Serious games are increasingly prevalent in higher education, offering an engaging way to enhance student learning. But what are the key factors which determine whether a game embodies educational value or not? In this paper, we discuss the design of “Serious Games” in relation to their learning value and how we could address pedagogical needs through design. For this purpose, we use as a guide the theoretical foundation provided by Bloom’s taxonomy, which describes the learning journey. Pedagogical needs are discussed in relation to the cognitive processes that appear in Bloom’s taxonomy as well as in the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). After that, we discuss game design strategies that align with these needs. We propose a set of theory-driven design guidelines tailored to each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, illustrating their practical application through examples developed by the “Serious Games at Westminster” research group. These examples, spanning multiple disciplines, demonstrate how thoughtful design strategies can address diverse pedagogical needs and foster more effective learning experiences.