About Us

Our Mission

The Leiden Gamelab operates with three key pillars:

Engaging Experiences. Developing engaging and educational simulation games to incorporate into the university curriculum.

Collaborative Design. Consulting with other student initiatives seeking to incorporate elements of play into university life.

Following Best Practices. Ensuring that games created for curricula are grounded in both existing research and effective practice.

Our Process

Ideation — We work in an open environment and flat hierarchy, where any working member can pitch ideas to the team. Through pitching, we determine which ideas have the potential to be unique, engaging and practical.

Incubation — We lay out a core plan for learning and design goals, conduct academic research into the relevant fields, and develop a proposal for the game.

Implementation — We submit this proposal to relevant faculties and associations, and work in partnership with them to implement our ideas.

Why Games?

Games and simulations are a proven technique for learning, as they allow students to put into practice the theory they have learned. Crucially, games create a space for active learning, by immersing students in a fun and innovative environment that turn regular coursework into memorable experiences.

Games for impact have been used in healthcare (doctor training, imparting information to patients); security (simulating disaster management cases); education (Model UN, educational games) and business (marketing, product creation).

Our Team

All working members of the Gamelab contribute to collaborative research and game design tasks. Each member also fulfils secondary organisational responsibilities for the Gamelab.

Teo Kai Xiang (Kai) - Gamelab Coordinator

• Secondary responsibilities: Coordinating Gamelab research and development; secretarial and administrative duties.
• Contact: kai@flyingkai.com / flyingkai.com

Mateo Velastegui - Gamelab Consultant

• Secondary responsibilities: Consulting with partner initiatives.
• Contact: mateovelastegui99@gmail.com

Oscar Laviolette - Gamelab Designer

• Secondary responsibilities: Visual and web design.
• Contact: oscarlvdc@gmail.com

Alexander Ansel Hadipranoto - Gamelab Researcher

• Secondary responsibilities: Contextual research.
• Contact: ansel.hadipranoto@gmail.com

Our Current Projects

Effective Altruism Simulation Game

• The Brief: Develop a game which can be convened online between students of the Honours College 'Tackling Global Challenges'.
• The Pitch: Simulate the dynamics of allocating an aid budget, putting individuals in a position where they must make trade-offs between worthy causes.
• Description: An online simulation game requiring negotiation and debate, for 15-20 players.

Governance Simulation Game

• The Brief: Develop a game which can be incorporated into the Honours College 'Tackling Global Challenges' curriculum.
• The Pitch: Simulate the dynamics of cooperation and competition involved in domestic parliaments and partisan politics.
• Description: A physical negotiation game between 15-20 players.

Consultancy: NATO Crisis Resolution Simulation Game

• The Leiden Gamelab is consulting with first-year Security Studies students seeking to develop and implement a NATO Crisis Resolution Simulation.
• The Leiden Gamelab's role in this partnership is to provide our expertise on game design and research into relevant fields, such as international relations.

Join the Leiden Gamelab

The Leiden Gamelab is always looking for new innovators and creators. Are you a motivated student with strong personal initiative, an interest in game design, and a desire to deliver content on tight deadlines?

Submit your application to join us by filling out this form.