Young people in Sweden today spend a significant amount of time in front of computers playing games, and gaming has gained a negative reputation both in the public domain as well as within the field of education. The aim of this overview is to see whether gamification, the use of video games or parts of video games, can be a valuable tool for educators to increase student motivation, engagement and knowledge of history. Two main areas are in focus in this overview. The first area focuses on whether gamification can be used to increase student motivation, engagement and understanding of history. The second area focuses on how the previously mentioned goals can be achieved through gamification, and what teachers wanting to use gamification have to take into consideration to make the use of it successful.  To conduct this research, the databases Libsearch and SwePub have been used alongside books from Malmö Universities library.  This overview led me to the conclusion that gamification can be a valuable asset, and there are instances where it has been proven to contribute to student motivation, engagement and knowledge of history. However, the technology used when implementing gamification can be considered difficult to use by some. Regarding the use of gamification, this overview shows that multiple factors matter when using gamification. These are factors that teachers must take into consideration for the gamification to be a useful and successful tool.