<strong>Table-top Games for Learning</strong> Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching &amp; assessment

Table-top Games for Learning Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching & assessment

Table-top Games for Learning Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching & assessment

Posted by Andrew Walsh on 2025-05-27

Table-top Games for Learning

Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching & assessment

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Call For Papers for a special issue of Journal of Play in Adulthood

Guest Editors: Liz Cable & Laura Mitchell

Theme: Table-top Games for Learning: Designing and using tabletop games in learning, teaching & assessment.

Table-top games can be powerful tools for developing creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking in adult learning environments. This special issue invites explorations of how table-top game-based materials—from board games to role-playing systems—may enhance pedagogy, skill development, community-building, inclusivity, and engagement in formal and informal adult education. We seek interdisciplinary contributions that examine or critique the design, implementation, and impact of these materials, as well as their role in shaping playful, inclusive learning cultures.

Table-top games include any kind of analogue games played inside the classroom and around a table; including boardgames, card-games, escape games, investigative games, role-playing games, and those with some digital elements creating hybrid games for classroom play.

Some suggested subthemes

Co-operative games and skills development e.g. teamwork, empathy and negotiation skills
Using play to encourage creativity or problem solving
Introducing and simulating real-world problems
Building community and sense of belonging
Game mechanics that support learning objectives
Developing cognitive strategies through fictional case-work
Learning from failures and playful prototypes or ‘game jams’
Puzzle-based learning
Using games for delivering assessments and as outputs for assessments
Adapting & repurposing commercial games to meet learning outcomes
Cultural and ethical considerations – addressing inclusivity, representation and accessibility in game-based learning materials
Hybrid games – blending analogy games with digital tools or augmented reality
Gamification vs Game-based Learning – critical discussion and analysis.

Instructions for authors

We invite you to submit a paper within the theme by 1^st October 2025. Please contact the editors atl.cable@leedstrinity.ac.uk or l.mitchell@york.ac.uk if you want to check if your proposed paper is within the theme, or for any other queries. All papers will be peer reviewed after submission. Authors may be asked to be one of the two anonymous peer reviewers for another article submitted to this special issue.

Important Dates

Submission of papers – by 1^st October 2025

Reviews done – by 1^st December 2025

Initial revisions – by 31^st January 2026

Further reviews and revisions if necessary – by 15th March 2026

Copyediting, typesetting etc – by 15^th April 2026

Expected publication – by 31^st May 2026 to celebrate UK Games Expo’s 20^th year

Article length

Typically 5000-8000 words for academic articles (including references), but if you wish to submit something less conventional and more playful, please ask in advance. The full articles should adhere to the submission guidelines and processes outlined here:

https://www.journalofplayinadulthood.org.uk/submissions/

Copyright information

The Journal of Play in Adulthood makes content available on an open access basis, with the default of a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Authors retain their own copyright of submitted material, simply licencing the journal to publish. No fees are charged to read, or to publish in, the journal.