The impact of Lean gamification and its role in teaching Lean thinking in higher education was is the main objective of this study. The study attempts to understand under what circumstances different game elements can drive Lean thinking learning behavior among students. More specifically, the study investigates the challenge lean thinking educators can face when importing the gamification approach from industry to higher education. In addition, this study will offer a diagnostic evaluation of selected Lean physical games using motivation, cognitive and social processing assessment criteria. Various insights are revealed during the analysis of the reported data as well as investigating the interaction between surveyed students and the selected games along the three evaluation criteria. The recommendations gathered from the conducted analysis are related to both; Lean gamification as a pedagogical approach for lean thinking in higher education and Lean games design for this specific segment of learners