Games have made their way into the classroom in a multitude of ways to attract and retain students. The academic community has made great strides incorporating games into academic study. Although some have suggested formal links, little work has been done on formalizing how game design can inform instructional design. We explore this avenue by showing existing overlaps between the disciplines and areas where game design and instructional design can inform each other. Examples from a series of introductory programming courses will demonstrate the connections and suggest future development.