To solve an issue that lately many a language class face – namely, that of student motivation –, research has been focusing on a tool not often associated to school: video games. These seem to be able to engage their players in a unique and unprecedented way, and with a degree of success yet unknown to language teaching and learning settings in schools. This paper analyses video games by transcending the tool itself and breaking down its essence in the form of its constituent game elements – i.e. the components of games that game designers blend with craft into thoroughly engaging gaming experiences. By adopting the perspective of the psycholinguistics of motivation, it is shown how to apply the some of these game elements to the language class, using two gamified experiences in (language) teaching as a foundation.