Lehigh University students built an online 2-D game to help incoming first-years practice campus life before they arrive. The project, called Leveling Up to Lehigh Life, introduces campus routines and resources through quests and conversations. Its early feedback is encouraging but preliminary: available reporting does not establish that the game reduces anxiety or improves student outcomes.
What is the Lehigh first-year video game?
Leveling Up to Lehigh Life is a Lehigh-specific online casual game created by students. The project combines computer science, graphic design, music, storytelling and marketing. Its stated goal is to help new students become more familiar with campus and prepare for situations they may encounter after arriving. Lehigh’s project page describes preparedness, belonging and well-being as central aims.
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Rather than presenting campus information only as a list of instructions, the game uses exploration, conversations and interactive quests. Topics include dining halls, academic resources, building community and well-being. Examples reported by the student newspaper include making an appointment at the health center and taking the Goodman Connector bus to football games. The Brown and White’s October 6, 2026 report describes the launch and early participation.
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Starting college means learning more than buildings and schedules. New students may also need to pick up unfamiliar terms, social customs and expectations for communicating with professors. The project team’s premise is that practicing these situations in a low-stakes digital setting can make campus life less unfamiliar before students are navigating it in person.
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The game is one possible orientation aid, not a replacement for personal support. Lehigh also offers first-year programs including preLUsion, Orientation, NavigateLU and Camp Hawk, as well as peer mentoring that pairs first-years with experienced students. The Office of First-Year Experience and the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Belonging describe these broader supports.
When was it available, and how many students used it?
The Brown and White reported that the invitation link was emailed to incoming first-years on August 1, 2026. The game was available for approximately two weeks, closing as students began arriving for preLUsion. Participation figures should be read as separate measures of reach and activity, not as interchangeable counts of students who completed the game.
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| Measure | What was reported |
|---|---|
| Logged in | Approximately one-eighth of incoming first-years, according to The Brown and White’s 2026 report. |
| Created a character | 254 users, according to The Brown and White’s 2026 report. |
| Had quest data collected | 161 users, according to The Brown and White’s 2026 report. |
The newspaper said about 63% of users with quest data completed only one quest, including the tutorial. That points to an engagement challenge: signing in or creating a character did not necessarily mean a student progressed through multiple quests.
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Sarah Ahamed, a project contributor, told The Brown and White that the team had seen a “significant increase” in personal and emotional well-being between pre-game and post-game survey responses. She also said the team expected comfort and familiarity with campus—what it called institutional attachment—to take more time to develop.
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This is an early result reported by a project member, not a published, quantified finding that the game caused an improvement. The newspaper report does not give the survey sample size, questionnaire, comparison group, numerical change, statistical test or full analysis. Lehigh’s project page says the 2026 work includes experiment design and collection and analysis of data to determine how the game helps students adjust; that identifies evaluation as an ongoing project goal, not a completed efficacy study.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What problems did the team identify?
James Goodwin, a project co-creator, identified the tutorial and low quest completion as design concerns. He told The Brown and White: “It could be that the tutorial is too slow and not engaging enough.” The team said the next release would focus on more engaging quests, and Ahamed said they wanted more students to complete the survey.
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The newspaper also reported that one student told Goodwin they quit because the game was glitchy. That is an individual account, not evidence of how often technical problems occurred or a verified diagnosis of the issue. Anh Nguyen, a founding project member, described the early reach as worthwhile: “I think the fact that we are impacting any students at all is great.”
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