Gamified interventions in Spanish Compulsory Secondary Education (2022–2025): a systematic review

Spanish Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) faces persistent challenges in academic achievement, motivation, and educational equity. This systematic review synthesizes and critically examines evidence on gamified interventions implemented in Spanish ESO between 2022 and 2025, focusing on their design features and effects on academic achievement, motivation, and classroom climate. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, searches were conducted in Web of Science and Scopus. Twenty empirical studies were identified and analyzed through narrative synthesis, alongside a methodological quality assessment using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT 2018). Results indicate that most studies were conducted in Physical Education, with a limited number focusing on other subjects. Most studies report improvements in motivation and classroom climate; effects on academic achievement are positive but heterogeneous, depending on the quality of the instructional design, intervention duration, and combination with other active methodologies. Much of the available evidence comes from urban public schools, often implemented by teachers with experience in educational innovation, though this information is not consistently reported across studies; rural and high-complexity contexts remain underrepresented. These findings suggest gamification can play an important role within a broader repertoire of active teaching methodologies, though its wider implementation requires more rigorous studies in core subjects and vulnerable contexts.