AMES, Iowa – Like many kids, Aidan Flagel enjoyed playing video games growing up — especially games with a storyline, characters and plot twists. As his interests evolved, he was drawn to games that challenged him to think critically through puzzles and simulation games that involve budgeting, planning or construction.

As a first-year student, Flagel was unsure how to turn his passion into a career, so he explored the idea of majoring in architecture through Iowa State University’s College of Design after learning design studios will often hire architects to build virtual cities for games. When he discovered Iowa State was launching a game design program in the fall of 2025, Flagel said he “hit the jackpot.”

He was one of the first students to sign up for Iowa State’s bachelor of science in game design — one of the university’s Degrees of the Future. Housed in the College of Design, the multidisciplinary program blends storytelling, programming, digital visualization and cutting-edge technology to craft engaging and immersive interactive experiences. The program covers fundamental game design principles and three specialized areas: game art, game computing and game worlds.

“Now I get to decide the outcome of the game,” said Flagel, who will be a senior this fall. “Being able to express your creative flow through media that entertains people and brings communities together to share their interests is something I have always wanted to create. Games are also great at sneaking in educational and social topics as well as problem-solving challenges to expand your skill set,” he said.

The program is designed to equip students with the skills needed to design and develop video games, board games and other interactive media. With collaborative courses from Iowa State colleges, including Design and Liberal Arts and Sciences, students can explore the artistry behind game design, the mechanics of gameplay and the technology that brings it all to life.

Alenka Poplin, associate professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Development in the College of Design, is the director of the new program. She is determined to add opportunities for students to travel and study abroad as well as strengthen partnerships with gaming professionals in Iowa and beyond.

“I’ve heard from some of the gaming companies that they are struggling to hire employees locally for their companies and they have to hire to work online from other states. I believe this program will greatly strengthen the local gaming industry in Iowa,” she said. 
 

Teaming up across campus

Recent research on using games for educational purposes shows positive effects, according to Jeffrey Wheatley, an assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), where several LAS faculty helped create the game design degree along with the College of Design. As a member of the Game Design Major Program Committee, Wheatley said games are a medium that enable students to playfully engage systems, ethics, agency and their aspirations. The payoff is increased motivation, knowledge retention, entrepreneurial thinking and career development.

That’s why the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) approached faculty and staff from the game design program as it was still in the development stage. The goal for CALS was to integrate game elements into their Pathways to Innovation and Leadership program, launched in spring 2025, to clearly communicate its features, flexible opportunities and micro-credentials to potential students.

“Their challenge was that student engagement was difficult because the program can be difficult to wrap your head around right away,” said Flagel, who was hired to work on the project with CALS Pathways.

Wheatley and his team, including Flagel, came up with Pathways Badge Quest, a board game where players race in the allotted time to make progress through the Pathways program, taking turns, playing cards and reflecting on questions about their aspirations, plans and professional skills needed for success. The project worked so well CALS partnered with the game design program to develop a gamified experience to help students build career-readiness through the CALS Pathways program.

“Game design really brings that new perspective into how we think about teaching and learning and engaging students with different college experiences,” said Amy Mendee, program director for CALS Pathways to Innovation and Leadership. “We found that students immediately get it. They resonate well with game elements.”

Pathways Badge Quest was piloted with focus groups before it was officially introduced during orientation and other career exploration opportunities with CALS. Mendee said the common feedback they received was that students had never had this type of experience before, and they felt actively engaged in the thought-provoking game.

With support from a $100,000 grant from Lumina Foundation, CALS recently extended the partnership with the game design program for another two years to expand on the existing game and create other ways to communicate the Pathways program in clear and engaging ways. They also plan to gamify the process of how students articulate their experiences in college to better prepare them for their careers.

“It was really exciting to see the impact of our cross-campus collaboration, where everyone brings different skills and expertise, and to be recognized nationally,” Mendee said.

Exploring real-world solutions 

Ana Bull was selected as a student ambassador for the game design major last year through the College of Design. Bull chose the game art track to focus on her passion for art as well as her love of games.

Bull said she realized that games could help solve real-world issues during a Fundamentals of Game Design class her first semester, where they focused on serious — also known as educational — games. One assignment was to help solve a real-world issue they were passionate about. Her group chose mental health struggles and created a game that was fun but also educated players on different coping mechanisms when dealing with mental health struggles as they played the game.

“After playtesting, players said they genuinely felt the game was very educational and they also had fun with the deckbuilding mechanics involved,” Bull said.

She also helped design an educational cybersecurity adventure called Save The Cyberverse, a project led by Aaron Yang, assistant professor in the College of Design. The game allows players to act as cyber warriors attempting to eliminate scam threats in their world, educating players about phishing scams and internet safety. She also is working on a game that aims to teach players how to save energy in their schools and homes by fighting energy-eating monsters.

Students have also been hired to help with games that address real-world problems, including Agri-Ecoblitz and The Emotions Geogame, both funded by Iowa State.

Welcoming an international community

In May, Poplin and the College of Design hosted the 3rd Geogames Symposium at Iowa State, welcoming researchers, developers and game enthusiasts from around the world to present, exchange and advance knowledge in the field of geogames. Geo — meaning earth, land or ground — was purposely chosen as a term to educate and explore solutions for real-world issues dedicated to the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants.

Universities in Dublin and the Netherlands also helped organize the event, held in 2024 in the Netherlands and again in Dublin in 2025 before coming to the U.S. at Iowa State. Poplin founded Geogames Lab while working in Germany years ago and formed an international community of gaming professionals who also helped organize the event.

Themed “Games and Play for a Better World,” the Iowa State event welcomed 44 contributions, including sessions on disaster management, emergency response, community engagement in planning, engaging children with games, and games that can train and educate people on the environment in various parts of the world. The symposium concentrated on games with impact and purpose that address real-world problems, focus on understanding and analyzing these problems, and provide game-based, playful environments to help solve issues.

“Bringing the Geogames community together and sharing our expertise really put us on the map,” said Poplin, who organized the symposium sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, the College of Design and Geogames Lab. “They bring different study cases, a different way of thinking and different problems they can share.”

Researchers from 12 countries attended the symposium, including Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, Nepal, Japan and Turkey. They all focused on real-world solutions and explanations with different levels of technology involved. Examples of analogue games came from Nepal where their game development intends to help educate people on what to do during emergencies — like not leaving lit candles unattended or what to do during an earthquake. On the other end of the spectrum, researchers utilizing cutting-edge technology, shared their creative process for popular games known across the world.

“We would not be able to discuss those cases if it was not for the international perspective. We are limited to what we can experience here in this space and what we can think, but if we open up, we can get ideas on ideas, problems and possible solutions we would never think about and bring forward innovation and inspiration,” Poplin said.

Students from the Iowa State game design major as well as other universities in the U.S. and beyond shared their work with the international community. Flagel presented Cy-Clash, a board game to help incoming Iowa State students get to know campus in a gamified form. Designed for new students, current students, alumni and visitors — and inspired by Mario Party and Monopoly — Flagel turned a campus map into a game board.

“The third GeoGames Symposium was a wonderful place to connect game design major students with professors and innovators who share their passion. Guests showed their projects and research to encourage the next generation of people who want to make the world a better place,” Flagel said.

Establishing a gaming culture 

Inspired by the symposium, Flagel began the process of starting a club for those in the game design major focusing on career development and networking with professionals.

“Connections are key. Just like in most professions, you have to get to know people and their strengths. Working as a team is what makes you accomplish wonderful projects. Most modern games take thousands of artists, writers, programmers and people with ideas to make something so beautiful come to life. It's an art,” Flagel said.

Iowa State is also home to several other gaming clubs, including the Gaming & Esports Club, Game Development Club and Game and Media Exploration (GAME) Lab.

“I would recommend this program to students because you get knowledge in all aspects of game design. Not only have I learned a lot about art, programming and writing, but I've learned a lot about how to work in teams and now have a variety of skills that could be beneficial for a variety of careers, not just game design,” Bull said.  

Related research

Alenka Poplin “Geogames: An expanded definition, application areas, geogame types, and a proposed research agenda” Sage Journals. Published online October 2025.