This article discusses game design concepts suggested to foster engagement while considering the needs of underserved high school students preparing for the college admission process. The contextual nature of college counseling efforts in urban secondary school settings provides a backdrop for consideration of the manner in which game design and engagement might enhance current capacity of college counseling. The discussion focuses on two categories of game design--multimodal gaming environment and instructional strategies--with a focus on effective learning principles, experiential learning and narratives. To conclude, this article discusses the rationale informing the use of games as tools to increase college counseling efforts. Since the focus is on use of an online college access video game, addressing the concept of the digital divide becomes essential. (Contains 1 table.)