Math is seen by many Indonesian students as a boring and difficult subject. To pique their interest, a fresh strategy for
teaching arithmetic is required. Gamification, a strategy to pique students' interest and engage them in learning, was
used to teach mathematics in this case study. We observed 20 female eighth graders in both the gamification-
enhanced and control groups to gauge their emotional responses to the game. The next step was to interview the math
teacher one-on-one, after which eight students were selected for two focus groups according to their mathematical
activity and competence levels and game scores to understand how they perceived gamification in mathematics. The
results were examined via the symbolic interactionism lenses, which allowed for a constructive interpretation and
confirmation of the teacher's perspective through the students' actions and perceptions. To bolster the outcome, the
literature was also included. According to the study's findings, kids were far more engaged when teachers used
gamification in mathematics and gave incentives. The student's performance in the game, however, had a significant
impact on their opinion. The victors were happy regardless of the lack of technical talent, while the losers had mixed
feelings about the game. Some wanted to play again to get higher scores, while others thought it was too difficult.
Therefore, it was necessary to take into account individual preferences while building gamified activities in
mathematics in order to encourage the pupils.