5 Reasons to Use Game-Based Learning in Your Classroom

In 2019, as a newly minted co-teaching pair, we stumbled upon game-based learning (GBL). The value of GBL was immediately obvious to us. We have since acquired expertise in GBL, serious games, and playful learning. It’s become our mission to spread awareness about these pedagogical practices and encourage teachers to utilize games as tools for instruction.

When we recommend GBL to other educators, we are often met with a well-meaning but skeptical look akin to “Games are cool, but c’mon… games?” Educators sometimes view games as frivolous, considering them to be add-ons or review tools.

The cross-pollination of game design and teaching is well-documented; games are texts that present goals, challenges, choices, and feedback, and also elicit emotional responses. Games provide sites of exploration so that thinking becomes visible. When we invite students to play with purpose, we expand their opportunities and potential to level up their learning.

The use of game-related terminology in educational contexts can at times be broad and imprecise. To make explicit our focus, we are excluding digital games, trivia-based games (Jeopardy!), completion games (Bingo), and gamified activities (Quizizz, Kahoot, and Blooket). These games have their purpose in academia, but they are limited in their ability to facilitate instruction in the way that serious games or games-based learning deliver. Dave Eng, researcher and educator, offers a helpful distinction between serious games (those created specifically to achieve academic goals and outcomes) and GBL (modified commercial games used to achieve academic goals and outcomes).

Below are five reasons to consider GBL and serious games, followed by four tabletop game suggestions to get you started.

Why Educators Should Consider GBL in the Classroom

Social engagement: Playing an analog game typically brings students together. Initial student interactions are functional: discussing turn order, reviewing the rules, and choosing pieces. In a well-designed game, these exchanges evolve into dynamic experiences. Students adapt to group norms, practice systems thinking, and collaborate meaningfully.

Agency and productive failure: Games present students with choices that have meaningful consequences. Students decide how to overcome challenges in productive ways while controlling the pace and acquisition of knowledge. This sometimes leads to failure, but failure in a game does not (nor should it) result in a poor grade. Instead, in-game failure offers instant feedback and informs future decisions.

Experiential learning: Through games that encourage critical thinking, calculated risk-taking, and curious exploration, students shift into “discovery mode.” Games serve as vehicles for experiences that can deliver powerful emotions and act as engines for empathy. Game designer Brenda Romero calls this the “artifact of experience.”

Systems thinking: Modern board games are complex and span a variety of themes. From administering palliative care to a terminally ill patient in Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr to investigating the power structures of society in Hegemony to resisting furry forest fascists in Root, there’s something for everyone. Regardless of the theme, these games allow students to sift through complex systems and test how ideas are linked together within larger frameworks. While motivation during gameplay is high, the stakes are low. In our experience, students with diverse learning needs are more willing to take risks and explore ideas when presented in game format.

Playful learning: Games transform learning from the banking model of education to experiences rooted in curiosity. Games avoid the traditional pitfalls of passive compliance and disengagement. They offer students a space to engage with ideas in ways that interest them, while remaining faithful to the educational goals established by teachers.

Where to Begin

Educators who are interested in implementing GBL should start by playing contemporary games and taking notes on the breadth of themes and mechanics. This is the fastest way to acquire a basic design literacy. We recommend the following game titles, which range in playtime from 30 to 60 minutes.

The Grizzled: This cooperative game highlights the camaraderie of soldiers who survived in the trenches during World War I. Despite the premise of war, The Grizzled has no combat. Instead, the game is about elevating those around you. The characters are named after actual soldiers, which helps humanize history. The Grizzled is suitable for history and humanities courses.

HerStory: Players adopt the role of an author writing chapters of a book about remarkable women. Each card in HerStory centers on a famous woman and provides facts about her historical contributions. The game works well as a springboard for research in English and history courses. It also serves as a model for imitation projects: Students can create additional famous figures to be the subjects of HerStory cards or create games about other historically marginalized groups.

Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr: Players work together as health care providers to ease the pain of a terminally ill patient, gain his trust, and help him confront his troubled past. This game delivers a powerful narrative that activates empathy and guides players into an aesthetic experience. It may not be suitable for younger players, but it is suitable for social and emotional learning instruction, crafting narratives, coping with grief, psychology, and the human experience.

Daybreak: Informed by science and real-world problems, this cooperative game is about reversing the impact of climate change. Game cards feature QR codes that direct players to learning opportunities, volunteer possibilities, and actionable solutions for combating climate change. Daybreak is suitable for science courses.

While using games as educational tools isn’t new, GBL isn’t yet a mainstream pedagogical practice. Educators should investigate current research on effective ways to facilitate games as instructional tools. Websites such as University XP, MS Serious Games, and Games for Change are resources that can help teachers get in the game.