When designing educational RPGs, perfect realism is often less effective than intentional simplification. Real-world systems are complex, messy, and time-consuming, and translating them directly into gameplay can overwhelm players or bury the learning goals. To create meaningful interaction, designers sometimes shorten processes, exaggerate effects, or simplify systems. While this may look like a compromise, it […]
Archives for December 2025
Why Good Stories Still Matter in an Age of AI
As AI makes it easier than ever to generate content, a strange anxiety has emerged. If stories can be created instantly, will they lose their value? The answer is no. In fact, the opposite may be true. When content becomes abundant, meaning becomes scarce. And meaning is exactly what good stories provide. Research and practice […]
Virtual Explorers create role-play experiences not simulations
The line between role-playing games and simulations is blurry. Both are experiential, both place learners inside a situation, and both ask them to make decisions. The difference is not in impact, but in how they are built and how well they scale. Simulations aim to model real-world systems accurately. To work well, they require careful […]
Experience an RPG Before You Create One
RPGs aren’t content containers. They’re systems built on action, choice, feedback, and consequence. Until someone experiences those systems from the inside, they tend to design lectures with dialogue, linear click-throughs, or quizzes in costume. Playing even one solid RPG changes how people think. They feel what meaningful choice is. They see how feedback replaces grading. […]
Single Player. Social Learner.
In the 1990s, video games felt social because people played them together in the same room. You watched each other take turns, talked through problems, shared discoveries, and learned by comparing what happened on your screens. The technology was simple, but the experience was collective. Our Roblox-based Virtual Explorer games are designed with that same […]
Experiential Learning at Scale
Experiential learning is powerful. Students learn best when they take on meaningful roles, make decisions, observe consequences, and reflect on what happened. The challenge is scale. Creating hands-on, immersive experiences usually requires large budgets, long timelines, and custom materials. Most institutions cannot produce these experiences at the pace or volume students need. Virtual Explorers solves […]
Meet the Virtual Explorers Sherpa
Hi, I am the Virtual Explorers Sherpa. I help anyone turn their subject matter into interactive learning journeys that students can explore through story and choice. You do not need game design experience to work with me. You bring your expertise and curiosity. I help shape it into an adventure. We start with a Narrative […]
When Creating Digital Content Becomes Easy, What Does “Good Work” Look Like?
Digital tools are becoming so powerful and so accessible that students can create polished videos, interactive stories, and even full games without needing expert skills. What once took weeks can now be done in an afternoon. This shift raises an important question for educators. If everyone can produce impressive media, how do we evaluate it? […]
How Storytelling Shapes Memory for Virtual Explorers
A recent study from McGill University shows that the way a story is told has a direct effect on how our brains store and recall it. The researchers compared two types of short stories. Some were filled with emotional and reflective details. Others were packed with sensory descriptions like sights and sounds. As participants listened, […]
Virtual Explorers are Happy
A new study suggests that exploring digital worlds may do more than entertain us. It may actually support our mental well being. Researchers from Imperial College London, Georgia State University, and Kyushu Sangyo University studied how an open world game and a nostalgic animated film affected young adults. Their results offer a surprising insight: virtual […]