Gamification has become a significant techno-social trend of the last decade. It integrates game elements to elicit a unique game-like experience and consequently enhances the overall value in various settings such as learning, healthcare, and business. The systematic literature review (SLR) highlights that the research on the experiential outcomes of gamification is of utmost importance for the domain. Throughout literature, gameful experience is perceived as the unique essence of gamification. Yet, there is little consensus on its conceptualization and constituents. Study 1 addresses this problem by synthesizing scholarly literature and proposing a definition for the gameful experience. Thereafter, study 2 was conducted to understand the constituents of gameful experience through a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with experienced gamification designers. A total of eleven themes emerged from the data, which are then mapped to four overarching theoretical themes: hedonic experience, alternate reality experience, nudge experience, and flow experience. Further study 3 examines the role of flow experience in the engagement pathways of gamified learning through a within-subject experiment. Finally, study 4 evaluates the influence of intrinsic motivation on flow and its subsequent effect on engagement in gamified learning. The findings of the studies bring insights into the construct of gameful experience and the role of flow in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional pathways of engagement in gamified learning. It also assists practitioners by providing insights into the ‘experience to target for’ while designing gamification in a learning setting. Furthermore, it opens up research possibilities in integrating gamification, learning, and positive psychology.