The QS ImpACT Skills Challenge 2025 has officially launched — bringing together over 210 youth teams from 46 countries to design digital games that spark real-world change.
This global “Games for Good” initiative invites young creators to use play as a platform for social innovation. Across two weeks, participants explore how game design, storytelling, and systems thinking can advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while developing skills in creativity, collaboration, and ethical technology.
During the opening session, we were joined by an inspiring group of partners and mentors from ASU, Zoom, Unity, J.P. Morgan, Endless Games and Learning Lab, University of Exeter, and others — each contributing unique expertise in education, design, and impact-driven innovation.
Empowering the Next Generation of Designers
The Challenge is about more than coding or competition. It’s about cultivating a new generation of learning designers, storytellers, and changemakers who understand that games are not just entertainment — they are models for thinking, empathy, and agency.
The 2025 evaluation framework builds on this philosophy, emphasizing:
- SDG alignment and educational value
- Accessibility and inclusion
- Community integration and social storytelling
- Innovation in platform use, design, and documentation
Collaboration in Action
It was a privilege to join the opening event with colleagues and partners including Nunzio Quacquarelli, Johann Zimmern, Heather Haseley, Zafar Qureshi, Elina M.I. Ollila, Toby Kidd, Aashna Shah, Olivia Herneddo, Confidence Mawusi, Sidharth Menon, Krusha Khakhar, Amruta Supate, and Anurag Roy — all contributing to this truly global ecosystem of mentorship and learning.
Over the next two weeks, participants will engage in live training sessions on:
- Game Design & SDG Literacy
- Design Thinking & Market Strategy
- Scenario Design, UX, and Accessibility
- No-Code Game Development with partners like Unity and Endless
- AI and Cloud Integration with Netcore Cloud
The Power of Play
From Ecuador to Saudi Arabia, Ghana to India, Peru to the U.S., this challenge reflects a growing global movement: youth designing futures through creativity, empathy, and play.
As we often say at Next Lab, the future of learning is already being prototyped by the next generation.
Follow QS ImpACT to see what these incredible teams create — and how games can continue to build a more connected, sustainable world.
