This session will demonstrate how non-commercial and freely accessible gaming platforms can promote deeper connections with language through game-based learning projects. In this framework, the teacher and students are involved in the process of the gamified learning activity, where games are not just a one-off activity, but a more sustained approach that continues to motivate, engage, and challenge students to show their best in the classroom through a collaborative approach. Games have a high impact and positive effect on the learning experience, as research has consistently shown. They promote engagement and collaboration, two often challenging aspects in today's AI enabled classrooms, where students can easily be disengaged. Instead of presenting games as single activity meant to make learning more fun, often under the guise of reviewing information students ought to have learned, this session aims to shift the focus from games as end-of-lesson activities to a systematic teaching approach.