Why Game-Based Learning Works Better Than Traditional Methods

I work with several teachers. They’re using games extensively for teaching and finding them more effective than traditional methods. However, others are skeptical of game-based learning. In this blog, I summarize some of the arguments from teachers who have augmented their teaching methods with games.

The general arguments are:

1. Game-based learning aligns with how the human brain learns
2. Engagement increases retention
3. Games, by default, encourage failure and thus practice
4. Games are easier to pace to the learner’s needs
5. Games can be solid representations of abstract concepts
6. Games shift motivation from external to internal

1. Game-based learning aligns with how the human brain learns.

Games are experiential. Basic biology shows that many animals use play and games to learn skills such as hunting, defending against predators, gathering food, and even finding mates. Games move the balance from listening, reading, and memorizing alone to experiential learning or learning by doing.

Further, immediate feedback loops help the brain quickly connect actions with outcomes.

2. Engagement increases retention

From educators to founders and leadership teams at consumer tech companies, very high authority individuals will tell you that engagement increases retention. Attention is becoming an expensive commodity. Games easily capture students’ attention and can be converted into learning. The more time learners remain curious about a topic and stay engaged, the more likely they are to learn more.

When learners are emotionally invested, then learning stops feeling like work.

3. Games, by default, encourage failure and thus practice.

If there is anything that good educators agree on, it is that learning requires practice. The natural extension is that learners need to be comfortable with trying, failing, and trying again. This loop is literally what makes most games. Games reduce stakes and normalize failure. And in the normalization of failure, they make practice a typical behaviour for the learners.

4. Games are easier to pace to the learner’s needs.

Traditional learning systems move at a fixed speed. This can be too fast for some and too slow for others. Games, however, can be played at your own pace. Learners can progress when they’re ready. Difficulty can scale dynamically. Learners can review concepts at their own pace.

Games can be personalized with a game creator app, making learning more inclusive and effective across skill levels.

5. Games can be solid representations of abstract concepts.

Learning modern subjects such as math, logic, systems, and strategy can be challenging due to their inherent abstraction. This is where games can help immensely. Games:

Can visualize complex systems

Let learners interact with concepts instead of only imagining them

And show consequences in real time

Wherever problem-solving, strategy, and systems thinking are necessary, the brain performs better when it frames problems as games rather than tasks.

6. Games shift motivation from external to internal.

Traditional learning relies on external motivators such as grades, exams, and certificates. Games introduce intrinsic motivation. They bring in curiosity, mastery, progress, and autonomy. When learners play to improve, not just to score, they retain knowledge longer and apply it more effectively.

Caveats for introducing games in learning

• Games can be a distraction when learning goals are unclear. This means the best people to develop learning games are teachers themselves. At Pikoo.ai, we understand this, and we’re creating the best tool for teachers to produce the right games.
• Not everything should be gamified. Everything looks like a nail to the one with a hammer. And we, or any game designer, can be that. If we take charge, then we’d want to make a game out of everything. But that’s not right. Some topics need deeper reflection, discussion, or depth.
• Games have their limitations. They cannot teach you all the advanced topics. They can augment basic learning.

Bottom line: game-based learning works best when games are a means to understanding, not the teaching itself. But the integration of games into learning plans can significantly improve learning outcomes for many students.