In the midst of the digital revolution, the massive digitalization of all areas of human activity and the advancement of digital technologies, video games in all their formats and genres are a leading entertainment industry. As a form of entertainment, especially among the younger generation, they are already displacing not only television, cinema, and music, but also social networks. According to the latest data, the gaming industry globally reaches a value of over $300 billion, and the new formation of users seeking social communication in the gaming space drives it to expand to a new level. And while video games are becoming more and more immersive, engaging, and motivating, educational games are still looking for a successful strategy to transform the learning process into an engaging experience for the students. Among the reasons for the poor success of educational games is the inability to be provided sufficient funding to create an attractive, highly interactive environment, competitive with video games. Another reason is the lack of symbiosis between educational and gaming components in the game, and exploiting the game element as a form of reward after the completion of the training part, which places the latter still in the area of boring activities. In the majority of educational games there is no storyline with characters and avatars, which generally helps to build a personal connection with the game. Another reason that can be pointed out is the poorly designed reward system in educational games, which is, as discussed below, a major factor in motivating, engaging and holding the attention and interest. In a successful educational game, the learning material must be woven into the most intriguing parts of the game and presented as a valuable asset to the player. This requires analysing the way players perceive video games, what attracts, challenges, encourages and engages them in a game to continue the interaction with it. The paper examines the motivation and engagement in the context of Self-Determination Theory, focusing on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and how they intertwine to drive a person to develop and upgrade their skills and competences. The strategies for engaging and holding the interest of the players in video games and their influence on the motivation are considered in the same context. Based on the performed analysis and taking into account the general specifics of the educational game, a framework of a reward system is proposed, which would provoke and encourage more active and intrinsic motivated interaction.