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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Leveling Up to Lehigh Life is an optional online game created by Lehigh students to help incoming first-years practice campus routines before arriving. Early feedback is encouraging but preliminary: participation was limited, many players did not get far beyond the tutorial, and the public reporting does not establish that the game reduces anxiety or improves student success.
What is Leveling Up to Lehigh Life?
Leveling Up to Lehigh Life is a Lehigh-specific, online 2-D game designed to introduce incoming students to campus resources, customs, and common situations. Lehigh’s project description says students combine computer science, graphic design, music, storytelling, and marketing to create interactive quests, conversations, and campus exploration.
The scenarios cover practical and social questions that can be unfamiliar before college: navigating dining halls, finding academic resources, building community, and maintaining 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.
How does the game help students prepare?
The project is aimed at the gap between receiving information about college and knowing how to act in a particular situation. New students must learn unfamiliar campus vocabulary and social expectations, including how to approach professors; useful advice may also be passed along informally between students. A game can let an incoming student explore some of those situations at their own pace before arriving, rather than encountering every routine for the first time in person.
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That makes the game a possible orientation aid, not a replacement for human guidance or Lehigh’s broader first-year support network. The university also offers preLUsion, Orientation, NavigateLU, and Camp Hawk through its Office of First-Year Experience, as well as a peer mentoring program that pairs first-years with experienced students. Those programs provide forms of support different from self-paced digital practice; Lehigh’s descriptions do not establish a controlled comparison of their outcomes with the game.
When was it available, and how many students used it?
The Brown and White reported that an invitation link was emailed to incoming first-years on August 1, 2026. The optional game was available for about two weeks and closed as students began arriving for preLUsion. The newspaper reported several distinct participation measures:
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| Measure | Reported figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming students who logged in | About one-eighth | The share of the incoming class reported to have logged in; this is not a completion rate. |
| Users who created characters | 254 | A count of character creation, not necessarily completion of quests. |
| Users with quest data collected | 161 | The group for which quest data were reported; the article said about 63% completed only one quest, including the tutorial. |
These figures, reported by The Brown and White in 2026, measure different steps in the experience and should not be treated as interchangeable totals. They point to a substantial engagement challenge after sign-in: many users with collected quest data did not progress beyond one quest.
Did the game improve well-being or reduce anxiety?
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 institutional attachment—the feeling of comfort and familiarity with campus—to take time to develop.
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This is an early finding reported by a project member, not a demonstrated causal effect. The newspaper account does not provide the survey’s sample size, questionnaire, comparison group, numerical change, statistical test, or full analysis. It therefore does not establish a quantified reduction in anxiety or show that the game improved academic outcomes or student retention. Lehigh’s project page describes experiment design and data collection and analysis as part of the 2026 work, indicating that evaluation is an active project goal rather than a completed published efficacy study.
What problems did the team identify?
Project co-creator James Goodwin identified the tutorial and low quest completion as a central design issue. He said, “It could be that the tutorial is too slow and not engaging enough.” A student also told Goodwin they quit because the game was glitchy, according to The Brown and White; that is an individual report, not evidence of how often technical problems occurred or a verified diagnosis of the cause.
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Ahamed said the team wanted more students to complete the survey, while Goodwin said the next release would focus on more engaging quests. Those priorities address separate parts of the experience: getting players to continue through the game and collecting enough feedback to assess how useful it is.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should incoming students make of it?
The game offers a low-pressure way to encounter Lehigh-specific routines and resources before campus arrival, but the available evidence supports treating it as one optional preparation tool. Its reach was limited in the reported 2026 run, and the public account leaves important questions about the well-being survey unanswered. Students looking for practical guidance should also use Lehigh’s orientation, first-year programming, and peer mentoring options rather than relying on a game alone.
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