Using Board Games for STEM Education: What Actually Works
Most teachers know that games get children engaged. The tricky part is turning that engagement into genuine STEM learning — the kind that sticks, transfers to new problems, and actually moves the needle on assessments.
The good news? There is a growing body of evidence showing that strategic board games, when used deliberately, can do exactly that. The Education Endowment Foundation's research on play-based learning consistently finds that structured, purposeful game-based approaches improve outcomes in mathematics and science — particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
But "just play games in class" is not a strategy. What separates effective game-based STEM teaching from expensive entertainment is structure, intentionality, and explicit connections to curriculum objectives.
TL;DR
Strategic board games improve STEM learning when integrated with clear frameworks — not used as filler. The key ingredients are explicit curriculum connections, structured reflection time, and progressive complexity. Research shows improvements in conceptual understanding, problem application, and long-term retention compared to traditional instruction alone.
Why Board Games Work for STEM (The Research)
Before diving into practical frameworks, it helps to understand why games are so effective for STEM subjects specifically.
Source:
Strategic board games engage several cognitive processes simultaneously:
- Working memory — tracking resources, scores, and opponents' positions
- Mental arithmetic — calculating costs, profits, probabilities on the fly
- Hypothesis testing — trying strategies, observing outcomes, adjusting
- Systems thinking — understanding how interconnected variables affect each other
These are precisely the higher-order thinking skills that STEM curricula aim to develop, and that traditional worksheets often struggle to reach.
The EEF's guidance on metacognition and self-regulated learning also highlights that reflection on decision-making — a natural part of post-game discussion — is one of the most cost-effective ways to boost attainment. Board games create a natural scaffold for this kind of thinking.
A Practical Framework for Classroom Implementation
Whether you teach primary maths or secondary science, the same three-phase approach works. Here is a framework adapted from approaches used successfully by educators integrating games like Smoothie Wars into their classrooms.
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1–2)
Let students play without heavy learning pressure. The goal is engagement and familiarity with game mechanics. Establish behavioural norms around respectful competition and handling winning and losing. Do not rush into analysis — if students do not enjoy the game first, nothing else works.
Resist the urge to turn every moment into a teaching opportunity during this phase. Students who feel the game is "just another lesson in disguise" disengage quickly. Let them have fun. The learning comes in Phase 2.
Phase 2: Bridge (Weeks 3–6)
Begin pausing gameplay to highlight STEM concepts emerging naturally. Ask questions like "What is the probability of drawing that card?" or "How could you calculate whether that trade was worth it?" Introduce mathematical and scientific vocabulary in context. Students start keeping simple decision journals.
This bridging phase is where the magic happens. You are not teaching maths separately and hoping it connects — you are pointing at the maths students are already doing and giving it a name.
Phase 3: Integration (Weeks 7+)
Games become vehicles for deep STEM learning. Each session follows a structured pattern: 10 minutes of concept introduction, 25 minutes of gameplay with teacher observation, and 15 minutes of structured reflection and analysis. Assessment problems use game scenarios alongside transfer to novel contexts.
For a detailed week-by-week plan, see our 6-week curriculum blueprint which maps this framework to specific learning objectives.
What STEM Concepts Can Games Actually Teach?
| STEM Concept | Game Mechanic | How It Works in Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Ratio and proportion | Resource pricing, value comparison | Students calculate per-unit costs and compare trade values |
| Probability | Dice outcomes, card draws, uncertain events | Players assess expected values and risk-adjusted decisions |
| Data analysis | Score tracking, outcome recording | Graphing results across multiple games to identify patterns |
| Scientific method | Strategy testing with incomplete information | Forming hypotheses about optimal strategies, then testing them |
| Optimisation | Resource allocation under constraints | Finding the best approach given limited money, time, or ingredients |
| Systems thinking | Interconnected game mechanics | Understanding how changing one variable affects the whole system |
A resource management game like Smoothie Wars, for instance, naturally involves arithmetic (calculating costs and revenue), probability (uncertain customer demand), and strategic optimisation (choosing locations and ingredients under budget constraints). These are not bolted-on learning objectives — they are baked into the gameplay itself.
Games that involve economic decision-making are particularly rich for STEM learning because they combine multiple mathematical concepts in a single activity. For more on this, see our guide to teaching financial literacy through board games.
Realistic Scenarios: What This Looks Like in Practice
Rather than presenting idealised case studies, here are realistic scenarios based on common patterns educators report.
📖 Scenario:
Primary maths (Year 5–6): A teacher introduces a resource management game alongside the ratio and proportion unit. Students play in groups of four, twice weekly. After six weeks, the teacher notices that pupils who previously froze during word problems are now tackling them confidently — because they have spent hours making similar calculations in a game context where "getting it wrong" just meant losing a round, not failing a test. End-of-unit assessment scores are noticeably stronger, particularly on application questions.
📖 Scenario:
Secondary science (Year 9): A science teacher uses strategy games as "systems to investigate" — students form hypotheses about optimal strategies, design controlled experiments (playing set numbers of games with different approaches), collect data, and present findings. The students are not just learning the scientific method from a textbook; they are practising it on problems they genuinely want to solve. The quality of their coursework experimental design improves markedly because they have developed an intuition for controlling variables.
📖 Scenario:
Cross-curricular STEM club: An after-school club uses board games as the basis for weekly challenges. One week, students must calculate the expected value of different strategies. The next, they design modifications to game rules under engineering-style constraints. Students who would never voluntarily attend a "maths club" turn up every week because it does not feel like extra lessons — it feels like competing with friends.
Common Challenges (and What Actually Helps)
⚠️ Warning
The biggest mistake educators make is treating game-based learning as self-explanatory. Without explicit STEM connections and structured reflection, games remain entertainment. The game is the vehicle, not the destination.
"This just looks like playing." Administrators and parents sometimes question the approach. The solution is data: run pre and post assessments, document curriculum alignment, and share results. One effective technique is creating a simple mapping document showing which curriculum standards each game session addresses.
Time pressure. You do not need to add hours to your timetable. Game-based sessions can replace less effective activities. Research suggests that 60–90 minutes weekly is sufficient for meaningful outcomes — and many educators find games teach concepts more efficiently than traditional approaches for the same topics.
Mixed ability groups. Strategic games naturally differentiate. Stronger students develop more sophisticated strategies while weaker students practise fundamental skills. Rotating group composition helps, as does focusing assessment on thinking quality rather than game outcomes. For guidance on supporting different learners, see our guide on game-based learning for neurodivergent children.
Assessment. Grade the reflection, not the game. Written analyses of strategic decisions, mathematical reasoning about game scenarios applied to new contexts, and quality of experimental design all provide robust evidence of learning.
Choosing the Right Games
Not every game suits every learning objective. Here is a quick selection guide:
For mathematics: Look for resource management, economic simulation, and probability-driven mechanics. Games involving buying, selling, budgeting, and trading naturally develop arithmetic, ratio, and data skills. See our list of the best educational board games for ages 8–12 for specific recommendations.
For scientific thinking: Choose games with incomplete information and emergent complexity. Games where players must figure out hidden mechanics or test strategies under uncertainty develop hypothesis formation and experimental thinking.
For engineering mindset: Games with modifiable rules or design-under-constraints challenges work brilliantly. Ask students to redesign game components to meet specific requirements — this develops iterative design, trade-off analysis, and systems thinking.
The ideal classroom game is complex enough to sustain weeks of play but learnable in under 15 minutes. If it takes an entire session just to explain the rules, you have lost valuable learning time.
Making It Stick: Beyond the Classroom
The strongest outcomes come when game-based learning extends beyond timetabled sessions:
- Family game nights — lending games home with optional reflection prompts creates natural STEM conversations at the dinner table
- Student-led tournaments — older pupils teaching younger ones reinforces learning through explanation
- Cross-class challenges — friendly competition between classes raises engagement and gives students a wider audience for their strategic thinking
The competitive vs cooperative learning benefits of different game formats are worth considering when planning these extensions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to get started?
You can begin with a single game (£20–40) shared between groups. A class set of a game like Smoothie Wars for groups of 4–6 costs roughly £150–200. This is comparable to or less than typical expenditure on workbooks and manipulatives, and the games last for years.
Do I need to be good at games myself?
Not at all. Your role is facilitator, not expert player. You need to understand the learning objectives and how to draw out STEM connections during reflection. Being a mediocre player can actually help — students feel more confident when they see that strategic thinking matters more than innate talent.
What age groups benefit most?
Research shows benefits across all age groups, but the sweet spot for strategic board games in STEM is ages 8–16. Younger children benefit from simpler games focused on counting and basic arithmetic. Older students engage with more complex economic and strategic systems.
How do I measure whether it is working?
Use pre and post assessments on target concepts, compare with previous cohorts or parallel classes, and track qualitative indicators like engagement, voluntary practice, and quality of mathematical reasoning in written work. Even informal observation of how students approach problem-solving tasks can reveal shifts in thinking.
Can games replace traditional teaching entirely?
No, and they should not. Games work best as a complement to direct instruction — providing the application context and motivation that traditional methods sometimes lack. Think of them as the practical workshop alongside the lecture, not a replacement for it.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Board games improve STEM learning through active engagement with mathematical and scientific concepts in meaningful contexts
- Successful implementation follows three phases: foundation (play), bridge (connect), and integration (apply)
- Structured reflection after gameplay is essential — without it, games remain entertainment
- Start small with one game, one unit, one term — measure outcomes and build from there
- The evidence base is strong: game-based approaches consistently outperform traditional methods for conceptual understanding and long-term retention
The research is clear and the practical evidence is mounting. Strategic board games, used with intention and structure, are one of the most effective tools available for making STEM subjects engaging, accessible, and genuinely understood. The question is not whether they work — it is whether we are willing to move beyond worksheets and give them a proper go.
