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• October 17, 2026

Card Based Gamification of Learning

INITIAL DISCUSSION PIECE  |  TOY-BASED PEDAGOGY Card-Based Gamification of Learning Seeding a card-based learning ecosystem for India

Prepared for discussion by the Toy Association of India (TAI), with Srijan Sanchar as Innovation Partner. This is a starting point for conversation, not a finished plan.

Toy-based pedagogy is an established part of Indian education policy. The national handbook on toy-based pedagogy published in 2022 under the National Education Policy 2020 treats toys as resources for learning, and places toy-based pedagogy within play-based learning. At the foundational stage, the Jadui Pitara learning material already includes flash cards among its toys, puzzles and playbooks.

Cards offer a natural entry point for deliberation and practice. They are the lowest-cost toy format, they can be made and printed in any language, and one deck can carry very different content, from a chemistry lesson to a game of strategy. They also span the whole range of thinking, from simple recall to inventing new games, which makes them well suited to connecting pedagogy, cognition, design and industry.

Evidence from classrooms and medical schools is encouraging but mixed. Published studies report better engagement and, in several cases, learning gains from card games in chemistry, anatomy, pharmacology and neurology, while at least one study of high-school chemistry card games found no significant retention advantage over teacher-led teaching. A focused effort on this theme can help turn scattered studies into a shared research agenda.

Purpose of this piece To start a conversation about planting the first seeds of a card-based learning ecosystem in India: a shared design framework, a small library of prototype decks, a research and pilot network, and a path into TOYNOVA 2027.

Game-based learning has grown from a niche practice into a recognised research field, and cards sit within it. Broad reviews, including a recent meta-analysis in early childhood education, report moderate to large effects of game-based learning on cognitive, social, emotional and motivational outcomes, although much of that evidence concerns digital formats and the authors call for stronger studies. Non-digital formats have their own growing literature: a recent scoping review of board and card games in higher education found that most of its 26 qualifying studies reported positive learning outcomes, and a systematic review of Uno-type card games in mathematics covers research from preschool to university over several decades. In professional education, card games are used for chemistry, anatomy, pharmacology and neurology, yet systematic reviews in fields such as orthodontic education show mixed results and ask for better-designed experiments. Four themes stand out across this work and current practice: games designed around a specific learning purpose rather than used merely as a reward; renewed interest in analogue play, with researchers examining how generative AI is changing its role; hybrid designs that pair a printed deck with a low-cost voice or app layer; and a stronger insistence on evidence, with pretest-posttest and controlled designs replacing anecdote. India has an unusual combination of strengths, namely a living card tradition in Ganjifa, a large base of toy-making MSMEs, and national policy support for toy-based pedagogy. This piece suggests that these are not yet brought together in a single design framework, and explores what such a framework could look like.

Figure 1. The four layers: card families, play mechanics, learning taxonomy, toy design and market.

•       Card families: the standard 52-card deck, Ganjifa (the circular hand-painted cards of India), tarot-type decks, flashcards, matching decks, blank maker decks and deck-building formats.

•       Play mechanics: matching, set-collecting, melding, shedding, trick-taking, hand-ranking, bluffing and deck-building. Each demands a different kind of thinking.

•       Learning taxonomy: the revised Bloom's taxonomy gives six levels, from remember to create. One deck can carry a learner up all six.

•       Design and market: print-and-play, MSME boxed decks, craft editions, inclusive editions and low-cost AI layers.

 Figure 2. One deck, six levels: the learner climbs from playing to making.

A proposal for discussion: deck grammar A deck already has the shape of a knowledge structure. Suits can stand for categories, ranks for depth or difficulty, colour for a yes/no property, court cards for big ideas, and wild cards for misconceptions and exceptions. Early pilots could test whether this simple grammar helps teachers and designers build subject decks quickly.

•       Establish card-based gamification as a recognised strand within toy-based pedagogy research and practice in India.

•       Bring together learning scientists, teacher educators, subject specialists, designers, artisans and MSME manufacturers around one practical theme.

•       Co-create a first library of prototype decks and an open design canvas that others can use.

•       Define a shared evaluation approach so that classroom pilots produce comparable evidence.

•       Create pathways into pilots, research collaborations, a possible centre of excellence and TOYNOVA 2027.

Six linked activities could form a two-day convening, a workshop series, or a strand within a larger event. The format is an open question. Durations are indicative.

Slot	Activity	Indicative time	What it delivers
Opening	Keynote: Cards as learning toys, from flashcards to design	30 to 40 min	Shared frame: the four layers and the learning ladder.
Early	Research session: papers on card-based learning	90 min	Evidence and open questions across subjects and age groups.
Throughout	Deck Wall and craft corner	Open throughout	Exhibition of prototype decks, TOYNOVA concepts (with designers' consent) and Ganjifa craft demonstration.
Middle	Card Lab: hands-on co-design workshop	2 hours	Teams of educators, designers and subject specialists build a prototype deck using the design canvas.
Late	Panel: Does it teach? Evidence, ethics and perception	60 min	Research agenda, evaluation approach, and how to handle the association of cards with gambling.
Closing	Seeding commitments	30 min	Institutions pledge pilots; working groups form; next steps recorded.

 

5.1 The Card Lab

The Card Lab is the seeding heart of the proposal. Participants work in mixed teams, each choosing a subject and a learning goal, selecting a mechanic, and designing a small prototype deck on paper. A one-page design canvas guides them: learning goal, Bloom's level, mechanic, content, components and an inclusion check. Teams play-test with each other and present in two minutes. Every prototype is kept as part of the first seed library.

5.2 Possible sub-themes for a call for papers

#	Sub-theme
1	Cards and the taxonomy of learning: mapping mechanics to cognitive levels
2	Mathematics, probability and logical reasoning through cards
3	Card games in science and professional education: chemistry, medicine and health sciences
4	Inclusive and therapeutic card design for diverse learners
5	Heritage cards, including Ganjifa, in curriculum, craft and cultural learning
6	Teacher education and classroom practice with card-based learning
7	Assessment, evidence and evaluation designs for game-based learning
8	Technology and AI layers for low-cost card games
9	Ethics and perception: separating learning games from gambling

Seed	What is planted
Framework	The four-layer frame, learning ladder and deck grammar are presented, discussed and refined with participants.
Design canvas	A one-page tool is released openly, so any teacher or designer can create a subject deck.
Seed library	Prototype decks from the Card Lab and the Deck Wall are catalogued, tagged by subject, mechanic and learning level.
Pilot network	Participating institutions volunteer classroom pilots using a shared pre- and post-test approach.
Research group	A working group on card-based learning is formed, with a shared agenda drawn from the papers and panel.
Industry link	TAI members and design talent connect around print-and-play and boxed formats.
Heritage link	Artisans and heritage experts take part, with attention to respectful use of traditional iconography.
Onward pathway	Selected concepts are invited to TOYNOVA 2027 as a cross-theme card track, and the work informs any future centre of excellence.

Partner or group	Role in the track
Toy Association of India (TAI)	Industry engagement; MSME printers and manufacturers; designer and startup connections; convening through its exhibitions and TOYNOVA.
Srijan Sanchar (Innovation Partner)	Framework and programme design; identification of national and international experts; synthesis of outcomes; link to TOYNOVA.
Academic and research partners (to be identified)	Research programme; classroom pilots; teacher-education linkages.
Subject specialists	Validate content in chemistry, mathematics, health sciences, agriculture and other areas.
Card craftspeople and artisans	Heritage demonstrations; advice on traditional card forms.
Educators and students	Play-test decks, join the Card Lab, join pilots.

 

7.1 Types of resource persons to invite

•       Learning scientists and cognitive psychologists with experience in game-based learning.

•       Mathematics educators who use cards and probability in teaching.

•       Authors of published card-game studies in chemistry and medical education, in India and abroad.

•       Early-childhood and elementary educators familiar with the national toy-based pedagogy approach.

•       Designers and toy-industry leaders, including TOYNOVA participants.

•       Ganjifa artisans and heritage researchers.

Outcome	Indicator
Prototype deck library established	Number of decks catalogued, by subject and learning level.
Open design canvas released	Downloads and number of educators or designers using it after it is released.
Pilot network formed	Schools and colleges committing to classroom pilots; pre- and post-test data collected.
Research group active	Joint proposals or papers within twelve months.
Industry link made	Concepts moving to prototype, licensing or production with MSME partners.
Onward pathway used	Card concepts submitted to TOYNOVA 2027; input to any centre-of-excellence plan.

 

Open points for discussion 1. The right format: a two-day convening, a workshop series, or a strand within a larger event. 2. Which age band and subjects to begin with. 3. Which academic and research partners to approach for pilots and evidence. 4. Permissions for showing TOYNOVA concepts and for any use of traditional card iconography.

•       National handbook on toy-based pedagogy (2022), prepared under the National Education Policy 2020.

•       Jadui Pitara: play-based learning-teaching material for the foundational stage.

•       Alotaibi, M. S. (2024). Game-based learning in early childhood education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15.

•       Analogue Play in the Age of AI: a scoping review of non-digital games as active learning strategies in higher education (26 studies; search conducted October 2025).

•       The Role of Non-Digital and Digital UNO-Type Card Games as Learning Media in Different Levels of Mathematics Education: a systematic review. Education Sciences, 2025.

•       Sipiyaruk, K. et al. (2024). Game-based learning in orthodontic education: a systematic review. BDJ Open, 10.

•       Samuelson, A. G. (2018). Card Games and Chemistry: Teaching Organometallic Reactions Through Card Games. Resonance, 23(8).

•       Tursyngozhayev, K., Kavak, N. and Akhmetov, N. Enhancing Chemistry Education through a Novel Card Game: Compound Chain.

•       Antibiotic stewardship card game study. Research and Development in Medical Education, 2025.

•       MedFc anatomy card game study. Cureus, 2023.

•       Postgraduate thesis on the design and implementation of card games in high-school chemistry.

•       TOYNOVA 2026 Post-Event Report, Toy Association of India and Srijan Sanchar.