Higher education institutions face growing pressure to enhance students’ employability and better prepare them for increasingly complex and uncertain labour markets. While policy frameworks emphasise career development learning (CDL), competence development, and work-related skills, these elements often remain weakly integrated into university curricula, particularly in theory-driven programmes (Bridgstock 2009, Bridgstock, et al. 2019, Dean et al. 2022, Tomlinson 2017). Students frequently report difficulties in translating academic knowledge into real-life decision-making related to employment, financial management, and career planning. These challenges are especially visible in Central and Eastern European higher education systems, where student employment during studies is widespread and often driven by financial necessity (Hauschildt et al. 2021, Kocsis & Pusztai 2024).

This paper addresses these issues by examining an innovative, research-based educational board game, Study Hard, Work Hard!, designed to support career development learning through experiential and playful pedagogy in higher education. The game simulates realistic student life situations, including budgeting, student employment, scholarship opportunities, job interviews, and time management dilemmas. It aims to foster employability-related competences such as decision-making, communication, reflection, collaboration, and financial awareness.

The central research question guiding this study is: How do university students perceive the educational value and realism of a board game designed to support career development learning and employability-related skill development?
Sub-questions explore (1) students’ perceived learning outcomes, (2) motivational and affective dimensions of gameplay, and (3) the perceived adaptability of the game across different institutional and disciplinary contexts.

The study is grounded in three complementary theoretical frameworks. First, career development learning theory conceptualises career management as a lifelong process involving self-awareness, opportunity awareness, and informed decision-making. Second, experiential learning theory emphasises learning through concrete experience, reflection, and active engagement, which aligns with the game’s simulation-based design (Bridgstock, et al. 2019, Dean et al. 2022, Tomlinson 2017). Third, game-based learning and playful pedagogy provide the pedagogical foundation for understanding how analogue board games can support motivation, peer interaction, and deep learning in higher education contexts (Karbownik et al., 2016, Manzano-León et al. 2021).

The international relevance of the study lies in its integration of empirical data from large-scale European student surveys (e.g. EUROSTUDENT) into the game mechanics, ensuring realism and cross-national applicability. Although the empirical case is situated in Hungary, the challenges addressed, student employment, employability gaps, and the need for innovative CDL practices, are shared across European higher education systems. The paper therefore contributes a Central and Eastern European perspective to international debates on employability, active learning, and pedagogical innovation.

The study employs a quantitative-dominant mixed-methods design based on a pilot implementation of the Study Hard, Work Hard! board game within a credit-bearing university course focusing on job search skills. The research was conducted at a Hungarian higher education institution as part of an elective course coordinated by the university’s Career Centre. Participation in the board game activity was compulsory for enrolled students, ensuring full participation and a 100% response rate. The sample consisted of 104 undergraduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences, humanities, business, pedagogy, and STEM fields. Participants represented different stages of study and varied employment and financial situations, reflecting the heterogeneity typical of higher education cohorts. Data were collected using a structured, anonymous questionnaire administered online after the gameplay session. The instrument combined validated scales and context-specific items. Motivation, engagement, cooperation, and perceived learning outcomes were measured using items adapted from the Questionnaire on Motivation for Cooperative Playful Learning Strategies. Additional items and open-ended questions were developed by the author to capture perceptions related to student employment, career planning, realism, and educational usefulness. The questionnaire included 21 Likert-scale items (1–5) assessing enjoyment, motivation, collaboration, perceived knowledge gains, realism, and reflective learning, followed by open-ended questions on perceived learning outcomes and suggestions for curriculum integration. Demographic and background variables were collected based on previously validated instruments. Given the exploratory nature of the study and the limited sample size, data analysis relied on descriptive statistical methods, complemented by thematic analysis of open-ended responses. The results were interpreted in relation to the study’s theoretical framework and existing international literature on game-based learning and career development learning.

The findings indicate that students perceived the board game as both highly engaging and educationally meaningful. Participants reported strong enjoyment, motivation, and peer collaboration, alongside increased awareness of student employment realities, financial challenges, and career-related decision-making. The highest-rated outcomes related to realism, reflection on personal choices, and the opportunity to practise employability-related skills in a low-stakes, supportive environment. Students highlighted that the game helped them better understand the complexity of balancing work and study, recognise available institutional support (such as scholarships), and reflect on long-term career implications of short-term decisions. Qualitative responses emphasised the value of informal learning, humour, teamwork, and discussion, suggesting that the game created a safe space for reflection and self-expression. The study suggests that board game-based pedagogy can effectively complement traditional teaching methods by addressing underrepresented but crucial topics such as career planning, financial literacy, and employability. Although the findings are based on a small-scale pilot and self-reported data, they point to the potential of analogue board games as low-cost, adaptable, and inclusive tools for career development learning in higher education. The paper concludes that integrating research-informed, experiential board games into university curricula can support student engagement and preparedness for life beyond higher education, while also offering transferable insights for diverse European and international contexts. This research was supported through the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

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