<p>The integration of gamification in education is an innovative approach which can support effective teaching. It includes game elements in learning processes that might enhance students’ engagement and motivation to facilitate the development of computational thinking (CT) skills. The use of gamification has been explored via empirical methods, such as pre-post experimental designs, with various outcomes, while its importance has been already pointed out in theoretical overviews. To this end, conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis on works exploring gamification in conjunction with CT development will be an essential contribution to the prospective research and this is undertaken by the present endeavour. Following the PRISMA methodology, this paper identified 288 records from two databases, from which 17 articles containing 67 empirical studies were selected for review and meta-analysis. The total number of participants across all 67 studies was 3634. This review revealed that most publications related to gamification and CT emerged between 2020 and 2024, indicating that the subject area is relatively new in educational research. The meta-analysis showed a pooled estimated effect size (+ 0.734) that suggests a moderate-to-strong positive relationship between gamification and CT development according to the random-effects model. Additionally, a subgroup analysis was conducted to identify potential sources of variability among studies, enhancing the interpretability of the findings. The analysis comparing effects with school level as a moderating variable revealed a lower effect size in tertiary education (0.574) and a higher effect size in secondary education (2.088), suggesting a more pronounced impact at the secondary education level. </p>