Educational games in your inbox — Stripo.email

Educational games in emails are more than a fun add-on; they’re a smart way to inform, engage, and convert your audience. By blending learning with play, these games help subscribers discover your product, test their knowledge, and interact with your brand in a meaningful way. And the best part? It doesn’t feel like marketing.

In this article, we’ll explore the different types of educational games you can create, when to use them, what makes them effective, and how to design them to work across all inboxes.

(Source: Email from HubSpot)

Types of educational games you can try

Educational games in emails can take many forms, depending on what you want your subscribers to learn or do. Whether your goal is onboarding, knowledge reinforcement, or simply sparking curiosity — there’s a game for that. Below are the most effective types worth exploring:

1. Quizzes and trivia

These are great for quick knowledge checks, product education, or just adding a fun challenge. You can ask recipients about your brand, industry facts, or niche topics they care about.

2. Find-the-mistake games

Perfect for SaaS, compliance, or product training. Show a mock scenario or screenshot and ask subscribers to spot what’s wrong. This helps reinforce attention to detail and product understanding.

3. Scenario-based simulations

Put recipients in real-world situations and let them choose what to do next. These work especially well in B2B or onboarding emails where you want to demonstrate how your product solves problems.

4. Culture and history quizzes

Ideal for seasonal or thematic campaigns — think Women’s History Month, Earth Day, or national holidays. These quizzes build engagement and show your brand’s values and awareness.

5. Surveys with educational value

While not technically a game, surveys can be interactive and informative. Ask subscribers about their habits or preferences and share a personalized summary or score after completion.

6. Did-you-know challenges

Test your audience with surprising facts or stats. These are quick, scroll-stopping moments that educate while entertaining — great for top-of-funnel engagement.

No matter your goal — onboarding, engagement, or product discovery — these games work for a reason: They combine curiosity, challenges, and instant rewards. People love to learn, especially when it feels like play. That’s what makes educational games not just fun, but genuinely effective.

Benefits of using educational games

Educational games in emails aren’t just fun — they drive real results. Here’s why more brands are using them:

1. Higher engagement: Games naturally spark curiosity. A quiz or challenge draws readers in and gets them to interact, which leads to higher open and click-through rates.
2. Stronger emotional connection with your brand: When recipients learn something new through your emails, they’re not just reading — they’re experiencing. This builds a more enthusiastic and meaningful interest in your brand.
3. Easier onboarding: Educational games can simplify complex ideas. Instead of long tutorials, new subscribers can learn through quick, interactive challenges — making onboarding feel lighter and more enjoyable.
4. Better brand recall through gamified learning: Gamification boosts memory. If subscribers learn about your product, values, or story while playing, they’re more likely to remember you, especially when it’s fun.
5. Boosts trust and loyalty: Educational games position your brand as helpful and knowledgeable. Instead of pushing for a sale, you’re providing something valuable, and that builds long-term loyalty.
6. Smarter personalization through game responses: Even without asking for opinions, games can show you what recipients know (or don’t) about your brand. If someone answers a product question wrong, that’s a sign they missed something, and you can address those gaps in future emails or onboarding flows.

When done right, educational games aren’t just a creative extra, they’re a strategic tool. They make your emails more engaging, informative, and effective at every stage of the customer journey. You only need to know when to use and how to build them. Let us start with the former.

When and where to use educational games

Educational games are most effective when they align with the subscriber’s journey and the purpose of your campaign. Below are some ideal opportunities and use cases:

Product launches

Turn feature introductions into fun, informative quizzes. For example, a trivia game about a new product’s capabilities helps raise awareness while educating recipients at the same time.

Holiday and seasonal campaigns

Special dates like Earth Day or national holidays offer a chance to run themed quizzes. These games tap into the moment and show that your brand cares about more than just selling.

(Source: Yakaboo)

Onboarding emails

Gamified tutorials or find-the-mistake games can make learning about your product much easier and more enjoyable. Instead of reading long instructions, new subscribers learn by doing.

Retention and engagement flows

Use educational games to reinforce customer knowledge over time. A short “How well do you know your tools?” quiz can both remind recipients of your features and keep them actively engaged.

Promotional campaigns with added depth

Before you offer a discount or reward, invite recipients to complete a quick challenge, like a quiz on what they’ve learned about your product or brand. It’s a more meaningful way to re-engage inactive subscribers or celebrate loyal ones.

Milestone and anniversary campaigns

Celebrate your journey by testing how well your subscribers know your brand. You can highlight product evolution, values, or key achievements, all in a fun, nostalgic way.

(Source: Stripo)

Whether you’re welcoming new subscribers, announcing a product, or celebrating a holiday, educational games turn one-way messages into two-way interactions, making your emails more fun, more useful, and more memorable.

How to design educational email games

Creating a great game for email takes planning and the right skills, especially if you want it to look good, work smoothly, and drive results. You don’t need to overcomplicate it, but a thoughtful approach to design makes all the difference.

Traits of a good educational game

A successful game taps into basic human instincts: curiosity and the drive for challenges and rewards. These emotional triggers are what make people want to play and keep playing:

• instant feedback: A game should respond to recipients’ actions right away. That feeling of “I did something and got a reaction” is what keeps people engaged;
• the sweet spot: challenge vs. frustration: If it’s too easy, players get bored. If it’s too hard, they’ll give up. A bit of difficulty — just enough to trigger a small dopamine rush when solved — is ideal;
   

  Choose appropriate difficulty for your target audience. The game has to be challenging enough to spike dopamine. But make it too complicated and chances are your subscribers will skip it within seconds.

  

  Stas Siachin,

  Founder at Arrive Inbox.

• emotional hooks: Curiosity, surprise, and reward are powerful. Whether it’s a fun fact, a hidden discount, or a mini achievement, these moments make your game feel rewarding and memorable;
• strong visuals matter: If your game doesn’t catch the eye in the first few seconds, many subscribers will leave the message. Use color, structure, and other design elements to make the game feel inviting and easy to follow;
   

  The visuals have to grab the attention or the subscriber will skip right away. Make it colourful. Make it an eye candy. Keep your ideal customer in mind while designing it. Show it to your family and friends, if they don’t engage with the game instantly — redo it until it works.

  

  Stas Siachin,

  Founder at Arrive Inbox.

• clear rules and guidance: It should also be clear what people are expected to do — whether it’s answering a question, clicking through, or unlocking a small surprise. Subtle visual cues, thoughtful placement, and intuitive layout will guide them without the need for loud instructions.

Share the answer: now or later?

• if your goal is sales, reveal the answer immediately. Send recipients who got it right to a landing page with a discount code or reveal the answer right in the email;
   

  Bonus tip: Create a “you almost got it” page for incorrect answers with a smaller reward — this keeps the experience engaging and positive.

  

  Stas Siachin,

  Founder at Arrive Inbox.

• if your goal is education — again, show the answer right away;
• if your goal is to increase OR or customer engagement, include some teaser dedicated to a product launch announcement, use a follow-up email to reveal the answer, explain the logic behind the answer, or share related tips. This approach works well when you want to build trust, credibility, and authority over time.
   

  If the goal of the game is to nourish target audiences, share the answer in a follow-up email. Use the second email as an opportunity to educate, debunk myths, or offer valuable advice. You can build the whole sequence starting with the game and expanding on its topic to build authority and credibility.

  

  Stas Siachin,

  Founder at Arrive Inbox.

Technical side of the game

To make educational games work in emails, they need to be interactive — recipients should be able to click, answer, explore, or play without leaving the inbox.

The challenge? Different email clients support different types of interactivity:

• AMP (used by Gmail, Yahoo, and Fair Email) enables real-time interactions but only covers about 30% of all subscribers;
• kinetic emails built with HTML5 and CSS3 (supported by Apple Mail, Samsung Mail, and Thunderbird) cover around 50%;
• that still leaves a big group of subscribers whose email clients support neither.

So how do you make sure everyone can play? By combining all three formats in one email:

• AMP for those who support it;
• kinetic HTML as an interactive fallback;
• a final fallback, which can either be a simplified version of the game or a link to a landing page that replicates the full interactive experience.

It may take more time to set up, but combining these formats ensures that every subscriber — no matter the device or email client — can experience the value and fun of your game.

The good news? You don’t have to build everything from scratch. Tools like Stripo let you create interactive games — complete with AMP, kinetic HTML, and fallback versions — quickly and without writing code. So even small teams can deliver big experiences. 

Wrapping up

Educational games can do a lot of heavy lifting — from onboarding and product education to re-engagement and brand storytelling. They spark curiosity, create memorable interactions, and turn passive readers into active participants.

Yes, building them takes thought and care. You’ll need to balance challenge with clarity, emotional appeal with brand relevance — and make sure it works in every inbox. But with the right structure and tools, even small teams can launch games that teach, entertain, and convert.