The purpose of this study was to evaluate how effective Game-Based Learning (GBL) would be for Grade 11 students studying Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person at Saguday National High School. A quasi-experimental pretest — posttest non-equivalent control group design was used in this study; therefore, two groups of students were compared: (1) the experimental group (n = 29) was provided with GBL integrated instruction facilitated by digitally based platforms such as Blooket, Gimkit, Minecraft Education, and Wordwall; and (2) the control group (n = 31) received traditional instruction. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in pretest scores (p = 0.157), thus verifying the two groups were equivalent at baseline. However, results of the posttest indicated statistically significant differences (p = 0.035) between the two groups with the experimental group all receiving higher mean gain scores (14.14) than the control group (8.94). The computed Cohen’s d (1.169) indicated GBL had a large-sized effect and demonstrated the early impact GBL makes on students having mastered abstract philosophical concepts. Also, student engagement was evaluated using a modified Survey Instrument on Game-Based Learning Approach (SIGBLA) with findings indicating high levels of engagement in all three areas of knowledge, perception and attitude. Conversely, results of the Pearson correlation indicated there was a weak and non-significant association between student engagement and academic performance (r = 0.347, p = 0.065) indicating GBL can produce learning gains independent of variations in student engagement. Overall, the findings suggest that GBL is an effective instructional approach to increase student engagement and improve academic performance in Social Science education. This study recommends that school districts integrate GBL into their instructional practices, establish adequate ICT infrastructure, and conduct further research related to digital learning variables.