Video games are usually associated with entertainment, competition and storytelling, but interactive games can also serve very different purposes. Researchers and educators increasingly use game-based experiences to explain difficult ideas, encourage problem-solving and help people explore complex systems. Because games allow users to interact with information rather than simply read about it, they can create distinctive opportunities for education and research.
Cardiff University provides several examples of this broader role for games. Research at the university includes educational games designed to teach scientific concepts, serious games exploring complex societal challenges, and research into extended reality and games. Its Computer Science teaching also uses game development as a practical way of introducing students to programming and computational thinking.
What Makes Games Useful for Education?
Traditional teaching often presents information through lectures, textbooks, diagrams or written exercises. Games can approach the same material through interaction. Instead of only receiving an explanation, learners can make choices, test ideas and see how an environment responds.
This approach is closely connected to game-based learning, where game mechanics are deliberately used to support educational objectives. A learning game may introduce challenges, rules, feedback and progression while keeping the academic concept at its centre.
For example, a scientific game can ask players to identify a problem and take actions within a simplified model of a biological system. The player learns by engaging with the system rather than simply memorising terminology.
Turning Scientific Concepts Into Interactive Experiences
Some scientific subjects can be difficult to communicate because they involve processes that cannot easily be observed directly. Interactive games can provide a simplified representation that makes those processes easier to explore.
Cardiff University’s Systems Immunity Research Institute develops educational applications designed to teach basic scientific concepts through play. One example is MacMan, a game created to illustrate how macrophages engulf and kill potentially dangerous bacteria and how certain bacteria can survive inside macrophages. Another project, Telomere Crisis, uses a mini-game format to introduce the role of shortened telomeres in cells and their relationship with cancer research.
These examples show that games do not have to reproduce an entire scientific system to be educational. A carefully designed interactive model can focus attention on a particular biological mechanism and give learners a way to explore it.
Learning Through Programming and Game Creation
Games can also become learning projects themselves. Creating even a relatively simple game requires students to think about algorithms, logic, data, interaction and software design.
Cardiff University’s Computer Science undergraduate programme introduces students to computational thinking early in their studies, with a substantial first-year programming project that is usually a computer game completed as a team. Students also study programming, algorithms, computer architecture, operating systems, software engineering and mathematics for computer science.
A game project can make abstract programming principles more tangible. When a piece of code controls the movement of a character or determines what happens after a player makes a choice, students can immediately see the relationship between software instructions and observable behaviour.
Serious Games and Real-World Challenges
The concept of serious games takes the educational role of interactive media even further. These games can be designed to communicate information, explore scenarios or encourage discussion about real-world issues.
Cardiff University’s research includes a project called Circular Families, which uses a card game to help urban communities explore practices connected with a circular economy. Players work through different scenarios involving areas such as buildings, food, mobility and green infrastructure while considering how everyday choices can contribute to circular systems.
This demonstrates that serious games can exist in both digital and physical formats. The essential feature is the purposeful use of play to encourage learning, discussion or exploration.
Games, Virtual Reality and Human Interaction
The development of virtual reality has expanded the possibilities for interactive learning. Instead of observing a simulated environment through a conventional screen, users can potentially experience a three-dimensional space from within it.
Cardiff University’s Human-Centred Computing research includes Extended Reality and Games, covering virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. The research examines both technical and societal opportunities and challenges, including applications involving gaming and education.
Immersive technology can be particularly interesting for education because it changes how information is presented. A virtual environment can allow learners to examine objects, navigate spaces or practise interactions in ways that would be difficult to reproduce in an ordinary classroom.
Games as Research Objects
Games can also be studied rather than simply used as teaching tools. Researchers may examine how games communicate ideas, how people interact with digital environments, or how players respond to different forms of design.
Cardiff University’s wider research community includes work on serious games, accessibility, historical games and digital gaming experiences. Recent computer science publications have also included research on mobile game accessibility and digital humans for games.
This interdisciplinary perspective demonstrates why gaming has become relevant to areas including computer science, education, psychology, communication and the humanities.
The Future of Games in Education
As technology develops, educational games are likely to become increasingly sophisticated. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, mobile technologies and improved game engines can provide researchers with more ways to create interactive learning environments.
The key consideration remains the relationship between the game and the intended learning outcome. A successful educational game does more than add points or entertainment to a lesson; its mechanics should help learners understand, practise or investigate something meaningful.
The work taking place at Cardiff University illustrates the variety of ways games can contribute to education and research. From teaching biology and introducing programming to exploring sustainability and extended reality, interactive games can provide valuable environments for experimentation and discovery.
As digital and interactive technologies continue to develop, the boundary between gaming, education and research will become increasingly interesting. Games can entertain, but they can also provide practical ways to investigate ideas, communicate complex information and help learners engage with subjects through active participation.
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