About Us

What we do
Working across a diverse community of players, the Institute of Play leverages games and play as critical contexts for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. We bring non-traditional audiences into innovative spaces of production and learning through partnerships with the game industry, academia, government, science, technology, and the arts.

Our goals are to:

  • Embrace game design as an agent of provocation, education, and change
  • Build new domains of knowledge connected to gaming, digital media and learning
  • Develop innovative curricula around gaming literacies and other 21st century skills
  • Create experiences bridging digital and non-digital learning environments
  • Foster new models of collaboration between students, educators, and professional game designers
  • Provide a space for the experimentation and exchange of ideas across creative, technology, and education sectors


Our activities include:

  • The design of a new 6th grade-12th grade small school based on a gaming literacy model
  • A design collaboration with Arizona State University's K-12 Embodied Media and Learning group to develop a suite of game-based learning models in SMALLab (Situated Multimeda Art Learning Lab), a mixed reality learning environment
  • Professional development workshops with teachers, game designers and curriculum specialists
  • Research and development of an online game taxonomy linking games to curriculum standards
  • Creation of an internship program which introduces youth to game design and game-based learning principles
  • Creation of an online strategy guide for Gamestar Mechanic, an online multiplayer game developed by Gamelab
  • Development of game-based toolkits that support collaborative design activities
  • Consulting on games and learning projects in the commercial or non-profit sector
  • Research and development of frameworks and models linking the learning architecture of games with key 21st century skills


Become an Institute Player
Want to play with us? If you are interested in finding out more about how the Institute of Play might leverage your knowledge, expertise, or financial support, please contact Katie Salen, Executive Director: katie.salen at gmail.com

The Institute of Play is a nonprofit corporation designated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.