Electronic game technologies can prepare novice learners for future learning of complex concepts. This paper describes the underlying instructional design, learning science, cognitive science, and game theory. A structural, or syntactic mapping (structure mapping), approach to game design can produce a game world relationally isomorphic to a targeted complex concept. Such a game world should provide experiential and reflective gameplay to help learners form a preconceptual mental model of the targeted concept. A preparation for future learning (PFL) approach would follow gameplay with direct instruction. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table and 4 notes.)