Research Trends and Intellectual Structure of Game-Based Learning in Engineering Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis

Game-based learning plays an increasingly vital role in engineering education. Driven by the recent surge in empirical studies demonstrating its effectiveness in this domain, this study aims to examine the structural framework, growth trajectory, and major contributors of the field through quantitative bibliometric analysis. That's the gap this paper addresses. We filtered the Web of Science database using PRISMA, then analysed 392 documents in VOS viewer. Publication numbers have grown steadily since 2010, though growth in recent years has been uneven. A co-authorship analysis put the United States, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom at the front of the pack. At the institutional level, European universities such as Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Politecnico di Milano lead the way, and universities in Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Mexico, Ecuador) stand out. Keyword co-occurrence analysis split the field’s intellectual structure into 5 thematic clusters. "Computer science" sits at the centre. Purely engineering terms like "mechanical engineering" and "engineering ethics," by contrast, sit out at the edges. Performance analysis backs this up: most of the top 10 journals are computer science conference proceedings. And an overlay map shows "engineering education" as one of the earliest core topics studied, while "game-based learning," "computer security," and "control (management)" have only recently picked up steam. By conducting this study, computer science specialists will be able to work more closely with engineering faculty to develop interactive game-based learning (GBL) environments and simulations, making abstract engineering theories clearer and more engaging for students.