Since 1998, 51.1% of Brazilian companies haven't survived beyond three years, and active companies decreased by 30% from 2020 to 2023, per BigDataCorp. SEBRAE's data reveals that between 2018 and 2021, 21.6% of businesses closed within five years, with 75% lacking adequate planning, making them vulnerable to crises like the pandemic. Among entrepreneurs, 58% didn't seek formal training, and Brazil's basic education lacks substantial entrepreneurial education. Although entrepreneurship was introduced into Brazil's National Common Core Curriculum (BNCC) in 2022, there are still opportunities to enrich this area through educational solutions. Educational games offer promising tools to simulate real business environments, allowing students to practice decision-making, resource management, and strategic planning. Research by Lynn Alves (2020) on digital games in Brazil, Portugal, and Spain demonstrates that games enhance learning by combining engagement with skill development. Games foster a safe, interactive space where students experience complex situations and reflect on decision outcomes. A 2023 study, Adaptive Game-Based Learning in Education, found that personalizing game content enhances student engagement and learning, building critical skills such as problem-solving and teamwork.

This article presents an educational business simulation game, Empresários em Ação ("Entrepreneurs in Action"), developed for high school and college students to support entrepreneurship education. The game’s design involved three stages: researching strategic management tools, defining game rules, and validating with students. In the research phase, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC)—a model by Kaplan and Norton—was selected as a foundation due to its focus on strategic objectives across four key perspectives: Learning and Growth, Internal Processes, Customer, and Financial. The BSC's clear, adaptable structure informed the creation of user-friendly game rules. In creating the game, the team designed it for a 45-minute lesson, ensuring it was engaging yet practical for classroom use. Feedback from educators emphasized that it should be accessible and challenging, integrating seamlessly into classroom dynamics. Empresários em Ação emerged as a competitive, cooperative card game where players simulate business decisions to achieve success. Using the BSC framework, players understand how choices impact company resources, sectors, and reputation. The game aims to train students in entrepreneurial practices, decision-making, and teamwork. During validation, 43 high school students from Maringá, Paraná, participated, leading to adjustments in gameplay: rounds were reduced from 12 to 10, negotiation time was shortened, and the rule explanation was streamlined to three steps. Improvements included simplifying card text, adding a business glossary, and switching to more durable materials for game components. This work contributes to entrepreneurial education, game design, and creative industries by presenting a tool that motivates students to explore innovation and strategic planning in an engaging, critical way. Empresários em Ação prepares future leaders by fostering entrepreneurial skills crucial for navigating business challenges.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial education, games in education, balanced scorecard.