What Happens When a Game Designer Walks Into an Elearning Studio?

Ever wondered what would happen if you dropped a game designer into an elearning team? What if you applied game design in elearning, not just to add badges or points, but to reshape how we design learning experiences?

Not to write about gamification.
Not to throw in a points system.
But to really shape how to design learning experiences.
I have, and I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve seen that happens.

Why Game Design Thinking Rarely Shows Up in Elearning

We’ve all heard the buzzwords: gamification, game-based learning, immersive content and game theory.

But scroll through the average elearning library, and you’ll find very few examples that genuinely reflect game design thinking. You’ll read the articles about trends for the year and even if you look back you’ll see gamification, game based learning and games. But if you look through projects you won’t see many real examples.

Even if you look at the development tools that suggest that they are based in games, that don’t really reflect what’s happening in the game sector.
Why?
Because most of us haven’t worked side by side with actual game designers.

And yet the data tells us this crossover has never been more relevant:

• The global video games market is projected to reach $188.9bn in 2025, highlighting fierce competition for AAA roles (Reuters).
• In the UK, the games industry employs 26,000 people directly and is worth £6bn, with £7.82bn spent by consumers in 2023 alone (UKIE).
• However, 1 in 10 developers reported losing their jobs in the past year (GDC), showing how volatile the sector can be.
• There are 25,419 FTE development roles across 1,697 UK studios (TIGA).
• Game-based learning is booming — Kahoot alone has hosted 11+ billion learners globally (Kahoot).
• The market for game-based learning was $16.16bn in 2023, expected to hit $64.54bn by 2030 (Mordor Intelligence).
• VR learners complete training 4x faster than classroom learners and feel 3.75x more emotionally connected (PwC).
• Research shows game elements (mechanics, aesthetics, narrative, incentives) align with cognitive, motivational, affective, and social engagement — the foundations of impactful learning (Pressbooks).
• Academic studies in game-based learning have grown rapidly, particularly post-pandemic, across K–12, STEM, blended learning, and more (Science Direct, MDPI).

Let me take you back.

The Experiment That Changed Everything

A few years ago, we launched a three-year collaboration with Norwich University of the Arts and their computer game design art degree. We brought students into our elearning company. Not to make games, but to bring game thinking into learning design. At the time we would struggle to get people to work in elearning design.

I’d visited an exhibition at the Forum in Norwich. One student built a stunning level using Unity. It was so polished it could’ve been featured in a digital arts exhibition. It was set in The Forum – an incredible glass fronted building built at the start of the millennium to replace the old library in Norwich.

The level was incredible, fully playable. I asked if we could turn off the fire, oil drums and turn this into an elearning experience. The possibilities were limitless. Ryan, the designer, created a video and this led to the collaboration. Next? A session at the University called ‘Game in a Day. Working with software called Thinking Worlds that has been developed by Caspian Software. A brilliant piece of software that allowed 3rd workaround elearning courses, output to SCORM, that you could create quickly and easily.

Game designers would learn the software in hours and already had all of the skills to develop incredible projects.

We set up a session.

The brief? A standard induction course on lifting boxes. The result? Something you actually wanted to explore. They taught us interface design. They reimagined our navigation. They challenged how we introduced information.

Together we shared how we developed project, worked with specifications and how their skills could be used in another sector and opened up new job opportunities for the students to think about. We called it “Game in a Day.” We did it a few times. We split the students into teams. Gave them typical learning challenges. And let them apply game design principles: pacing, reward loops, engagement triggers. The results were unexpected, fun, and incredibly useful.

Why Game Designers Are a Hidden Asset in L&D

Most game design students dream of working in AAA studios. Few get there. Not because they don’t have the skills, but because there are a limited number of jobs available. But most don’t realise just how transferable their skills are to sectors like ours, such as digital learning. But we saw it immediately.

We gave them access to Thinking Worlds, a walkaround immersive tool. Most mastered it in a day because it worked like their studio tools. They didn’t just bring skills.

They brought a mindset:

• How does this feel to the user?
• What motivates action?
• What happens when you fail?
• What’s the loop that keeps you coming back?

These are the questions game designers ask. And they’re the questions L&D needs to ask too.

“I believe elearning teams should learn from game designers because it goes far beyond gameplay or trends. When you play games, you start to notice how menus are structured, how interfaces guide behaviour, how levels are paced, how music builds atmosphere, and how scoring or currency systems motivate action. There’s a huge amount L&D can learn from this. Not by replicating games, but by recognising that the design patterns in games are built to solve the same problems we face: engagement, clarity, motivation, memory.”

That crossover of elearning and game design thinking is not only possible. It’s urgently needed.

Let’s Ditch the Leaderboard Debate

You don’t have to add points, levels, or badges to qualify as using ideas from games and there isn’t a game design certification. Ignore the ‘experts’ going around trying to qualify whether your elearning project is gamifying or can be classified as using gamification.

What matters is whether the experience:

• Rewards exploration
• Recognises effort
• Inspires people to go again

We once built a plain-English writing course for a local authority. Dry topic.

At the end, we added a small secret, a Minesweeper-style mini game that unlocked once if you completed everything. No announcement. No prompt. But people noticed. And more importantly, they finished.

“One small idea that has consistently improved engagement is understanding reward and recuperation. Seeing how games manage access, recovery and progression has changed how we think about learning gates, especially in compliance content. It gives clients a practical way to rethink how people move through content rather than blocking them unnecessarily. We’ve started asking: what’s the recovery window here? Is there a way to make re-entry more encouraging? That kind of thinking unlocks real change.”

What You Can Learn from Games — Even the Silly Ones

Take WarioWare. Rapid-fire mini-challenges. No instructions. You have to figure it out in seconds. Sound familiar? It mirrors real workplace learning. This mirrors what top L&D teams are already doing with microlearning strategies , short, focused challenges that build confidence and skill through repetition.

So ask yourself:

• How do games onboard users without overwhelming them?
• How do they use sound and feedback to build momentum?
• How do they balance challenge and recovery?

These design patterns aren’t exclusive to games. They’re principles. And they apply beautifully to learning when used thoughtfully.

“A common misconception about elearning and game design is that it has to be all or nothing — like you’ve either built a full game or you haven’t done it right. But in reality, you can bring individual elements of game design into almost any project. Things like music, interface design, storytelling and atmosphere are often overlooked, yet they can make a meaningful difference without turning the whole thing into a game.”

Final Thought: You Don’t Need to Build the Next Call of Duty

You just need to think like a game designer. Work with someone who understands interface flow. Collaborate with people who’ve built systems of motivation. Hire someone who understands what keeps players in a loop.

This isn’t about chasing shiny trends. It’s about recognising that elearning and game design are not distant disciplines. They’re two sides of the same design coin.

“If there’s one action I’d recommend, it’s to play games with a critical eye. Not to copy them. Not to slap a ‘gamified’ label on your course. But to understand how other digital sectors solve user experience challenges. L&D borrows from marketing, accessibility, and film. We should treat game design the same way. Because the moment you do, you start to see hundreds of small ways to make learning better.”

If we want learning to be something people choose, enjoy, and return to, we need to stop hiring just for elearning experience. And start hiring for play.

For a broader look at how learning content fits into your strategy, check out our complete guide to buying an elearning course library.

Q&A

Q: What’s the difference between gamification and game-based learning?
A: Gamification adds game-like features to learning, like rewards, progress, or challenges. Game-based learning uses a game as the learning activity itself. In practice, the line can blur. What matters is whether the design improves attention, effort, and completion.

Q: How can a game designer improve elearning without adding points or badges?
A: Game designers improve flow and feel. They focus on menus, navigation, pacing, feedback, and “what happens next”. That makes learning clearer and more engaging, even when the content is serious. It’s often the small UX details that change behaviour.

Q: What game design ideas work best in workplace elearning?
A: Fast feedback, clear goals, short challenges, and satisfying progress. Also, better onboarding (learning by doing), recovery after mistakes, and small rewards that feel earned. These ideas help people stick with training, especially when the topic is boring or compliance-heavy.

Q: Why should L&D teams hire or collaborate with game design students?
A: Many game design skills transfer directly to digital learning: interface design, interaction design, audio, animation, storytelling, and systems thinking. Game design students are trained to hold attention and guide users through experiences. That’s exactly what elearning teams struggle with.