AppsFromResearch
Collection

Games From Research

Brain training, science education, citizen science, financial literacy, and health — taught through 89 games designed by university researchers, the Smithsonian, NASA, CDC, and Drexel's game lab. Not app store filler. Actual games with actual research behind them.

Body Quest icon

Body Quest

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:PROVEN
Body Quest is a gamified app teaching third-grade students healthy eating habits as part of a school-based obesity prevention program.
Alabama Cooperative Extension SystemFood Science & Nutrition
CrushStations icon

CrushStations

FreeiOS Android
3 publications
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Digital game training working memory in young adults, demonstrating improved performance on related cognitive tasks outside the game through specific transfer.
New York UniversityPsychology & Cognitive Science
Gwakkamole icon

Gwakkamole

FreeiOS Android
3 publications
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Research-based game training adolescents' inhibitory control by challenging players to react to targets while ignoring distractors.
New York UniversityPsychology & Cognitive Science
Pain Buddy icon

Pain Buddy

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Pain Buddy helps children and teens manage cancer-related pain by tracking symptoms and learning cognitive behavioral skills through gamification.
University of California, IrvineClinical Tools & Monitoring
Poly Rules! icon

Poly Rules!

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Poly Rules! trains working memory and cognitive flexibility through rule-changing sorting tasks, improving performance on related reasoning abilities.
Northeastern UniversityPsychology & Cognitive Science
Recall the Game icon

Recall the Game

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Recall the Game trains working memory through an engaging N-back game, with improvements in memory performance linked to broader reasoning gains.
University of California, RiversidePsychology & Cognitive Science
Recollect the Game icon

Recollect the Game

FreeiOS
1 publication
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Recollect the Game provides working memory exercises through N-back tasks designed to improve cognitive performance for all ages.
University of California, RiversidePsychology & Cognitive Science
Recollect the Study icon

Recollect the Study

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Research-based game using side-scrolling platformer to deliver cognitive N-back tasks aimed at improving working memory.
University of California, RiversidePsychology & Cognitive Science
Remember Bee icon

Remember Bee

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:CLINICAL GRADE
Remember Bee trains working memory using N-back tasks, with improvements linked to enhanced performance on reasoning skills in randomized controlled trials.
University of California, RiversidePsychology & Cognitive Science
All You Can ET icon

All You Can ET

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
All You Can ET trains adolescents' cognitive flexibility through a game requiring players to apply frequently changing rules caring for aliens.
New York UniversityPsychology & Cognitive Science
Hellbender Havoc icon

Hellbender Havoc

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Hellbender Havoc is an educational game teaching the public about North American Hellbender Salamander lifecycle and conservation to support protection efforts.
Purdue UniversityLife Sciences
Hideout: Early Reading icon

Hideout: Early Reading

PaidiOS
3 publications
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Hideout: Early Reading uses engaging mini-games to teach foundational literacy skills like phonics and word patterns to young children and at-risk.
Brigham Young UniversityLanguages & Linguistics
Listen - Auditory Training icon

Listen - Auditory Training

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Gamified program training auditory processing skills like sound localization and memory to improve speech comprehension in noise.
Northeastern UniversityPsychology & Cognitive Science
MedSMA℞T Mobile icon

MedSMA℞T Mobile

FreeiOS Android
11 publications
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
MedSMA℞T Mobile educates adolescents and families on safe opioid management through interactive gameplay, improving knowledge and responsible medication use behaviors.
University of KentuckyWellness & Public Health
POCUS Carnival icon

POCUS Carnival

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
POCUS Carnival is a gamified educational tool teaching medical students and clinicians point-of-care ultrasound skills like image interpretation and clinical integration.
Indiana UniversityBasic Medical Sciences
Quarked! Cross icon

Quarked! Cross

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Quarked! Cross introduces elementary and middle school students to subatomic vocabulary through crossword puzzles and engaging educational content.
University of KansasPhysical Sciences
Sightseeing icon

Sightseeing

FreeiOS Android
3 publications
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Sightseeing is a vision training game using perceptual learning to improve visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in healthy and low-vision individuals.
University of California, RiversidePsychology & Cognitive Science
Spanish Language Maze icon

Spanish Language Maze

FreeAndroid
2 publications
Evidence Tier:VALIDATED
Educational game using psycholinguistic maze tasks to help beginning Spanish learners practice sentence construction and process difficult grammatical structures.
University of Nebraska-LincolnLanguages & Linguistics
CDC HEADS UP Rocket Blades icon

CDC HEADS UP Rocket Blades

FreeiOS Android
1 publication
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
Educational mobile game teaching children ages six to eight about concussion safety, including injury prevention and appropriate emergency responses.
US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWellness & Public Health
CryptoClub Daily Ciphers icon

CryptoClub Daily Ciphers

FreeiOS
2 publications
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
Educational puzzle app providing daily encrypted messages to teach students and enthusiasts how to solve historical ciphers.
University of ChicagoMathematics & Statistics
PuzzleWalk icon

PuzzleWalk

FreeiOS
3 publications
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
PuzzleWalk gamifies walking by converting steps into puzzle-solving time to increase physical activity in adults, including those with ASD.
Indiana UniversityWellness & Public Health
Quarked! Baryon Blaster icon

Quarked! Baryon Blaster

FreeiOS
1 publication
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
Quarked! Baryon Blaster teaches elementary and middle school children fundamental particle physics concepts through interactive educational gameplay.
University of KansasPhysical Sciences
Quarked! Catcher icon

Quarked! Catcher

FreeiOS
1 publication
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
Quarked! Catcher makes particle physics accessible and engaging for elementary and middle school children through an educational game.
University of KansasPhysical Sciences
Quarked! Mass Matters icon

Quarked! Mass Matters

FreeiOS
1 publication
Evidence Tier:EVALUATED
Educational game teaching elementary and middle school children fundamental physics concepts like mass and density through interactive challenges.
University of KansasPhysical Sciences