The science behind Arludo is actual science
Arludo isn’t a company that hired researchers. It’s a research project that became a platform. We actively study game-based learning in real classrooms, and we invite researchers who want to do the same to work with us.
How we think about research
Most education technology describes itself as “research-backed.” What that usually means is that the company funded a study or cited someone else’s work. Arludo is different. The research came first. Professor Michael Kasumovic was studying how games alter self-perception and behaviour before Arludo existed. The games he built weren’t prototypes for a product, they were instruments for a research programme. Arludo emerged from that research as the applied form of the findings. That distinction matters. It means the platform is not designed to be engaging and then studied to see if it works. It was designed around what the research already showed would work, and we continue to study it to understand what we can improve.
How games change how people see themselves
Professor Kasumovic’s research focuses on a specific question: what happens to your sense of self when you play competitive games? His findings show that the structure of a game — the feedback it provides, the skills it requires, the social context it creates — can meaningfully shift how players perceive their own competence, confidence, and identity. Importantly, this effect is not uniform. It depends on how the game is designed, who the player is, and what the surrounding social context looks like. Applied to science education, this creates a specific design challenge: how do you build games that make children feel like scientists, not just children playing a science game? The answer is to require scientific thinking in order to succeed. Not as a bolt-on. As the core mechanic. When a student wins because they correctly applied a principle of adaptation, they don’t remember the win. They remember that they understood something. That memory reshapes self-perception.
What the research shows
Scientific reasoning without prompting
University students using Arludo-style game-based materials began forming hypotheses and designing experiments without being instructed to. The structured play created the conditions for inquiry-based thinking.
Self-perception shifts
Students who experienced success through scientific thinking in a game context showed measurable shifts in how they described their own scientific ability. This includes students who had previously identified as “bad at science”.
Discussion quality
The discovery-discussion loop is game-based discovery followed by teacher-led debriefs. This produced richer, more specific scientific conversations than instruction-first approaches. Students had more to say because they had something real to refer to.
UNSW Sydney
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
ANU
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
Newcastle University
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
Macquarie University
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
Monash University
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
Western Sydney University
Professor Kasumovic’s laboratory at UNSW Sydney is the primary research home of Arludo. Ongoing studies investigate game-based learning in primary and secondary classrooms, with a focus on self-perception change, scientific reasoning, and the conditions under which game-based discovery produces durable understanding.
Interested in researching game-based learning?
Arludo gives researchers something valuable: access to a game-based learning environment being used in over 1,200 Australian schools, with thousands of students across every state and territory. If you’re studying game-based learning, STEM identity, scientific reasoning, or related areas, we’d like to hear from you. We’re particularly interested in collaborations that: • Study the effects of specific game mechanics on scientific reasoning • Investigate the discovery-discussion loop in different classroom contexts • Examine how Arludo affects STEM identity in under-represented student groups • Develop new challenge designs grounded in current research findings Research collaborations are reviewed by Professor Kasumovic directly. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 3 days.
Research papers
Moura-Campos, D., Head, M.L., and Kasumovic, M.M. 2026. Using a mobile game to explore the effects of predator-mediated resource acquisition. Animal Behaviour.
In ReviewGilmour, A., Moustafa, A., Lee, M.F., Pollo, P, and Kasumovic, M.M. 2026. Exploring Australian Students' Engagement with Video Games: A Qualitative Study. Technology, Knowledge and Learning.
In ReviewMantell, R., Hwang, Y.I.J., Dark, M., Radford, K., Kasumovic, M.M., and Monds, L. 2025. Evaluating the User Experience and Usability of Game-Based Cognitive Assessments for Older People: Systematic Review. JMIR Aging 8 (1), e65252.
Kasumovic, M.M., Dean, T., and Pollo, P. 2024. Using a game-based learning approach to help students understand the importance of ethics in science. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education 33 (1).
Denson, T.F., Youssef, H., Blake, K.R., Dixson, B.J.W., and Harmon-Jones, E. 2024. The effect of a physically formidable competitor or cooperator on attraction to violent video games. Motivation and Emotion 48 (5), 729–745.
Mantell, R., Withall, A., Radford, K., Kasumovic, M.M., Monds, L., and Hwang, Y.I.J. 2023. Design Preferences for a Serious Game–Based Cognitive Assessment of Older Adults in Prison: Thematic Analysis. JMIR Serious Games. 11:e45467.
Denson, T.F., Kasumovic, M.M., and Harmon-Jones, E. 2022. Understanding the desire to play violent video games: An integrative motivational theory. Motivation Science 8 (2), 161.
Kasumovic, M.M., Hatcher, E., Blake, K.R., and Denson, T.F. 2021. Performance in video games affects self-perceived mate value and mate preferences. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences 15 (2), 191.