Research · 2025

Lo-Fi Simulation Games: Democratizing High-Impact Learning Experiences

Can simulation games built with frugal tools — printed charts, cards, tokens, Post-it Notes — be as effective as high-fidelity digital simulations? This paper makes the case that they can. Drawing on two deployed games (Kitchen Rush, teaching Theory of Constraints with a 4.7/5 rating across 100+ participants, and Deadline Dash, a time-management simulation with 90% NPS), it shows how lo-fi design at the intersection of board games, systems thinking, and instructional design opens up simulation-based learning to facilitators without technical budgets.