What Will Campers Leave With? – Game Design Camps

Campers will finish camps with several things:

A finished project
The confidence to pursue more, if they are interested
Skills that can be applied to learning and employment opportunities

The Bottom Line for Parents

The most valuable insight from research is that game development teaches “learning how to learn”—metacognitive skills that help children approach unfamiliar problems with confidence. Unlike passive game playing, creating games requires:

Working memory (holding multiple ideas while coding)
Inhibitory control (resisting distractions, debugging patiently)
Cognitive flexibility (switching between design, art, code, testing)
Goal-directed persistence (seeing projects through despite setbacks)

These are the core executive functions that predict success far better than IQ or test scores.

When camps let campers explore multiple genres, they’re essentially cross-training different “mental muscles”—building a versatile skillset that prepares them for whatever career path they ultimately choose.