Background: Digital game‐based learning (DGBL) has the potential to provide a gender inclusive learning environment for children. Objective: The present study aimed to explore gendered differences among primary school learners in grades three, four, and five within the context of game‐based fraction learning from cognitive, motivational and emotional perspectives. Methods: Two hundred and sixty‐nine participants completed a pre‐test and post‐test on fraction conceptual knowledge and surveys in math anxiety, intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy. In addition, facial expression detection technology was employed to evaluate emotional states. Results: In general, within the DGBL environment, boys and girls exhibited similar performance in both their understanding of fraction concepts and their motivational aspects. However, gender differences were identified and manifested uniquely across different grade levels. Specifically, third‐grade girls exhibited significantly lower self‐efficacy than boys, but after DGBL intervention, the gender gap in self‐efficacy was no longer significant. Additionally, third‐grade girls achieved significant improvements in both the competence and interest dimensions of their intrinsic motivation, while boys did not show significant improvements. In the fourth grade, girls exhibited a significantly higher frequency of angry expressions compared to boys during gameplay. Fifth‐grade girls' cognitive performance appeared to be less correlated with motivational factors compared to boys. Conclusions: The results suggest that DGBL may help narrow the gender difference in math learning, with girls potentially benefiting more from DGBL than boys. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Gendered differences in math learning include historical advantages for boys, diminishing achievement gaps, persistent math anxiety with gender variations, and gender‐related disparities in intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy, highlighting the need for targeted support for girls, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.Studies on digital game‐based learning (DGBL) indicate varying effects on academic performance, with some showing improvement in girls, minimal gendered differences, and potential differential impacts on emotional states by gender.Fraction knowledge plays a pivotal role in math learning, DGBL emerges as an effective and gender‐inclusive tool to enhance conceptual understanding of fractions. What this paper adds: The game‐based fraction learning could effectively enhance conceptual understanding of fractions for third to fifth‐grade students, revealing consistent positive outcomes for both boys and girls across different grade levels, particularly in tasks related to measurement interpretation.The game‐based fraction learning significantly improves motivational experiences, particularly enhancing competence, interest, and self‐efficacy for third‐grade beginner girls, with less pronounced effects observed in fourth and fifth‐grade students.Fourth‐grade girls displayed a significantly higher proportion of angry faces compared to boys, suggesting potential differences in cognitive load, stress, and emotional engagement in digital game‐based learning.After game‐based intervention, fifth‐grade girls' cognitive outcomes were less influenced by motivational factors, while boys still demonstrated a strong correlation between motivational factors and cognitive scores. Implications for practice: Educational practitioners are encouraged to integrate game‐based learning into early childhood math education, as demonstrated by this study, which highlights the significant contribution of early exposure to game‐based learning in fostering girls' positive attitudes towards mathematics.Game designers should incorporate relevant intelligent technologies for monitoring emotions and different gameplay modes, and when learners experience negative emotions, various strategies should be employed to provide a gender‐inclusive and supportive learning environment.For girls facing challenges in mathematics, their underperformance may be associated with lower motivation levels and emotional states, and game developers can address this issue by offering positive reinforcement, personalized feedback, and challenges tailored to individual learning needs to foster competence in learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]