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When the COVID-19 pandemic upended in-class instruction across higher education in spring 2020, assessments needed to be quickly modified for the virtual classroom. With the unexpectedness of this shift from in-person to online, a significant challenge that many instructors faced was how to develop engaging and effective online assessments for students while being cognizant of accessibility. We implemented a game design project in our introductory ecology course in spring 2020, in which students were required to develop a novel game based on ecology topics discussed in class. The learning objectives of this assignment asked students to: 1) design a game for their peers based on an important ecological topic/concept from a specific unit/lesson in a creative manner; 2) encourage critical thinking and discussion of ecological topics/concepts in the game; and 3) judge their peers on the quality and enjoyment of their games. We found that while students developed various game formats—from card games to classic board games—and focused on different unit learning objectives, including nutrient cycling, climate change, and community dynamics, instructor and peer review indicated that the games created for this assignment were both conducive to learning and highly accessible. We suggest that a student-developed instructional games project is an effective way to engage students in an assessment that is enjoyable, collaborative, and requires creative application of the course content, in many possible biology courses and in-person and online learning environments.