Over the past 15 years of working in higher education, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: the quality of content has a profound impact on the learning journey. I’ve seen learners switch off when material is boring and I’ve also seen their eyes light up when an experience captures their curiosity and brings the subject matter to life.
It’s those moments of engagement, of real connection with learning, that have driven me to explore new ways of teaching. Over time, I’ve been fortunate enough to shape my career around one central question: how can we make learning more meaningful, engaging, and lasting?
My answer has consistently led me back to experiential learning and game design.
My Journey into Games and Learning
When I first began working in higher education, the resources I created (images, beautified PowerPoints, colour-coded graphs) were supporting traditional teaching methods. They were effective to a point, but I often felt like a learning journey could be better. Learners can easily recite information after reading it, but can they apply it to real-world situations?
The turning point came when I was first exposed to what education then saw as ‘gamified learning’. It was that dreaded fire safety, anti-fraud, anti-discrimination training. All bundled up in a SCORM package, created by an external partner, expensive, difficult to edit, and quickly out-of-date. It opened my eyes to the idea that adult learning could be more – and maybe even more than the aforementioned examples. People obviously saw that there was value in gamifying learning content for adults as well as children.
From then on, I made it my mission to improve experiential learning in every workplace I’ve been a part of.
Working in Higher Education
Working in a university setting has given me an incredible platform to put these ideas into practice. I’ve been lucky enough to share my passion with colleagues and learners alike, and to be directly involved in designing and delivering innovative learning games.
These games are embedded in countless courses for both undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and executive education clients. They span everything from board games that encourage collaborative decision-making, to award-winning immersive simulations that replicate the complexity of real-world business environments.
- Board games: These have been designed to explore complexity and leadership. Their tactile, interactive nature fosters collaboration, communication and problem-solving in a way that a lecture simply can’t.
- Immersive simulations: These push learners into complex, high-stakes scenarios where every decision counts. One of our most successful simulations K2, has been recognised for its impact in helping executives sharpen their decision-making under pressure.
What excites me most is how learners respond. They aren’t just learning passively; they’re experimenting, failing safely, and ultimately building confidence that carries back into their workplaces. And the energy is infectious.
Why Gamification Works
Gamification isn’t just a buzzword—it’s grounded in research and results. Numerous studies have shown that gamified learning improves engagement, knowledge retention, and motivation. It taps into fundamental drivers of human behavior:
- Challenge and achievement: Learners feel a sense of progress when they reach goals or overcome obstacles.
- Collaboration and competition: Games create opportunities for teamwork, while also sparking friendly rivalry.
- Immersion: When learners are “in” a scenario, they naturally pay more attention and invest more emotionally.
But for me, the key is this: games turn abstract theory into lived experience. Learners don’t just understand a concept—they feel it, wrestle with it, and see the consequences of their choices play out in real time.
That difference is what transforms knowledge into practical capability.
Bridging the Remote Learning Gap
The rise of remote learning has created both opportunities and challenges. While it makes education more accessible, it can also leave learners feeling isolated and disengaged.
Games bridge that gap. They create a sense of shared purpose, even when participants are scattered across the globe. I’ve seen online simulations where students who had never met before left feeling like they had been in the same room, solving problems together.
The first multiplayer game I developed provided a platform for students to play a crime-solving game with students all over the world. Fostering collaborative decision-making as they discussed their next moves and voted in real-time. All arbitrated by the academic who could then also monitor who was actively participating and who was taking a back seat.
For universities and training providers competing in today’s crowded market, this is a real differentiator. Gamification doesn’t just deliver content—it builds community and strengthens learning.
Tangible Impacts
It’s not enough for learning experiences to be enjoyable; they must also be effective. That’s why we (myself and the academics I work with) consistently evaluate the impact of our games.
Some of the results we’ve observed include:
- Improved teamwork and collaboration skills.
- Greater retention of complex concepts compared to lecture-based approaches.
- Increased confidence in decision-making under uncertainty.
- Positive feedback from learners, both qualitative (“this changed how I think about leadership”) and quantitative (20% increase in personal agency).
These obserevations remind me why I believe so strongly in this approach.
The Road Ahead
The field of gamification in education is still evolving, and that excites me. New technologies—from AI to VR—are expanding the possibilities of what learning games can achieve. But even beyond technology, there are opportunities to refine game design principles and tailor them to different learners and contexts.
Personally, I’m continuing to challenge myself to explore new formats and new ways of applying these methods. I see games not just as teaching tools, but as catalysts for deeper conversations, better collaboration, and lasting change.
My hope is that more educators, trainers, and organisations will see the potential of gamified learning—not as a gimmick, but as a serious, evidence-based way to elevate education.
Conclusion
If this resonates with you, I’d love to connect and exchange ideas. Let’s learn from each other, share what works, and continue building better learning journeys together.
And do watch this space—I’ll be sharing more as I continue experimenting, learning, and encouraging others to explore how games can transform education.
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