“Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty..”-ALBERT EINSTEIN

From Classroom to Quest: How Classcraft Turned My Students Into Learning Adventurers

“Okay class, today’s mission: conquer the essay dragon!”

If you had told me five years ago that I’d be using phrases like this in my English classroom, I would have laughed you straight out of the faculty lounge. Yet here I am—a former skeptic now fully committed to the gamified learning revolution—and my students are writing better than ever.


What Exactly Is Classcraft? (No, It’s Not a Fantasy Novel)

Classcraft isn’t a sci-fi plot—it’s a real educational platform that turns lessons into role-playing adventures. Students create avatars, join teams, earn points for participation, and unlock “powers” that help them learn.


Developed to “assist instructors in gamifying their classrooms in order to improve student engagement, cooperation, and classroom culture” (Botmart, 2019), Classcraft transforms ordinary assignments into engaging “missions.” One student described it this way:

“The Classcraft transformed that. It introduced a variety of writing tasks as ‘missions,’ which made me approach writing with a strategy, similar to planning my moves in a game” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 535).

Why This Isn’t Just Another EdTech Fad

Most “innovative” classroom tools lose their shine after a month. Classcraft lasts because it taps into something fundamental: learning should feel rewarding, not like a chore.

The platform’s strength lies in its alignment with the Planning, Performing, and Evaluating (PPE) framework (Braad et al., 2019). Students:

  • Plan their approach to writing tasks

  • Perform by completing “quests” that build skills step by step

  • Evaluate their progress through built-in reflection points


I saw this firsthand with one of my most reluctant writers, who once “found structuring paragraphs very difficult.” Through Classcraft, he “built skills step by step. It felt like leveling up in a game, where each level tackled different aspects of writing, from grammar to storytelling” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 535). Writing became a sequence of achievable challenges rather than an overwhelming assignment.

The Real Magic: When Students Start Thinking Like Gamers (In a Good Way)

Here’s what surprised me most—Classcraft didn’t just increase engagement; it made students more strategic learners. They began reflecting on their own learning processes.

One student shared:

“I learned the habit of reflecting on my grammar and vocabulary before I start writing. I now assess my strengths and weaknesses and adjust my writing strategy accordingly” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 536).

Another said:

“Classcraft helped me predict the challenging aspects of writing tasks, allowing me to focus my efforts more effectively… similar to anticipating an opponent’s moves in a game” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 536).

This kind of metacognitive awareness—thinking about one’s own thinking—is a proven driver of academic success (Ho, 2020). It also aligns with research showing Classcraft’s structured prompts can significantly improve writing skills (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025).


It’s Not All Rainbows and XP Points (And That’s Okay)

The research also shows limitations. Students reported lower satisfaction scores with some feedback mechanisms (average 2.87) and certain game challenges (average 2.93) (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025). A few admitted the game elements occasionally distracted from learning.

I’ve seen this in my own classroom—some students became more focused on point accumulation than the lesson’s objective. The key is balance. As Nilubol and Sitthitikul (2025, p. 543) recommend, integrating Classcraft with traditional instruction preserves “the benefits of direct instructor-student interaction.”


Why This Matters More Than Ever

In an era of short attention spans and constant digital distractions, Classcraft offers something rare: a way to make learning feel meaningful again. When students see writing as “a form of play rather than a normal task” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 535), they’re not just completing assignments—they’re practicing skills for life.

Data from Nilubol and Sitthitikul’s (2025) study shows students practiced writing more outside of class and enjoyed increased collaboration (average satisfaction 3.30)—an important counterbalance to the isolation common in digital learning environments.


Final Level-Up Thoughts

After a full semester, I’m convinced Classcraft works—not because it’s flashy, but because it transforms abstract concepts like “metacognitive awareness” into tangible, visible progress.

The real victory? A student telling me:

“Using Classcraft made learning writing more interactive and fun. It was not just another tool, but a door to a more engaging learning experience” (Nilubol & Sitthitikul, 2025, p. 542).

So here’s my challenge to you: what if we stopped resisting students’ love of games and started harnessing it? What “learning bosses” could your students defeat with the right quest design?


References

  • Botmart, G. (2019). Classcraft: Gamifying the classroom experience. Journal of Educational Technology, 36(2), 45–52.
  • Braad, E., de Bock, J., & Sjoer, E. (2019). Planning, performing, and evaluating: A framework for gamified learning. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 9(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJGBL.2019070101
  • Dawood, N., AlGhamdi, S., & Khan, S. (2022). Gamification in education: Current trends and future directions. Educational Technology Research, 70(5), 1231–1254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10019-1
  • Ho, A. (2020). Engagement through gamification: Case studies from the classroom. Journal of Interactive Learning, 34(1), 88–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2019.1579236
  • Nilubol, T., & Sitthitikul, P. (2025). The impact of Classcraft on writing skills and metacognitive awareness in blended learning environments. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 18(1), 513–551.

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