What Game Design Teaches Us About Learning Design

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What Game Design Teaches Us About Learning Design

By Jason T. Rogers

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how people learn—not just what they learn, but how the experience is built.

And the more I explore that question, the more I find myself circling back to one unexpected source: game designers.

That’s right—people who build video games might actually have something important to teach us about building better classrooms, better training environments, and better learning systems overall.

I recently watched a video called "Why Game Designers Use Maslow" by Extra Credits. It’s a short, sharp explanation of how good game design lines up with something we usually only hear about in psychology class: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Watch here → Why Game Designers Use Maslow – Extra Credits

And it got me thinking—maybe it’s time educators started thinking more like game designers.

The Levels of Learning… and Why They Matter

If you’ve ever seen Maslow’s pyramid, you know the idea: before people can focus on higher thinking, they need basic needs met first—like safety, belonging, confidence, and purpose.

What surprised me in the video was how game designers use this exact model—not just as theory, but as a blueprint for designing progressive learning experiences.

Here’s how it breaks down:

  1. Safety and Comfort – Early in a game, players need space to feel secure. Low stakes. No pressure. Time to explore without fear of failure.
    → In classrooms, students need that too. They need to feel emotionally safe before they’re ready to stretch their thinking.

  2. Belonging and Community – Games build connection through co-op modes, chat systems, and shared goals.
    → In learning environments, this means creating collaboration, peer support, and a culture of inclusion.

  3. Achievement and Challenge – Great games give players regular wins—small, satisfying steps forward. Then they raise the challenge just enough to keep it interesting.
    → That’s scaffolding. That’s formative feedback. That’s what keeps learning engaging, not overwhelming.

  4. Mastery and Purpose – The best games eventually give players deeper meaning. A reason to keep going. A story to be part of. A role to grow into.
    → That’s where real learning lives—not just in knowledge, but in identity. In purpose. In personal growth.

Why Making Games Helps Us Teach Better

When you try to design a game—even a simple one—you start to realize how intentional every learning moment has to be.

You can’t just throw players into a chaotic mess and expect them to figure it out. You need structure. Sequence. Feedback. Motivation. Progression.

And the same is true for students.

When educators start thinking like designers, they ask better questions:

  • How will students feel in the first 5 minutes of this lesson?
  • What’s the small win they can get right away?
  • How will they know they’re improving?
  • When does this learning start to feel meaningful?

Those are the questions that move us past just “delivering content” and into creating learning experiences that actually stick.

Games Aren’t a Distraction—They’re a Map

Too often, people look at games as entertainment—something extra, something separate from real learning. But I think we’ve had it backwards.

Games aren’t a distraction from learning.
They’re a masterclass in how learning actually works.

Every good game is a layered experience. A system of challenges, feedback loops, motivation, failure, resilience, and mastery.

And if we’re serious about helping students grow—not just pass tests—then we should be studying the people who’ve been doing that better than anyone: the game designers.

So What Can We Take Away?

If you’re a teacher, trainer, or coach—maybe your next lesson plan doesn’t need more slides or more content. Maybe it needs a little game-thinking.

  • Start with safety and confidence.
  • Build in small wins and progress markers.
  • Create space for connection and challenge.
  • Tie the work to purpose.

Because when you design for how people feel at each stage of learning, you give them something far more powerful than information—you give them the experience of growth.

And that’s what learning is all about.

Want help sketching out a learning game or building a lesson around Maslow’s pyramid? I’d be happy to map it out with you. Let’s keep learning forward.



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