Show Me How You Do It, Moe Ash!

Show Me How You Do It, Moe Ash!

From The LDA Podcast: An Exploration of Evidence-Informed Approaches to Learning and Development by Learning Development Accelerator, Inc.

January 14, 2026 · 26 min · Episode 57

About this episode

Moe Ash discusses effective learning games and the concept of 'hard fun' in this episode.

Overview People love to say “games make learning better,” but Moe Ash has a more grounded take. In this episode, Sofie Willox sits down with Moe to explore what makes a learning game effective, and what makes it feel like play with no purpose. Moe introduces the idea of “hard fun”: learning experiences that are enjoyable, but still tied to clear outcomes, tangible behaviours, and real performance goals. Together, Sofie and Moe walk through where L&D professionals should actually start when designing a learning game or card deck, especially when we are not “commercial game designers,” but practitioners trying to build capability and drive behaviour change. The conversation is practical, structured, and refreshingly honest. If you have ever wanted to build a learning game but felt overwhelmed by mechanics, format choices, or where to begin, this episode gives you a clear entry point and a design process you can reuse. _____________________________________ Moe Ash Moe is currently looking into acquiring his degree in business psychology, aiming to blend gamification and performance management in a tight cohesive mold.Moe is the founder of The Catalyst, a learning design…

People in this episode

Guest: Moe Ash

Topics covered

  • learning games
  • gamification
  • design process
  • learning and development

Keywords

  • learning experience
  • behaviour change
  • game design
  • performance goals

Mentioned in this episode

Products: The learning game design doc, The gamification GPT

More episodes of The LDA Podcast: An Exploration of Evidence-Informed Approaches to Learning and Development

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The LDA Podcast: An Exploration of Evidence-Informed Approaches to Learning and Development podcast page.