Participatory gamification has been widely studied in education, business, and entertainment, but its impact on learners in classical culture has not been fully explored. Therefore, this paper takes the Henan “Yujian Honglou” digital gamification exhibition as the research object, recruits 9 visitors who participated in the exhibition through in-depth interviews and records the whole process and uses thematic analysis to deeply explore the design of participatory gamification mechanisms and their impact on traditional culture enthusiasts. Our data analysis revealed two main aggregate dimensions. The first is the participatory game mechanism and the second is the enhancement of classical cultural learning by this game mechanism. The participatory game mechanism includes four second-order themes, namely enhancing clue guidance and exploration, guiding decryption and fostering achievement, balancing difficulty and enhancing engagement, and boosting rewards and motivation. Our findings contribute new empirical knowledge and practical insights to gamification and cultural learning research.