters educational game. More than 110 students and pupils tested the board game and its mobile app, culminating in a major workshop on recognizing fake news through realistic media scenarios.
Read More"FutureGuessr, a free online game launched in 2025, uses climate-based future imagery to engage players in guessing locations and learning about projected climate impacts by 2100. Inspired by GeoGuessr, it visualizes how familiar landscapes may change and contributes to a broader movement using games for climate communication.
Read MoreOut of Words is a handcrafted stop-motion adventure game built from clay, fabric, and glue. Inspired by The Neverhood, director Johan Oettinger blends filmmaking and animation techniques with Unreal Engine using custom scanners, photogrammetry, and puppet-animated cutscenes.
Read MoreA McGill University study of 92 adults ages 65+ found that 10 weeks of BrainHQ cognitive training increased acetylcholine production by 2.3% in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region tied to memory, attention, and learning. Using PET scans, researchers showed that the brain-training group improved while controls who played standard games did not.
Read MoreA University of Washington study found that 78% of surveyed gamers reported meaningful video-game experiences that had long-term impacts on their lives. These experiences often supported mental and physical health, especially during stressful periods like the pandemic, and provided narrative insights that aided identity formation.
Read MoreGamification uses game mechanics to create immersive, experiential learning that strengthens students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills.
Read MoreDiversity, Equality/Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a broad umbrella for interconnected concepts often expanded with terms like belonging, justice, and access. Equality ensures equal opportunity, diversity values differences, and inclusion fosters a sense of belonging.
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