Background/purpose: Programming education faces persistent challenges, including high attrition rates, low student engagement, and difficulty grasping abstract concepts. Innovative pedagogical strategies are needed to support today's diverse learners better. Game-Based Learning (GBL) has emerged as a promising approach that uses interactive and motivational game elements to enhance learning. This study examines the effectiveness of GBL in programming education, focusing on its potential to improve student engagement, conceptual understanding, and skill acquisition. Materials/methods: Adopting a descriptive literature review methodology, this study analyzes research published between 2009 and 2025. The review synthesizes evidence on GBL's effectiveness relative to traditional instructional methods, with particular attention to inclusivity, accessibility, curriculum alignment, and recent innovations in AI-driven and immersive GBL platforms. Results: The findings indicate that GBL significantly enhances student engagement, conceptual understanding, and skill acquisition. At the same time, barriers such as limited infrastructure, teacher preparedness, and inequitable access persist. The review also identifies important gaps, including a lack of longitudinal studies and limited representation of diverse learner populations. Conclusion: The originality of this study lies in integrating recent technological advancements with a critical focus on inclusivity and sustainable adoption, thereby extending earlier reviews. Practical recommendations are presented for a multi-stakeholder strategy that involves infrastructure development, teacher training, and policy assistance to promote equitable and effective GBL implementation in programming education.