Educational Games & Learning Simulations That Actually Teach

Case Study 1

Turning a 100-Question Career Questionnaire into an Interactive Learning Experience

Context

A vocational education provider working with adult learners needed a better way to help prospective students choose the right course and career path. The existing approach relied on a long, text-based questionnaire that many users found tedious and disengaging.

The Problem

Choosing a career path requires reflection and honest self-assessment — but asking users to answer close to 100 questions in a static format created fatigue and drop-off. The risk was that learners would disengage before reaching meaningful insights, reducing the effectiveness of the guidance process.

The Design Challenge

The core challenge was engagement: How do you guide users through a large volume of reflective questions while keeping them motivated, focused, and emotionally invested?

This needed to work for the target audience — primarily young adult learners — without oversimplifying the learning task.

The Approach

Instead of treating the questionnaire as a form, I redesigned it as a narrative-driven interactive experience.

Key design decisions included:

• Reframing questions as moments within an interactive story

• Using character, tone, and scenario design to match the target audience

• Introducing a sense of progression rather than branching complexity

• Maintaining learning integrity while making the experience feel playful and personal

I focused on meaningful choice and pacing rather than heavy branching, ensuring the experience stayed manageable while still feeling interactive.

The Solution

I designed and prototyped a narrative-based learning game using an interactive story format (similar to episodic storytelling apps). The prototype demonstrated:

• All major screens and interactions

• Character and narrative flow

• How reflective questions could be embedded naturally into gameplay

The result was a clear, development-ready concept that could replace the static questionnaire with an engaging learning experience.

Outcome

The prototype was approved by the client and used to validate the concept internally. The client was pleased with the result and later offered additional work, confirming the value of the approach.

Case Study 2

Designing a Mobile Learning Game to Teach Financial Literacy to Children (Ages 9–11)

Context

An education client wanted to turn an existing financial literacy textbook into an engaging mobile learning experience for children aged 9–11. The goal was not just to present information, but to help learners understand and apply financial concepts through play.

The client provided source material and a high-level game design brief, but the challenge was translating static content into interactive learning.

The Problem

Financial concepts such as saving, investing, and trade are abstract — especially for children. A textbook-based approach risked low engagement and poor retention.

The key challenge was:

How do you make financial systems concrete, memorable, and motivating for young learners?

The Design Challenge

• Ensuring each interaction reinforced a clear learning objective
• Keeping children engaged across multiple sessions
• Integrating learning systems (like savings and investment mechanics) that persist beyond individual games

The Approach

The client started with a document that structured the app as a progressive learning journey made up of 11 themed levels, each focused on a single financial concept.

Key design decisions included:

• Designing three short games, simulations, or quizzes per level to reinforce learning through repetition and variation

• Using a historical theme, allowing players to travel to different ancient settings

• Introducing concepts through comic-style narrative sequences to reduce cognitive load

• Using a guiding character (Mansa Musa) to contextualize wealth, trade, and decision-making in a relatable way

• Creating meta-systems (such as savings and investments) that connected learning across levels

This ensured learning happened not only within games, but through the overall system.

The Solution

The result was a mobile educational game that combined:

• Narrative-driven onboarding

• Short, focused learning games and simulations

• Persistent systems that mirrored real-world financial behaviour

Each level delivered a complete learning loop while contributing to a broader understanding of money management.

Outcome

The app delivered a complete, curriculum-aligned learning experience that transformed textbook material into interactive play. The structure allowed learners to progress at their own pace while repeatedly applying financial concepts in different contexts.

The design also gave the client a scalable framework, making it easier to expand or adapt the content in future.