The Ludo-Learning Matrix: A Framework for Understanding Learning in Games

Peadar Callaghan's paper proposes the Ludo-Learning Matrix, an analytical framework for understanding and selecting learning games, with a focus on cybersecurity education. The author argues that existing frameworks tend to center on instructional content and instructor-driven design, while theoretical models of game-based learning, such as those proposing dozens of principles or game elements, are too numerous to be practically applied. The matrix instead distills four concepts from educational theory and game design, namely transfer of knowledge, challenge, messaging, and agency, into eight operationalized questions, each addressed by a pair of sub-components. The framework is intended to be player-focused rather than content-focused and applicable to any game with learning as its objective.

To validate the framework, the author conducted a ludo-textual analysis of three cybersecurity serious games: Cyberciege, a single-player workplace simulator for university students; Spoofy, a point-and-click adventure for primary school children; and Tallinn Soldier, an analog seminar wargame based on the 2007 Bronze Night cyberattacks in Estonia. Data came from repeated play by the author, think-aloud sessions and video recording, with Tallinn Soldier also tested with a group of Master's students in Learning Game Design. The analysis found recurring co-occurrences, such as low agency coinciding with stronger explicit messaging and cognitive challenges aligning with high-road transfer, though the author acknowledges these patterns require confirmation across a wider range of games. The paper concludes that the matrix can guide teachers in choosing games matched to specific learning outcomes and help designers reason about design constraints before production.