Effect of Gamification and Game-Based Learning on Academic Performance in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The incorporation of gamification into higher education continues to grow; however, few studies address how it affects students’ academic performance. The aim of this study was to analyse and describe the impact of gamification and game-based learning interventions, including serious games, compared with traditional teaching, on the academic performance of university students. The systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 standard. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies reporting a control group and an experimental group, published between 2016 and 2026 in the Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost databases, were analysed. The sample comprised 27 studies and a total of 4462 participants. The meta-analytic review was based on a random-effects model with the Hartung-Knapp adjustment. The principal analysis, restricted to the 24 studies with a strict non-gamified comparator, revealed a large effect of gamified teaching on students’ academic performance (g = 1.00; 95% CI 0.70–1.31), and the inclusive analysis of all 27 studies yielded a practically identical estimate (g = 1.01). The heterogeneity of the studies analysed was very high, and the 95% prediction interval included zero. No evidence of funnel-plot asymmetry was found (Egger’s test, p = 0.44); because these procedures have limited power under the extreme heterogeneity observed, publication bias cannot be ruled out. The subgroup analyses revealed no statistically significant differences by educational level, instrument or type of intervention (conventional gamification g = 1.10 versus game-based learning and serious games g = 0.82; Qb, p = 0.31), the effect was comparable in randomised and quasi-experimental designs, and by disciplinary area there was only a marginal, non-significant tendency towards smaller effects in the health sciences (g = 0.76 versus g = 1.20; Qb, p = 0.077). According to the GRADE assessment, the certainty of the evidence was low, mainly because of the predominance of non-randomised designs and the high heterogeneity. The findings therefore indicate a large positive average standardised effect of gamification and game-based learning on academic performance under low-certainty and highly heterogeneous evidence, rather than a generally established causal effect. Received: 22 August 2026 / Accepted: 20 October 2026 / Published: November 2026