As information and communication technologies (ICT) have become increasingly embedded in everyday life, their presence in educational contexts, incl. foreign/second language education, continues to grow. The rapid pace of technological advancement has amplified the demand for foreign/second language proficiency, prompting a shift towards more innovative, learner-centred approaches. Gamification and game-based learning (GBL) have gained prominence for their ability to enhance motivation and engagement. They incorporate visual and sensory input in the target language, support vocabulary and syntax acquisition, and foster consistent practice. Serious games used in language learning provide interactive environments that promote communication skills, grammatical accuracy and cultural awareness, making language learning both effective and enjoyable.

The aim of our study was to review the research on games and gamification in foreign/second language education in order to identify trends and new research opportunities. We used a bibliometric approach. We searched the Scopus database for combinations of terms related to games/gamification and second/foreign language learning in titles and keywords, and limited the results to journal articles (including reviews) and conference papers. Using Microsoft Excel, Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer, two types of bibliometric analyses were conducted:
a) performance analysis (annual production and citation trends, most cited documents, most prolific/cited authors, countries and publication sources);
b) science mapping (co-word analysis of titles and abstracts, co-authorship analysis of countries).

The number of documents starts to rise after 2004, with a larger increase after 2013. The most cited articles deal with motivation, achievements and learning outcomes related to the use of digital games, video games and virtual reality in language education. The US is the most prolific/cited country, while the US and China top the list of countries collaborating the most. The most prolific authors come from Denmark and Taiwan, and the most cited from Norway. Almost half of the papers were published at conferences, the most of them at the European Conference on Games-Based Learning and the International Conference on Computers in Education. In terms of journals, the most articles were published in the journal Computer Assisted Language Learning. The leading journal in terms of citations per document is Computers and Education.

The co-occurrence of terms from titles and abstracts resulted in four thematic clusters:
a) games (serious games, language learning games, virtual reality games, card games, video games), pilot/user studies;
b) educational computer games, gamified learning, empirical/mixed studies (questionnaires, tests);
c) digital game-based (language) learning, student engagement/motivation, qualitative studies/reviews;
d) gaming (role-playing games, gamers, game designers, commercial games), second language vocabulary.

The most recent terms are EFL context/learners, academic performance, systematic review, user satisfaction and artificial intelligence. The most frequently cited terms relate to gaming, theoretical frameworks, learning performance and vocabulary tests.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the field, and should help researchers and teachers to identify research priorities, current developments, relevant scientific literature and appropriate journals for their work.

Keywords: Gamification, game-based learning, foreign language, second language, bibliometric analysis.