This article seeks to determine how game-based mathematics teaching affects students' success when compared with conventional instruction for the place value concept in primary school. The study was carried out with a convergent/parallel mixed-method research design. The study group consisted of 51 second-grade primary school students and their teacher. All research data were collected over a period of four weeks. In the quantitative part of the research, a quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest control groups was carried out. Quantitative data were obtained with an achievement test specifically prepared for the research. All quantitative data were statistically analyzed using t-test. The qualitative part of the data involved audio and video recordings of students' interactions, teacher's diaries, and semi-structured interview forms collected from 26 second-grade primary school students in the experimental group. Quantitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the game-based learning method was more effective than the conventional method. Students better understood the place value concept with gamification. Moreover, they increased their interest and motivation toward mathematics courses. Despite all these findings and the fact that many students declared that they had fun in the process, some students still preferred more traditional methods of teaching. This study was carried out on a new mathematical concept on which the effect of game-based teaching had not been tested before. The highlight of this study is the effectiveness of game-based mathematics teaching on the place value concept.