Why Strategy Games Improve Business Literacy: The Evidence Explained

There is a growing body of evidence that strategy board games do more than entertain. They develop genuine business skills — from pricing decisions and market analysis to resource management and competitive thinking. But how strong is the evidence, really? And what does it mean for parents, teachers, and anyone interested in building economic literacy through play?

In this deep dive, we unpack what educational research actually tells us about game-based learning for business and economics, why experiential approaches outperform passive instruction, and how strategy games like Smoothie Wars fit into the bigger picture.

The Case for Game-Based Business Education

Traditional business education — textbooks, lectures, worksheets — has its place. But it struggles with one fundamental problem: business is an active discipline. You learn it by doing, not by reading.

This is not a new observation. Educational psychologists have long recognised that experiential learning produces deeper understanding and longer-lasting retention than passive methods. The principle dates back to theorists like John Dewey and David Kolb, whose experiential learning cycle (concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, active experimentation) remains foundational in pedagogy.

Strategy board games naturally mirror this cycle. Players make decisions, observe the consequences, reflect on what went wrong or right, form new strategies, and try again. Each round is a compressed experiential learning loop.

What the Education Endowment Foundation Says

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) — one of the UK's most respected bodies for evidence-based education — has consistently highlighted the value of play-based and collaborative learning approaches. Their Teaching and Learning Toolkit rates collaborative learning as having moderate impact for low cost, making it one of the more cost-effective interventions available to schools.

Game-based learning sits at the intersection of several EEF-endorsed strategies:

The EEF does not specifically test individual board games, but the pedagogical mechanisms that make games effective — collaboration, immediate feedback, metacognitive demand, and repeated practice — are all well-supported in their evidence reviews.

Why Strategy Games Work for Business Concepts

Not all games are created equal when it comes to building business literacy. The games that work best share specific characteristics that map directly onto core business competencies.

1. Decision Density

In a well-designed strategy game, players make dozens of meaningful decisions per session. Should I invest in a new location? Lower my prices to undercut a competitor? Stockpile resources for next round? Each decision forces players to weigh trade-offs — the fundamental skill of business strategy.

Compare this to a traditional lesson where students might answer five multiple-choice questions about market competition. The depth of cognitive engagement is incomparable.

2. Immediate Consequences

When a player in Smoothie Wars sets their prices too high, they watch customers walk to a competitor's stall. That feedback is visceral and immediate. In a lecture, the consequence of misunderstanding pricing strategy is a mark on a test weeks later — too delayed to create the emotional encoding that strengthens memory.

3. Systems Thinking

Business does not operate in isolated concepts. Supply affects demand. Competitor behaviour changes your optimal strategy. Location matters. Weather matters. Strategy games force players to think in systems — understanding how variables interact — rather than studying each concept in a vacuum.

This is particularly valuable for economics education, where understanding supply and demand as interconnected forces (rather than two separate definitions to memorise) is essential.

4. Emotional Investment

Winning and losing create stakes. When you lose your in-game money because of a poor strategic decision, you remember why. This emotional component of learning — sometimes called "affective engagement" — is well-documented as a catalyst for deeper processing and stronger memory formation.

5. Safe Failure

Games provide a risk-free environment to make mistakes. In the real world, a bad business decision can be catastrophic. In a board game, you can go bankrupt, reflect on what happened, and try a different approach next round. This psychological safety encourages experimentation and builds resilience — both critical entrepreneurial traits.

The UK Schools Trend: Games in the Classroom

Across the UK, a growing number of schools are integrating strategy games into their business studies and PSHE curricula. This is not a fringe movement — it reflects a broader shift towards active learning methodologies endorsed by Ofsted's emphasis on "deep learning" and curriculum coherence.

Teachers report several consistent observations when using strategy games for business education:

• Engagement increases dramatically. Students who typically disengage during traditional lessons become active participants during game-based sessions. The competitive element and social interaction draw in learners who might otherwise switch off.

• Understanding moves from surface to deep. Students can explain why a pricing strategy works, not just define what pricing strategy means. They develop intuition alongside knowledge.

• Vocabulary acquisition happens naturally. Terms like "market share," "overhead costs," "profit margin," and "competitive advantage" enter students' active vocabulary through use rather than memorisation.

• Collaboration and communication improve. Negotiation, persuasion, and analytical discussion happen organically during gameplay. These are precisely the soft skills employers consistently say graduates lack.

If you are an educator considering this approach, our classroom guide for Smoothie Wars provides practical advice on integrating game-based learning into lesson plans.

What Skills Do Strategy Games Actually Build?

Let us be specific. When we say "business literacy," what exactly are students developing through strategic gameplay?

These are not abstract or trivial skills. They form the backbone of entrepreneurial thinking and economic literacy — competencies that serve students whether they start a business, manage a household budget, or simply make informed decisions as consumers and citizens.

How This Applies Beyond the Classroom

Game-based learning is not just for children. MBA programmes, corporate training, and professional development increasingly use simulation and game-based approaches. The principle is the same at every level: active decision-making in a consequences-rich environment produces better learning than passive consumption of information.

For families, playing strategy games together offers a natural opportunity to discuss business concepts without it feeling like a lesson. When your child asks, "Why did I run out of money?" after a game of Smoothie Wars, that is a teachable moment about cash flow management — far more memorable than any worksheet.

Our guide on teaching market economics without boring lectures explores this further, with practical tips for parents and educators alike.

Common Objections — And Why They Do Not Hold Up

"Games are just fun, not educational"

Fun and educational are not mutually exclusive. In fact, enjoyment enhances learning by increasing engagement, reducing anxiety, and promoting the kind of deep processing that leads to durable understanding. The EEF's evidence on collaborative and play-based learning directly contradicts the notion that rigour requires misery.

"You cannot assess learning from games"

You absolutely can. Post-game reflection, written analysis of strategies used, and application tasks (e.g., "Design a pricing strategy for a real product using what you learned") are all effective assessment methods. Many educators who use strategy games report that the quality of student reasoning in these assessments exceeds what they see from traditional methods.

"It takes too long to set up"

A well-designed board game takes five minutes to set up and explain. A single game session can cover concepts that would otherwise require multiple lessons. The time investment is modest; the return is substantial.

"It only works for certain types of learners"

The evidence suggests the opposite. Game-based learning benefits a wide range of learners because it engages multiple modalities simultaneously — visual (the board), kinaesthetic (moving pieces, handling cards), social (discussion and competition), and cognitive (strategic planning). It is one of the more inclusive pedagogical approaches available.

Choosing the Right Strategy Game for Business Learning

Not every game develops business skills equally. When selecting a game for educational purposes, look for these characteristics:

• Clear economic mechanics — pricing, trading, resource allocation
• Meaningful player interaction — competition and/or negotiation between players
• Consequential decisions — choices should matter and produce visible outcomes
• Appropriate complexity — challenging enough to require genuine thought, simple enough to learn quickly
• Replayability — different strategies should be viable, encouraging experimentation

For a curated list of games that meet these criteria, see our top 10 strategy games for business education.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age group benefits most from game-based business learning?

Strategy games can build business literacy from around age 7 upwards, though the specific skills developed vary with age. Younger children grasp basic concepts like supply and demand and fair pricing, whilst teenagers and adults engage with more complex ideas like market positioning, competitive strategy, and risk management. Games like Smoothie Wars are designed for ages 8 and up, making them accessible across a wide range.

Is there strong evidence that board games improve academic outcomes?

The direct evidence linking specific board games to exam results is still emerging. However, the underlying pedagogical mechanisms — experiential learning, collaborative learning, metacognition, and immediate feedback — are all strongly supported by bodies like the Education Endowment Foundation. The evidence for these mechanisms is robust, even if individual game-specific studies remain limited.

Can strategy games replace traditional business education?

They work best as a complement rather than a wholesale replacement. Games excel at building intuition, engagement, and practical understanding. Traditional methods are better for delivering precise definitions, theoretical frameworks, and structured knowledge. The most effective approach integrates both — using games to create experiential understanding that traditional instruction can then deepen and formalise.

How do I convince my school to adopt game-based learning?

Reference the EEF's evidence on collaborative learning and metacognition, both of which are activated by well-designed strategy games. Propose a small pilot — one class, one half-term — with pre- and post-assessments to demonstrate impact. Our STEM education case study provides a useful template for structuring such a pilot.

What business concepts can children realistically learn through board games?

More than you might expect. Through strategic gameplay, children can develop working understanding of pricing, competition, supply and demand, resource allocation, opportunity cost, profit and loss, market positioning, and basic negotiation. These are not surface-level encounters — repeated play builds genuine intuition that transfers to real-world reasoning.